Printing prices... what are you paying for?

Printing prices may seem a logical starting point when you organise your business printing requirements, especially as most of us have a budget to take into consideration. So we naturally look for the best cost of printing that we can get.

However, and as basic as this may seem, the reason most people choose price first when seeking a product for personal or business use is because that is how we have been taught.

When we delve into why we often buy on price, we find it's frequently because that's how we are trained by sellers. We are told "Save $$$, Big Discount, Cheapest", so it's no wonder we target price early in our decision making.

Coupled with that is the abject failure of many businesses to educate their clients in the benefits to be obtained by using their services.

Why price can be a poor guide.

There are three immutable forces in action when we make a purchase decision.

This is what we want…

Best Price
Best Quality
Best Service

Don't let anyone tell you they offer all three, as it's an impossibility if they want to stay in business.

Logic tells us a supplier can always be undercut in price, even if another seller takes a loss just to get our custom.

The obvious way to reduce the price is to lower the quality of the product offered to us.

Even if we get the best price and quality, the seller will not have enough profit to be able to provide us with top service.

Hence the truism… "We get what we pay for."

You therefore have to decide what is important to you. Does your printed product have to enhance the status of your business, or is it a throw-away item where quality is not an issue? Do you need to make quick response demands on your printer, for work to be produced at short notice? In other words, is top service from your printer a necessity for your business to function effectively?

What affects your printing prices.

First we can consider the design aspects. Do you do your own print design in-house, or use an outside company? If you decide to outsource the design, ask associates who they use, if you like their printing. Or else you can take note of interesting items that come into your business, or that you see on the Web, and track down the designer.

Next you can investigate the variety of substrates available for the type of print job you want. Choose between paper types and colours, which thickness of card is best, these coffee mugs or those? A good printer will guide you through the decision process and ensure you are satisfied with the end result.

Have a talk with a few printers and ask what their turn-around time is for new jobs, and also repeat orders. How does the printing cost change if you require an emergency print job. Can you arrange for the printer to do your work during quiet periods for a discount on their quoted printing price.

Once you have settled on one or two printers, ask them for the contact details of some of their customers (or get the details from their website), and then get in touch with some and ask them a few questions. In particular, ask about anything that is essential for your business, and determine how good your selected printer will be at meeting that need. Getting it right at this point, before you commit your funds, will enable you to get the best printing prices you can reasonably expect for the work you want performed.

Thank you for reading this brief overview of organising your business printing prices. If you bookmark this page, and then click through to the various product categories in the index to the left, you will find additional information.

Return from Printing Prices to Print Home

Would your clients appreciate a Link to This Page?

Then just cut and paste the following code into your web page.

This is how it will look on your page:

get your printing prices under control