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Managing your business
Calculating the costs of printing in-house
Each business has its own method of measuring the costs of materials that it prints in-house using its own staff and equipment.
Small offices and home offices often use a per-page figure that was supplied by the company that made their laser printer. Larger companies might do a more detailed analysis that includes such overheads as equipment costs, equipment maintenance costs and staff salaries.
Cost per page & total cost of ownership
A straightforward way to compare printing costs is to calculate the cost per page and the total cost of ownership over the first year. At the very least, the cost per page is the number of pages per print cartridge, divided by the cost of the cartridge, plus the cost of a sheet of paper.
The total cost of ownership over the first year would be the cost per page plus the purchase price of the printer. Make a thoughtful estimate of the number of pages you will print in a year and multiply this by the cost per page. Then add the cost of the printer. Some people discover that when they do the math, their inkjet printer is actually more expensive over a year than it would be to send their jobs out to a commercial printer.
When to send jobs out for printing
Generally speaking, if you only need a few copies of a few pages it will almost always be least expensive to print them in-house on your own equipment. However, you may find that it's often much more economical to send even slightly larger jobs, such as 10 copies of a 50-page document, out to a commercial printer.
Repeat business can mean better pricing
If you have ongoing requirements
for this type of job, your printer may give you special pricing in
consideration for you giving them your ongoing business.
Click here to request an estimate for your next project.
Some of the hidden costs of do-it-yourself printing
Other cost factors often increase the real price of your in-house printing, sometimes dramatically. Here are a few examples:
Ink or toner coverage: Printer manufacturers base their estimates of per-page costs on an "average coverage", which is the amount of ink or toner on the paper. This figure could be as low as 6% to 8%, but your actual average page coverage for some materials might be 40% or more, increasing your per page cost by 500% or more!
Consumables:
In addition to ink cartridges and toner cartridges, some printers and copiers must also have other parts replaced periodically. These replacement parts can cost a few hundred dollars or more.Cleaning cycles:
Inkjet and thermal printers often have a cleaning cycle that can flush a considerable amount of ink out of the printer. As a result you will get fewer copies per cartridge, raising your cost per copy.Quality: The quality of your printed materials reflects on you and your business. Some printers and copiers are fine for small, everyday jobs, but important jobs might benefit from the higher quality of a commercial printer.
Time: Your time has value. If printing in-house ties up your computer or uses too much of your valuable time, you are incurring a real cost.
Warranties: Check the terms of the warranty. If the printer fails, do you have on-site service or do you have to ship it to the manufacturer? What is the cost of an extended warranty? What does the warranty cover?