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10 Things You Need To Know About Printing

This site gives printers a lot of attention because 1) printing is one of your most expensive activities and 2) good print management presents oportunities for huge savings. This page presents key fast facts about printer managment. Follow the links for detailed inforamtion on specific topics.

 

How Much Do We Print?

The average US office worker consumes 10,000 printed pages/year, or about 44 pages/day of intenerally printed paper (source). Our professional office clients print 12,000-13,500 pages per person/year or 53-60 pages per day.

 

How Much Do We Spend on Paper?

AT 10,000 pages per person, we spend an average of about $70/person/year on paper. (multi-purpose, 20 lb. bond and 92 or 96 brightness, free delivery).

 

It's worth noting that routine sales and specials can produce savings of upto 35%.

 

How Much Do We Spend on Ink and Toner?

Printer costs are controlable. You can cut your ink/toner costs by as much as 90% if you choose efficient printers and buy generic or remanufactured ink. What does that mean in real dollars?

 

Get ready for a shock.

 

Color printers can consume as much as $2,881 of ink or toner person/year. B&W printers can use as much as $450/person/year. Our research reviewed 160 current printer and all-in-one models in November, 2008. The tables below show best and worst costs for 10K and 13K pages. You can see full results of our research - inlcuding costs per page for over 160 printers - at xxxxxxx

10K Pages / Year	Black & White Laser	Color Laser	Color Inkjet
Low Cost / Person ($)	28.57	352.94	278.30
High Cost / Person ($)	452.20	2,734.43	2,881.50

13K Pages / Year	Black & White Laser	Color Laser	Color Inkjet
Low Cost / Person ($)	37.14	352.94	361.79
High Cost / Person ($)	587.86	3,554.76	3,745.95

Printer Leases

There are two kinds of printer leases: standard equipment leases and lease-service contracts. Standard leases are basically financial arrangments in which a leasing company finances your equipment but you maintain responsibility for supplies and maintenance. Lease-service contracts include repairs, maintenance and supplies for the life of the lease.

As a general rule, lease-service contracts increase printing costs dramatically and service is often inadequate. For these and other reasons, we recommend that you stay away from lease-service agreements. Learn More.

 

Old vs. New Printers

Speaking strictly about ink and toner use, some old printers are extraordinarily effecient. It's quick and easy to compare your old printer to today's models (Learn How). We generally advise people to run efficient old printers into the ground if they meet these criteria:

 

1. Generic cartridges are still available.
2. They have the basic features you require.
3. They don't require regular professional repair (more than 2 times per year).

 

Printing Strategies

Most offices have many different printing requirements - forms, labels, perscriptions, tax documents, etc. It's likely you need more than one printer. If you do, put some thought into where you place and how you use your printers. A good printer strategy usually takes less than a couple of hours to put together and can save you thousands of dollars. See our Printer Management Worksheet

 

At the very least, you should keep the following information in a spreadsheet:

 

•	Cost Per Page	•	Cost Per Cartridge
•	Ink or Toner Supplier	•	Warranty Terms
•	Warranty End Date	•	Lease End Date (if leased)
•	Paper Size Limits	•	Likely Replacement Printer

 

Choosing Printers:  Cost vs. Features

Cost per page is a critical factor, but there's more to buying printers than output costs. Efficient printers that don't have the features you need are useless.

 

Capabilities include double-sided printing, oversized paper handling (e.g. 11x17), mutliple paper trays, print speed (pages per minute), networkability, wireless capability and more. You should know what's out there before you buy. Just be wary: You may have no need for many of the features that drive printer costs. To learn more, see our Key Costs and Statspage and the Printer Glossary page

 

Do You Pay More to Purchase More Efficient Printers?

In general, print speed and features - not cost efficiency - drive printer prices.

 

We compared retail prices against cost per page for approximately 150 current printer models (November 2008). Efficient black and white laser printers tend to cost more than toner guzzlers, but there are plenty of efficient choices. Moreover, toner savings generally offset higer prices in less than one year. There is virtually no corelation between cost efficiency and retail prices for color printers.

 

The chart below shows printer prices (in blue) vs print cost/person/year in pink.