Nerfherder's Playground: Do you either buy or read fanzines?

Do you either buy or read fanzines? is a forum poll and discussion at the Nerfherder's Playground, a Star Wars forum. The poll and discussion took place during the end of November 2005 and it covered both the history of Star Wars fanzine production as well as the question of fanzines production costs.
==The Debate==
From the very beginning, fans have quibbled over the purchase price of fanzines while simultaneously gobbling them up. In the days before the Internet, access to fanzines was the only way to obtain fan fiction and was for many the only way to connect to the greater fandom community. So the cost of a fanzine became critical to many fans, and many fans were critical of the prices they paid.
The fact remains that the cost of producing, publishing and selling a fanzine contains so many variables that it is almost impossible to compare one fanzine against another. This has not stopped fans from making sweeping generalized statements about the cost of fanzines and "profit."
By 2005, most of fandom had migrated to the Internet and fewer fans were familiar with the buying and selling of print fanzines. In November 2005, a group Star Wars fans debated the costs of the few fanzines that were still being produced in their community.
A forum poll asked the members if they bought or read fanzines.
One college student announced that: 
This fan then went on to explain why she thought that fanzine publishers were overcharging for their fanzines:
Another fan pointed out that the availability of copy shops to print fanzines was restricted because many of them would not copy or print fanzines due to fears of copyright infringement..
The college student disagreed that copyright infringement fears could play a role in driving up the costs of the zines: 
A second forum member decided to poll some of the then current fanzine publishers to get a wider range of examples of fanzine production costs. Three fanzine publishers were in the United States and one was Australia.
The first fanzine publisher submitted the following explanation of fanzine production costs: 
A second zine publisher chimed in: 
An Australian zine publisher was contacted by a forum member, and she offered her perspective on how producing a zine outside the United States could significantly increase its cost. The forum member summarized Carolyn's responses from an email and then quoted a few sections: 
Carolyn also cites that supplies just plain cost more in Australia: "Another factor not added in is the cost of materials to make the master copy, and in this please add in cost of inks etc, which are far higher here in Australia."
And there are other things to consider when buying a zine published outside the US: "...mostly due to my geographic isolation (Australia) and having to pay international fees and money exchange rates and other hidden costs."
The polling fan then summarized her thoughts on fanzine production costs: 
==Final words==
Near the end of the conversation one fan offered her thoughts on why printed fanzines should continue existing as method of distributing fan fiction, even in the face of cheaper and more accessible formats:
==References==
Category:Zine Meta
Category:Star Wars Meta
Category:Surveys by Fans
Category:2005 Meta
Category:Meta on Fansites