As already mentioned earlier, the main appeal of online bookstores are without a doubt lower book prices. Stores that operate exclusively online can afford to dramatically reduce their prices because they do not have to buy/rent a space for the actual store nor hire an army of employees to help the clients. Furthermore, they sometimes do not physically store the books and related products but simply forward the orders to the publishers or wholesalers which further reduces the costs of operation and subsequently allows the owners of online bookstores to offer books at significantly lower prices and still earn enough for living.