I don't know diddly about the floor so this is merely curiosity... Are you implying that all market makers pay same/similar broker/dealer commissions? For example, does(do) the IBM market maker(s) pay such fees for trading in their own stock? Do floor traders pay such fees for trading their stock du jour? As an ARCA market maker, do you have the same trading privileges (feewise) that floor MM's and traders have?
MMhas soe benefits, like being short stock in HTB, not to mention the obvious (buying on bid/selling on ask if order flow is there). I don't kno about NYSE Specialists in their own stock, but for option MM the fees are as I showed prior. Pretty much the same for all give or take.
What they mean when they say this, is generally and overall - and without any edge - you can't overcome retail costs. This was recently said about gamma scalping. Obviously, if you can forecast SV vis-a-vis option pricing, then you can overcome costs and be reasonably profitable - but it's probably not a strategy that you should try to use all of the time.
Yes, sad but true, young Spindro. Perhaps, with just a little more experience, you'll understand this.
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. I've got way too much experience!
LOL - I remember reading some of your posts a decade ago about a few of those judgments. Now I can say "a funny thing happened on the road to riches" many times over. Someone once said - I don't want to learn any lessons today - just make some money.