At first glance I wouldn't use the services Simon has recommended, I am always weary of companies undercutting other businesses - in my opinion it's bad form and will lead to major problems within our industry in the not to distant future, there are already stories of struggling designers/developers not able to make an honest living through being driven down in price - it's a scary world if that is going to become the norm. Plus I'm not impressed with the website either, if you want a reasonably priced - high quality printer several have been mentioned in this post.
Cheapest Printing in the UK
- Thread starter fred92
- Start date
Minuteman Press
Active Member
It's a funny old world! The Internet is a great place, but leaves trails everywhere. Good spot Boss!
CTL Designs
Member
cheap printing
So true - profit margins across the industry have been slashed. Some companies have run loss leaders that mean competitors are eventually forced out. This tactic can mean excellent prices for customers in the short term and the work is not always inferior but the long term result is an impoverished profession. With continuing advances in technology and the global market place we operate in we just have to accept that profit margins on print buying will continue to be reduced.
:icon_dunno:
So true - profit margins across the industry have been slashed. Some companies have run loss leaders that mean competitors are eventually forced out. This tactic can mean excellent prices for customers in the short term and the work is not always inferior but the long term result is an impoverished profession. With continuing advances in technology and the global market place we operate in we just have to accept that profit margins on print buying will continue to be reduced.
:icon_dunno:
Like your site Toppers.
I feel obliged to own up to the fact that a few years ago when I started a new business I also went to Vista Print rather than get my husband to design my cards and arrange print etc. I felt more in control of the process and he couldn't compete on price! Generally you get what you pay for - free cards on lower grade paper using templates and with Vista Print advertising on the back, unless you pay extra. They also try to get you to pay for add ons all the way to check out - like Ryan Air.
He did design a web site for me, leaflets and press adverts though. See aloe vera forever living products beehive mo maureen berry gel drink pets health business opportunity distributor twickenham home work self employed recommended world wide international beauty independence Page 1.
Although the copy is mine and he pointed out that I am too wordy. Clients are often so difficult to deal with - especially family.
Still for your sister to go to a rival for her printing needs must be frustrating.
I feel obliged to own up to the fact that a few years ago when I started a new business I also went to Vista Print rather than get my husband to design my cards and arrange print etc. I felt more in control of the process and he couldn't compete on price! Generally you get what you pay for - free cards on lower grade paper using templates and with Vista Print advertising on the back, unless you pay extra. They also try to get you to pay for add ons all the way to check out - like Ryan Air.
He did design a web site for me, leaflets and press adverts though. See aloe vera forever living products beehive mo maureen berry gel drink pets health business opportunity distributor twickenham home work self employed recommended world wide international beauty independence Page 1.
Although the copy is mine and he pointed out that I am too wordy. Clients are often so difficult to deal with - especially family.
Still for your sister to go to a rival for her printing needs must be frustrating.
In my experience as a reseller (hiya Boss, thanks for the mouse mats at Christmas!), any given printer, on any given day, can beat any given price. It depends on how hungry they are for the work. If the client is willing to put the work in to find quotes then they'll get a better price (after all, that's what I'm doing - they could always find my suppliers!)
It strikes me that all the chat about resellers being able to use purchasing power to get the best deals available is mainly just that - chat. When I started out I was very, very bad at the game (literally just reselling products from one supplier); now I would say that I'm pretty damn good, and price is only one small factor. What I try to do, what I think every reseller should do, is to be honest about the industry, to offer the best customer service they possibly can, and to use what they know about suppliers (not to mention the relationships they have with them) to get the client what they want, when they want it, at a decent price.
I don't claim to be the best priced printer out there, but I do claim to be the best print supplier that any of my clients could find. I also take it personally - their job becomes my job as soon as I've got my mitts on it and I keep on the printer until it's delivered and the client is happy. If my client wants to put in that work themselves then that's fine by me, but if they want me to do it they're going to pay to tap into my knowledge and take my time! Being upfront about the way that I do business, admitting that I'm in it to make a profit, and generally being helpful strikes me as the key to success in this corner of the industry. Pretending that I'm the cheapest option available, and that I can still offer that kind of service, is setting myself up for a fall...
