$125 for ISBN seems like a ripoff to me - the ISBN are given for free where I come from: the Czech Republic; and the system is administered by the National Library
That's part of the reason it's so outrageous - it's free in countries like the Czech Republic and Canada, but some old-school publishing company was granted the monopoly in the U.S., and as a result authors and publishers are getting gouged in the U.S.
The other thing that bothers me is the shameless, mercenary upsells that are designed to trick newbies. $25 for a barcode? Many book designers throw it in for free or you can get a free one on your own at bookow.com/resources.php
When I first got started in book publishing, it was even worse. Bowker was selling website widgets for some ridiculous subscription fee - $120 to start and $60 every year thereafter (https://in30minutes.com/bowkers-isbn-markup-new-authors/). I wonder how many poor souls are still getting charged for that?
The AMA to both certifies doctors and runs the medical schools. Obviously, they have a vested interest in controlling supply to protect their membership, thus artificial scarcity leads to high prices.
The other thing that bothers me is the shameless, mercenary upsells that are designed to trick newbies. $25 for a barcode? Many book designers throw it in for free or you can get a free one on your own at bookow.com/resources.php
When I first got started in book publishing, it was even worse. Bowker was selling website widgets for some ridiculous subscription fee - $120 to start and $60 every year thereafter (https://in30minutes.com/bowkers-isbn-markup-new-authors/). I wonder how many poor souls are still getting charged for that?