8+ Steps on How to Price Printing Service Efficiently!!

Before you decide to create a business in the printing industry, you have to make a good plan, especially on how to price printing service. The printing service is promising if you know how to calculate the factors properly. Here are some considerations that you must pay attention to.

Considering The Equipment

The printing equipment is an important factor because you have to calculate the cost of purchasing. As an example, the printer itself has a lifetime. In the printing industry, the printer is a vital calculation so you can buy the new one from the cost you charge to the consumers.

For the consumer themselves, this is the cost you charge as per leasing the printer. Since the price of the printer is different according to the brand and quality grade, you can charge differently. Equipment cost is way more expensive than the supplies you use to print.

The Printer Manufacturer

Each model of your printer from the manufacturer will be different in rice. It affects how to price printing service. For example, a printer to print black and white will be different from a printer to print coloring pages. 

Even the printers which are coming from the same brand will be different if the model numbers are different. The working system of the printer works differently and it has a big influence on the printing result. You can check the model number of the printer from a manual book in the package.

The Price of Cartridge Toner

The cartridge toner is also a big part of the calculation because it is the main material to print the pages. The cartridge works differently according to what you print, so how the price printing service works will have some differences. Each brand of cartridge toner offers different qualities as well.

If you are a newcomer in a printing business, you can consult this matter with the purchasing department. The calculation should be detailed, especially if you are not a printing service that specializes in one type of color only. Service for BW is cheaper than colorful pages.

As an example, a printing service for black and white color will be different from the colorful one. The black and white page only counts the printing price for black cartridges only. When it comes to the colorful pages, the calculation involves the CMYK cartridges.

To identify the cost of a cartridge, you can decide it according to the average retail price. Find this kind of information on the website of the cartridge brand. You can survey the market price as well. Specialization might be different especially if the cartridge type and brand are high-level ones.

The Price of Printing Media

Printing media is part of the supplies. The difference in use from printing media will have many differences in how to price printing service. For example, the price of HVS paper will be different according to its weight per meter. It will affect the printing quality as well.

Another difference comes in the type of what you print. Other types of paper such as art cartons have big differences because they are thicker. It goes the same for the other available media such as envelopes, etc. The cost of printing media burdens the consumers.

Besides the printing media, you might have to calculate the expense of mistake printing or bad printing. The output of printing sometimes doesn’t come out as expected. So you have to consider the price as well. This misplacing supply case is common in the printing business.

The Maintenance

Another thing you have to consider while thinking about how to price the printing service is maintenance. Besides calculating the cost of the printer, you have to calculate the possible maintenance, especially the printer.

If you choose a printer with less quality, you might find it hard to keep up with work. The printer has a duty cycle per month. If the printing activity is very busy and productive more than the duty cycle, you have to prepare some maintenance to keep the quality of the component.

The problem of printing from the printer usually appears when the printer itself has been outdated. The functions may decrease and maintenance should be proper from time to time. If not, you will find it difficult to do the simple task and more problems are coming.

Actually, the user can maintain the work of the printer by cleaning the printer regularly. For several components in the printer, you might have to consult with a technician since there are parts that are unreachable. It’s worth more than having a new printer that costs so much money.

The Service

It is normal if you have problems with the printer and are excluded from regular maintenance. It is because the service is only done when the printer has been broken without notice. Some problems might occur if you use the printer actively and pass the duty cycle.

If your printer comes from a good-quality brand you can come to the authorized customer service to bring the printer. It is such an investment, especially if it is still under the guarantee period. The service party will make sure that the printer is working again.

Sometimes, how to price printing service should be careful as well because the cost of service can be high. If the model is outdated already, the service fee can be expensive. If the problem comes from a very important component, you can consider buying a new printer.

Another investment that you can consider is handling the person of the printer in your printer service. You can consider working with experienced people who can handle the type or printer model. They will be careful and at least maintain the printer well to keep it working properly.

Employee Rate

The bigger the business, the higher the employee rate. This is like a package of how to price printing service in this industry. You cannot work alone and this is essential in this business. Some employees do not only work to print but also do technical stuff in the printing industry.

