Now that you have those CDs, you have to market and sell them. That is not a trivial thing. Self-produced CDs are NOT easy to sell. There are costs attached to marketing and selling. I would be willing to bet that it will take months or even years to sell 1000 CDs for most Indys because they have to do it retail. Getting them into a retail chain is almost impossible. Selling them one at a time requires you HIRE somebody to stand there and sell them at a concert venue. Now you have minimum wage plus benefits to contend with. . . in multiple venues. That requires an accountant to keep track of. Your costs escalate. Doing this on a one-off is not where the big bucks are for your average Indy.
Making money through streaming is a better model. The indy receives a check in the mail once a month, once a quarter and carries it to the bank. . . or it's direct deposited. Done. He or she can concentrate on making music not running a business selling CDs.
Finally, WHO USES CDs ANYMORE?
Actually it is as easy as clicking a few buttons and bang you are part of Amazon's On Demand CD service. But see the idea of indies selling their CDs is to do so at their gigs. And yes they make more money doing so than with iTines who can't fill that niche and Indies make a nice chunk of change doing so Especially when the bundle a tshirt and poster into the deal. And Indie fans like it because the money is going directly to the band.
"Finally, WHO USES CDs ANYMORE?"
Well Indies do though they also use data sticks with all sots of extras on them (Digital Art etc.) One of the reasons Indie Fans love CDs and such is because they can get their items Autographed. Myself I still prefer my music purchases to be CDs that is why I buy from Amazon. I get the CD AND I get the digital copy free added to my Amazon cloud which does not count towards my data limit. I like having a physical copy knowing I can give all that great music to my kids. Has anyone figured out how to put an iTunes account into a will yet?
If I see a band live and I like them I always buy their CD at the show knowing they get the bucks I rarely buy digital downloads.