Many people tell me that buying Printer Cartridges is a lot like buying petrol (gas/fuel). Most of us print from our offices and homes, but buying cartridges can seem like a grudge purchase at worst and a necessary evil at best. Any savings made on buying consumables directly affects profit.
Ideally, we would all live in an electronic world where we don't have to physically reproduce our brand or our sales message. And whilst many business people do manage to reduce their footprint on the earth by printing less, the majority of businesses churn page after page of printed material out of their trusty office printer with the aim of attracting new customers and communicating effectively with existing customers.
What are options do you have, and how can you effectively print, saving money at the same time?
There are two main decisions that business owners make
This article covers Laser Printers.
Laser Printers
Laser Printers are preferred by most business owners for their speed and quality print performance. Laser printers print many more pages than inkjet printers, and cost less per page. You can calculate your cost per page easily. Read this entry: What does it cost to print? Simply calculating the cost per page of each laser printer will tell you which printer to print on to save money. Or contact me and I will do it for you. Knowing the cost per page of printers allows you to compare apples with apples, so to speak.
Buying a laser printer can be expensive, particularly if you want a colour laser printer. If you only want to print letters and invoices, and pages from the internet, consider that you only need a mono laser (mono = black) (actually, if I get picky, mono means one, thus one colour, but the only one colour machine businesses buy IS black!). You might find that pre printed letterhead used on your mono laser is cheaper than buying and running a colour laser printer.
Nearly all laser printers all have consumables as well as cartridges. Drums, fuser units, cleaning rollers, waster toner bottles all have to be factored into the cost per page. Some lasers are cheap to buy, but the ongoing consumables can cost a bomb. It is worth noting though, when you have done the cost per page analysis, many printers come out at a similar figure. Ensure that you check on consumables BEFORE you buy. Your wonderful cartridge supplier will tell you if you ask, but vendor websites and google are a good way to find out too.
A good laser printer cost per page ($A) figure is approximately $0.02 - $0.03 black and $0.04 - $0.05 colour Of course, less is excellent.
A lot of the profit in the stationery industry sits in printer consumables (don't tell anyone I told you that!) therefore there are often savings to be had by purchasing from a cartridge specialist, as opposed to a stationery warehouse. Cartridge specialists have their finger on the pulse of the market and good pricing. Ring around (or check the web, but be very wary of freight charges which can often be quite high and negate any savings)
Stationery warehouses tend to stock low yield (half fill) cartridges, that cost more than half the price of their high yield counterparts. This is to keep you coming back more often.
Some tips to saving money when printing on a laser printer:
Print in mono on your colour laser printer where you can.
Know which printer in your office costs less / more
Consider outsourcing big print jobs to save your other consumables
If buying a laser printer, decide if initial outlay is more important than ongoing cashflow
Shop around for the best price on your consumables and open an account (so you can pay in 30 days, not before you start printing)
Find a supplier that ships freight free
Always buy high yield cartridges (where available)
It does seem that knowing the ins and outs of office printing is a big task, but simply coming back to the basics and calculating the cost per page of your current printer can allow you to compare and make good, profitable decisions. If all else fails, your loyal printer cartridge specialist will be happy to answer any questions you have.
Coming soon:Printing in the Office (Part 2) InkJet Printers
Printing in the Office (Part 3) Genuine or Compatible Cartridges?
Danielle StoreyDirectorThe Cartridge Family, We'' Look After You
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