Generally, I would offer these bits of advice to resellers coming to GDF for the first time:
1. Crawl the boards and offer individual prices to individual requests. Your prices are going to be within a couple of quid of everyone else in most instances, so a blanket offer won't work unless it's REALLY special.
2. Don't try and sell your printing to the regular posters. They're all either suppliers or resellers themselves, and you look stupid.
And generic advice on reselling:
1. Have a walk away point. I used to take on jobs for a profit of a fiver - which cost me more than a fiver in stress. If the client beats your price, and your margin's thin, then wish them luck (gracefully), ask them to get in touch if they have any other requirements, and bid them good day.
2. Be a nice guy. All of my regular clients keep working with me because they like it. They don't go looking for another quote because they trust that I'll take care of them.
3. Be honest about what you do. Don't pretend you're running a heidelberg out of your garage - it'll bite you in the ass eventually.
4. Ask for referrals.
5. Don't price gouge. I've had people come to me with prices that I could beat by a grand before (while making a decent profit). I've beaten them by a grand, rather than by fifty quid - and those clients have been loyal to me.
6. Have two or three suppliers as your go to guys, but be prepared to get prices from elsewhere for them to look at when they get comfortable with you.
7. Don't write cheques your ass can't cash. If you promise a Tuesday delivery, make damn sure it's scheduled for Monday with your supplier. If you're not processing orders 24/7, don't pretend that you are. If you can't do a job without putting in a hell of a lot of spadework for a tiny profit then just pass the work onto the supplier you would use yourself and tell the client to mention your name.
8. Take an interest. OK, so this is the fourth comic book you've sent to print today; chances are your client has spent hours, days, and weeks on it. So show them a little love - find something you like about it and mention that in an email. If the client feels like you care about them then they'll come back to you.
9. In nine situations out of ten: a phone call > an email.
10. Keep plugging at it. A bad week for me used to mean that I took no orders. Now it means that I take enough orders to pay my bills and eat, soon it'll be what I used to think of as a good week.
Not that this helps the OP, because trolls don't print!
-- PB
PS: FAO Boss - I have multiple accounts, which is why this is coming from the same IP as another recent post. Given that (I hope) I'm not punking the boards I hope you'll class this under 'no harm, no foul'! Let me know by PM if it's out of line.
PPS: FAO OP - Your tissue thin lie is super amusing. You won't pick up any business off anyone here, I suspect!
PPPS: Anyone have any other thoughts on reselling? I'd be interested to hear what you think of my suggestions, and what you think I'm doing wrong!
It strikes me that all the chat about resellers being able to use purchasing power to get the best deals available is mainly just that - chat. When I started out I was very, very bad at the game (literally just reselling products from one supplier); now I would say that I'm pretty damn good, and price is only one small factor. What I try to do, what I think every reseller should do, is to be honest about the industry, to offer the best customer service they possibly can, and to use what they know about suppliers (not to mention the relationships they have with them) to get the client what they want, when they want it, at a decent price.
I don't claim to be the best priced printer out there, but I do claim to be the best print supplier that any of my clients could find. I also take it personally - their job becomes my job as soon as I've got my mitts on it and I keep on the printer until it's delivered and the client is happy. If my client wants to put in that work themselves then that's fine by me, but if they want me to do it they're going to pay to tap into my knowledge and take my time! Being upfront about the way that I do business, admitting that I'm in it to make a profit, and generally being helpful strikes me as the key to success in this corner of the industry. Pretending that I'm the cheapest option available, and that I can still offer that kind of service, is setting myself up for a fall...
Generally, I would offer these bits of advice to resellers coming to GDF for the first time:
1. Crawl the boards and offer individual prices to individual requests. Your prices are going to be within a couple of quid of everyone else in most instances, so a blanket offer won't work unless it's REALLY special.
2. Don't try and sell your printing to the regular posters. They're all either suppliers or resellers themselves, and you look stupid.
And generic advice on reselling:
1. Have a walk away point. I used to take on jobs for a profit of a fiver - which cost me more than a fiver in stress. If the client beats your price, and your margin's thin, then wish them luck (gracefully), ask them to get in touch if they have any other requirements, and bid them good day.
2. Be a nice guy. All of my regular clients keep working with me because they like it. They don't go looking for another quote because they trust that I'll take care of them.
