> lots of paperbacks with glossy covers etc.

Glossy cover lamination is actually cheaper than matte lamination.

If you meant more fancier finishing like spot UV or foil-stamping, ignore what I said.

yeah I was thinking of the foil stamping etc... maybe it just looks fancier to me (and hence why they do it I guess??)

Japanese paperbacks tend to use dust covers instead. Dunno if that's cheaper or not, but it seems like it.