I wanted to offer my book to local people at a discounted price, where possible. 

Amazon is great for the wider market (assuming you can get people to go to your book link!) but after printing costs and their commission, the price is already high before you think about adding any margin. 

So I thought self-publishing was a good option. I did loads of research and finally decided to go with Mixam. They are here in the UK and appeared to be very professional. 

I placed the order, all done online and they reviewed it, coming back with the spine being in the wrong place and they kindly corrected it, which was amazing.