Why some things a printer produces are SO expensive.

Why some things a printer produces are SO expensive.

I think some print enquiries come to us because the customer has looked online and either could not find what they wanted, or it was shockingly expensive.

The best way of keeping your costs down… if that is what you want (and often that isn’t the case) is to keep to the straight and narrow. Printing 5000 A5 flyers on 130gsm paper will be a doddle of a transaction (if not, do not even consider going online). But what about a sheet of paper 400mm long by 210mm high and folded seven times, printed on one side? Search as you might, I’m pretty sure you won’t find that in any online table of prices. So, the customer pings over a message to us: ‘how much to print 2000 flyers folded and each page 50mm x 210mm?’.

For starters, I can see this is going to be expensive. (It turned out to be best part of £500). Nothing about this is easy; the first issue is, will the customer’s design even be right, it will be complicated and will require checking for printability?

Next, the presses will need reprogramming to print on this odd sized paper. Following this, the cutting and folding will have to be worked on separately to the normal work-flow (by a skilled operator) … the normal work flow would see the job automatically printed, folded in one continuous job. As the job has left the main production line it will require separately invoicing and packaged from all the other jobs.

Another job we quoted on went the same way. Printing on an alarm box. The customer helpfully supplies an image of the type of product. However, incomplete indication of what text is required, how many are required, what size and certainly no print ready design. After emails had bounced back and forth the specification was narrowed down to ONE print. This was quoted at £40 plus VAT. Too expensive, apparently. From our perspective, best move on quickly, perhaps the customer will go elsewhere. Here’s how this would be costed…

£20, charge for laying out the design by the studio (and making alterations as required).
£20, discussion with the vinyl cutter operator, selection of vinyl, checking the art work and processing for the vinyl cutter, setting up the vinyl in the machine, check that the cutter is working OK, weed the unwanted bits of vinyl, add lift-off tape.

In reality, £40 is a bargain and in my opinion should be charged over £100.

Often our job is to keep the price down for our customers. But that can only be achieved if the work is discussed with the printer as the ideas are mulled over in the early stages. Another customer this morning wanted to reduce an insert for his eBay sales from compliment slip size to A6. The easiest way to achieve a cost reduction is to redefine the product as a flyer and remove the VAT element.

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