subject: How Discount Printing Really Saves You Money [print this page] For some companies, discount printing might seem too good to be true. After all, arent businesses out to make the most profit possible? This can be particularly true if you have ever been taken in by a too good to be true claim and ended up paying more than you expected thanks to fine print.
However, it is possible to find discount printing with legitimate companies. Quality companies will have the best equipment, allowing them to produce prints faster and in greater volume. This means that printing costs them less, and they can pass the savings on to you.
How you can take advantage of discount printing? It is as simple as knowing what factors will bring you the real deals.
Paper stock
Much of the cost for discount printing comes from the actual materials used. Subsequently, you will want to carefully consider the paper stock that you will use for your printing project. There is a fine line between having a quality product and saving money. Sometimes you can get discount printing by going just one grade lower than what you would normally use. While this change may not be noticeable to the average consumer, the price difference could be quite noticeable to your pocketbook.
Buy in bulk
Aside from the materials, the next most expensive part of discount printing is setting up the presses to print. This is why short run prints often cost a lot more to print per unit than a longer run. If you can, do all of your printing in bulk. This will spread out the set up costs over more units, yielding discount printing in the form of a lower per unit price.
Popular sizes
Printing in a popular size allows you to take advantage of discount printing in two ways. For starters, standard sizing is usually cheaper than custom sizing because the presses are already set up to cut the product into that particular size or shape. In addition, because of the number of discount printing companies competing for your business, popular sizes are the most likely to be put on sale at a lower price.
Double the use
When you can combine the use of your printed materials, you can see more advantages of discount printing. Sometimes this means designing a product that can be disassembled into two such as a postcard with a perforation allowing the user to remove a business card, or a calendar with coupons attached. Other times, if you commission bulk printing, you can use the materials in different manners, such as handing out postcards to visitors to your store and sending them out as bulk mail.
Loss leaders
Discount printing companies, particularly those online, will often advertise loss leaders to get you interested in their products and services. If you can plan your printing needs far enough in advance, their loss can be your financial gain. However, you need to be very careful to read all of the fine print on these types of offers, as you may only qualify for the discount printing price if you order a specific style or amount.
Discount printing is real, and you can use it to save a lot of money. By knowing how to shop, you can save your business money on advertising with every print job you do.
