There are some hidden costs to self-publishing. What comes to mind are my uncle's books. He partly funds research costs from profits, and that kind of research can be very expensive, and royalties never cover those costs. But Uncle B doesn't have a Patreon account. He has a link to paypal on his blog but the contributions from that source are few and far between. [https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/] So the money to pay for scans and photocopies or original books and pamphlets if they can't be found online or in a library comes out of his own pocket.
Lloyd? I don't care what people contributed to his stupidity. That's their "look out." But the amount contributed by others calls into question the validity of his positive Amazon reviews. Especially since his writing would not receive a passing grade in a middle school class.