I've produced CDs and DVDs from a computer-burnt master and a disc copier for some years and - to my knowledge - have not had a failure yet. The disc copier gives a visual confirmation of the pass/fail rate of the discs in the copier tray, so any "fails" get thrown away immediately. The only fails I've had have been mass ones where the master itself was, for whatever reason, faulty.

If I add up the cost of blanks discs (not huge), paper, printer inks (excessive) for covers, CD labels & inserts, jewel cases, postage & packing, (I do mainly mail-order - and mainly to the US) - plus my electricity and time - then I don't think the cost of what I produce (£7) excessive. Any faulty discs would be replaced immediately - hasn't happened yet (fingers crossed...).

The other, unacknowledged, overhead is the years I've spent practising, playing and performing - I suppose this counts?

It's not that I can't afford the overheads of producing a disc, even with a minimum run of, say, 1,000. I just don't choose to deal with any of the companies and prefer to do it all myself, at any quantity needed.