In this chapter we shall be examining the costs supposed by the circulation of commodities. We shall see three classes of costs:
1 those that are incurred in realising the transformations C–M and M–C
2 those that arise in the formation of stock
3 those supposed by the transport of commodities
Alone of the three, the first category, although it supposes the expenditure of labour, does not impart value to the commodities affected by it. The second, insofar as it operates on the product as use-value, imparts value (and therefore surplus-value) to the commodities concerned, even though at the total level it represents a deduction from social capital. The last of these, transportation, although it occurs within the sphere of circulation, is actually a continuation of production within this sphere.
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