What an interesting thread.
Naturally, CD make the products for less money than they sell them onto the CDC. In turn, the CDC buys the products for less money than they sell them on to the customer. However, isn't that the way any business works? How many people out there work for absolutely no money?
As a CDC, I sell every Cambridge pack at £1.60 per item, totalling £33.60 per week. I do this because I currently think it'd be too much of a hassle to work out individual rrps, even though the bars and tetras cost me more to buy than the sachets. Yes, this means that clients who only ever have sachets are paying 5p per product over the rrp, but those who only ever have tetras and/or bars are saving money. In reality, i'm probably making less profit than I would if I stuck to the rrps, and, as the majority of my clients have a mixture of products, then most of them are better off with my flat rate system.
Once you take into account alcohol, meals out, takeaways, and all the junk I consumed when I was bigger (and sometimes still consume now!), I truly believe that living off Cambridge was much cheaper for me than living off food. You also need to bear in mind that you're doing Cambridge for a reason - to lose weight - so that's why you're paying for it at the end of the day.
As a counsellor, I incur extra costs such as buying all the booklets for clients, making phone calls, etc, etc. It also takes up a lot of my time, as, aside from the time slots in which I see clients, my 'behind the scenes' time is vast. My family are also inconvenienced, as they all have to disappear into their respective rooms when i'm running my Cambridge sessions!
My full time job is teaching, and, although I enjoy it, I wouldn't do it for free. The same could be said for Cambridge.
Also, bear in mind that Cambridge itself is a non-profit making organisation, as it is backed by the Howard charitable foundation. I honestly don't believe that they're in this to make mega-bucks.
So, that's my two-penneth worth.
Jo x