3. Be honest about what you do. Don't pretend you're running a heidelberg out of your garage - it'll bite you in the ass eventually.
4. Ask for referrals.
5. Don't price gouge. I've had people come to me with prices that I could beat by a grand before (while making a decent profit). I've beaten them by a grand, rather than by fifty quid - and those clients have been loyal to me.
6. Have two or three suppliers as your go to guys, but be prepared to get prices from elsewhere for them to look at when they get comfortable with you.
7. Don't write cheques your ass can't cash. If you promise a Tuesday delivery, make damn sure it's scheduled for Monday with your supplier. If you're not processing orders 24/7, don't pretend that you are. If you can't do a job without putting in a hell of a lot of spadework for a tiny profit then just pass the work onto the supplier you would use yourself and tell the client to mention your name.
8. Take an interest. OK, so this is the fourth comic book you've sent to print today; chances are your client has spent hours, days, and weeks on it. So show them a little love - find something you like about it and mention that in an email. If the client feels like you care about them then they'll come back to you.
9. In nine situations out of ten: a phone call > an email.
10. Keep plugging at it. A bad week for me used to mean that I took no orders. Now it means that I take enough orders to pay my bills and eat, soon it'll be what I used to think of as a good week.
Not that this helps the OP, because trolls don't print!
-- PB
PS: FAO Boss - I have multiple accounts, which is why this is coming from the same IP as another recent post. Given that (I hope) I'm not punking the boards I hope you'll class this under 'no harm, no foul'! Let me know by PM if it's out of line.
PPS: FAO OP - Your tissue thin lie is super amusing. You won't pick up any business off anyone here, I suspect!
PPPS: Anyone have any other thoughts on reselling? I'd be interested to hear what you think of my suggestions, and what you think I'm doing wrong!
Oh, also, they have the same grammatical/syntactical errors and structures. Or, to be more exact, one is a refined version of the other. I knew that English degree would come in handy one day!
Perhaps the OP and his alter ego would like to enlighten us as to the company for which they work. It seems odd that OP wouldn't go to the department that simon67 works in for his quotes, given that they seem to have it all worked out. Perhaps someone should offer to print them a company newsletter.... :icon_lol:
linziloop
Member
A big name in the industry? Which industry? In the design industry, in my opinion, they just have a reputation for being crap quality.
Personally I much prefer to use a local printer that i can build a good relationship with that in turn will give me great prices and great service. Posting asking which is the cheapest printer in the UK and expecting people to do the legwork for you is, well, a little cheeky to say the least. It would also depend on the print job surely? And what offers people have on and the time?
Exactly, you will not find one printer who is well priced on everything as different printers specialise in different things...anyway this thread was started in an underhand and frankly amateur way just so they could promote their own business, however, I hope the other genuine responses are of use to others.
Hi everyone, this is my first post here.
To start off saying, I run a local large format printing business in Nottingham and after seeing some replies, I totally agree that our profit margin is being slashed a lot these days! But the same time (speaking in terms of large format printing) the prices were actually extremely overpriced in the past few years, eg. up 20 pounds for an A1 on normal coated paper in London, and in my opinion these print shops were making hell of a lot money especially from students.
Is this ethical? I mean I understand that store rent, labour etc could add up to the cost, but taking the cost of a full bleed A1 printing is merely 3-4 pounds even with original consumables, I think these print shops should start giving bigger discounts to students especially when they have to bear rising tuition fee and living cost.
I'm saying all these because I was a student not long ago, and had to pay hundreds of pounds each year to get my works printed etc which I think it was completely unacceptable, so as many of my friends who complained that they could go on a luxurious holiday with that money!
Anyway, back to the point. I completely disagree that cheap print shop produces poor printing quality, AT ALL! Apart from the print shop I'm running, as well as others that I know around Nottingham, we possess printing knowledge that far exceed the staffs in larger print companies, whilst they were those charging over 15pounds for an A1 print!
I'm not to say I am the best or anything, but was just trying to voice out that most print shop are heavily overpriced especially with their large format printing category.
Apology if my attitude isn't good, but my aim is to provide affordable printing for the local community and especially students when they don't have much money to spare, BUT needed to print things as university requirement. At the same time, wanted to say the competition in large format printing is getting so severe these days that we find it so hard to survive!
