Pricing and Costs of Commercial Printers

What to consider when buying or leasing a commercial printer

There are lots of choices when it comes to choosing commercial printers for business printing. Almost all businesses will want some kind of business printer, but many companies will choose to outsource some of their items to a company that provides business printing services. Other companies may produce such a quantity of documents that it's worth the cost to purchase or lease a large high-speed digital printer or production printer.

When making your budget, consider the costs of maintenance, supplies, your own paper and staff time and training as well as the price of the machine. Costs of running each type of printer generally increase with the initial cost of the machine. There are several levels of pricing and costs of commercial printers:

1. Business printers and multifunction printers can cost under $100, but printers made for high-volume quantities can cost several thousand dollars.

2. Digital presses can range from $5,000 to almost $200,000.

3. Advanced copiers and production printers range from $20,000 to $200,000.

Choose small- or medium-sized business printers for moderate usage

When it comes to business printing, a medium-sized printer is a good choice for a small business or one work group in a larger business. One of these printers will cost anywhere from $50 to $8,000. Evaluate your use of color to decide whether you need a color printer and choose a laser printer for economical printing.

Find digital presses made by commercial printer manufacturers

Digital presses are high-speed, high-quality, high-resolution digital printers, available in both color and black and white models. These are large machines with price tags varying from $5,000 to almost $200,000, so you might consider leasing as an option. Consult the commercial printer manufacturer for exact specifications on speed and resolution, as well as suggested machines for the number of pages you print in a month.

Consider large printers made for commercial printing companies

Commercial printing firms or large companies that produce their own documents might want to use production printers. These high-speed printers have advanced functions and many choices for finishing options, such as collating and binding and job-queue management capabilities. In addition to the investment of $20,000 to $200,000, this type of printer will require its own room and at least one staff person to run it.

• When considering the cost of commercial printers for sale, keep in mind the price of supplies, especially ink and toner and also staff and staff training.

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