The technicians who do this will get a high salary because they work to solve the problem. This printer care is taking a lot of time, so they shouldn’t be in charge of printing activity. They only have to be available in that technical area.

There is also a person who should be responsible for the printing quality. The printing quality is very important in this business because it is the main factor that will make them go back to your business. They should check the printing media, so the mistake can be minimized.

Another employee will be on task to ensure that the printing activity is always on time, so the customer will not wait too late. The employee rate should follow the guideline from your area, following their working hours and also extra time if you have.

Checking The Duty Cycle

The duty cycle is how the printer is doing its best. You can check the duty cycle of the model you have in their manual book. The duty cycle is the ability of the printer to print the pages in a month. You can print more than that number, but the quality might be questionable.

The duty cycle should be in your consideration of how to price printing service. If you are so active in the business and the page number always passes the duty cycle, it is time for you to get another printer. Or else, the existing machine won’t be able to do its work according to its lifespan.

Since the duty cycle of each model will be different, you can buy and use a printer that has a large number of duty cycles. It lasts longer for the printing business and you don’t need to worry about a large amount of printing. Choose the printer which is promising for business.

Dynamic and Skimming Pricing

Dynamic pricing means you can set the bar with a bundling offer. This strategy is attracting more people who always print a number of pages. With a dynamic strategy, people can get less-price when they print in large numbers. However, you have to calculate properly with this pricing.

For example, people who print 100 pages at once will get a less expensive price per page compared to people who print 10 pages. For customers who do publishing business, dynamic pricing is very interesting because they can gain more profit. You can get more loyal customers as well.

It's different with skimming pricing. This pricing is the system to follow the quality of the printing. You can fill the gap customers need because they can get cheap prices if the printing output is less important. Some people might only read the output once and then throw it away.

For example, printing on the paper art carton 310 GSM will have a different price from 260 GSM. The quality of ink or laser print is also a contributing factor to how to price printing service. Skimming price invites more people to come to your business because they can have the quality they want.

Increasing Efficiency of Printing Cost

Choosing The Best Printer

The best tip on how to price printing service is by choosing the best printer. The best one might not be expensive, but it is supportive of the printing industry. The BW printer might be different with the colorful pages. The printer with a high-duty cycle is the best suggestion.

Using The Good Quality of Paper

The low quality of paper you use to print will only waste money, especially in printing services. You will spend many pages on waste because the output is not good enough for the customers. Instead of spending much for this, you can use paper of good quality.

Refilling the Ink Cartridges

Replacing the cartridges will only spend much more money because the price is higher than just refilling the ink. It is better to refill. However, you have to know how to refill the ink because the quality might have another effect after printing. So, be careful while refilling the ink.

Choosing the Compatible Cartridges

If you use compatible cartridges, the output will not be efficient. The quality is bad and you might have to print the files. Since it is a printing service, it wastes ink and paper. So, it is better to choose only compatible cartridges for your printer.

Why Pricing in Printing Service is Important?

Maintaining The Service

It is important to have a sustainable printing business, so deciding the price of the printing service is vital to do. You cannot decide the price just because of the competitiveness among the other printing businesses. The cost you spend to build the business may be far different than others do.

With the price you charge to the customers, you have been maintaining the service you give to the customers. Remember, you need to pay the rate of your employee, the cost of electricity, the supplies, and other factors that contribute to this business.

Increasing The Productivity

With the correct pricing, you can increase the productivity of your printing service. Many printing businesses suffer from wasteful printing because they spend a lot of supplies, yet the profit is close to zero, even minus. It leads to more errors because of the employee's work as well.

Reducing Cost

With the right pricing, you can avoid the unnecessary cause of the error. You have to manage this by setting the price rightfully and training the employee. Your team should be able to work well and understand why the printing business is different from one to another.

How to price printing service is not difficult as long as you follow those guidelines. Besides the profit, setting the price is also about how you increase your productivity in this business and maintain the quality of your printing output.