Are we selling physical maps too cheap?

What hasn't helped in the UK was the decision by government to make some of Ordnance Survey data free, at a stroke diminishing the perceived value of maps in general. Their latest game is to give the data away for free with every paper map sold ( which costs ￡8.99)

In the history of "creators" (artists, cartographers, et al), I don't think there has ever been a time when all but a very few of said people have felt they are being adequately compensated for their creations. ;-) Are we selling physical (printed) maps too cheap?! Probably not. Maps are merely a commodity to most consumers out there. That's a blow to a lot of cartographer egos, but we all know it is true...deep down inside, if we're honest. Maps are information and a means to an end (not the end itself, like creators sometimes allow themselves to be convinced is the case). Information that is increasingly more convenient and/or preferred in digital form on one's mobile devices. And with demand for printed maps being *HIGHLY* elastic, and many cartographers' primary competition for map sales revenue being companies who are giving their maps away for free? It's a miracle that people are netting even "some" money in the print map business. Terry gets it partially correct, in that people often price themselves too low for custom work! But Peter's posting is not about custom work, if I am reading him correctly, so much as creating retail solutions for the masses. And in that regard? Even $15 for a printed map sounds like a small miracle in today's retail (mapping) marketplace.

It absolutely floors me that some maps sell as low as $4.95. Tells you how much they value their work. From a retail perspective, it's not really worth the effort to order, receive and sell on the retail side, so these publishers are ultimately only hurting themselves.