However, if any concerns about printing and want to discuss on this matter with me, feel free to contact me via message or email to [email protected]
i look forward to any replies as well as criticism to what I said.
Adrian
CritPrint
Home | Crit Print - Large format printing solutions for students in Nottingham
To start off saying, I run a local large format printing business in Nottingham and after seeing some replies, I totally agree that our profit margin is being slashed a lot these days! But the same time (speaking in terms of large format printing) the prices were actually extremely overpriced in the past few years, eg. up 20 pounds for an A1 on normal coated paper in London, and in my opinion these print shops were making hell of a lot money especially from students.
Is this ethical? I mean I understand that store rent, labour etc could add up to the cost, but taking the cost of a full bleed A1 printing is merely 3-4 pounds even with original consumables, I think these print shops should start giving bigger discounts to students especially when they have to bear rising tuition fee and living cost.
I'm saying all these because I was a student not long ago, and had to pay hundreds of pounds each year to get my works printed etc which I think it was completely unacceptable, so as many of my friends who complained that they could go on a luxurious holiday with that money!
Anyway, back to the point. I completely disagree that cheap print shop produces poor printing quality, AT ALL! Apart from the print shop I'm running, as well as others that I know around Nottingham, we possess printing knowledge that far exceed the staffs in larger print companies, whilst they were those charging over 15pounds for an A1 print!
I'm not to say I am the best or anything, but was just trying to voice out that most print shop are heavily overpriced especially with their large format printing category.
Apology if my attitude isn't good, but my aim is to provide affordable printing for the local community and especially students when they don't have much money to spare, BUT needed to print things as university requirement. At the same time, wanted to say the competition in large format printing is getting so severe these days that we find it so hard to survive!
However, if any concerns about printing and want to discuss on this matter with me, feel free to contact me via message or email to [email protected]
i look forward to any replies as well as criticism to what I said.
Adrian
CritPrint
Home | Crit Print - Large format printing solutions for students in Nottingham
garlex
Member
No criticism but I do think that some of the cheaper printers are not the best, I accept what you're saying but it will always depend on the company. There are a number of reasons why one company is much cheaper than another.
One could be that they are brand new and are prepared to make a loss in the short term in order to build a client list. Another could be that a company is so bad that the only way that they can get business is to undercut everyone else.
I know of examples of both of these and naturally there will be other examples.
One could be that they are brand new and are prepared to make a loss in the short term in order to build a client list. Another could be that a company is so bad that the only way that they can get business is to undercut everyone else.
I know of examples of both of these and naturally there will be other examples.
RemcoGraffix
New Member
Cheap... That's such a nasty word - our prices are very very competitive.
Remco Graffix Provide An Outstanding Quality Print Along With Their Free Next Day Delivery Service As Standard
Thanks
Remco Graffix Provide An Outstanding Quality Print Along With Their Free Next Day Delivery Service As Standard
Thanks
garlex
Member
I have to say, I just checked out your site and notice that it seems to me that the prices for printing have the delivery price built.
This is the opposite to people like Vistaprint who purport to supply free or at low cost but make their money on the cost of delivery. It used to happen, maybe still does, with adverts in magazines where they attract purchasers with great prices, cheaper than anywhere else but the delivery charge was high and it was where they made their profit, the consumer didn't think of this.
Davidw
Member
Hello
This made me laugh - as I did have a couple of Heidelbergs in my garage for several years.
I enjoyed reading your post - you obviously know your stuff and you seem to have everything pretty well covered regarding reselling - I think you're doing everything right
I would just add some further advice to your list, for people who are "new to the printing industry" (as per the original post) and think reselling is some kind of easy get rich quick plan they can learn on a forum :-
11. Spend some time learning about the printing industry if you're serious about being a reseller. Perhaps some kind of college course if it's available, or work at a printing company for a while - there are so many pitfalls with ordering print and you can easily lose money. You wouldn't set up a business as a car dealer (etc) if you knew nothing about cars...
Hello
This made me laugh - as I did have a couple of Heidelbergs in my garage for several years.
I enjoyed reading your post - you obviously know your stuff and you seem to have everything pretty well covered regarding reselling - I think you're doing everything right
I would just add some further advice to your list, for people who are "new to the printing industry" (as per the original post) and think reselling is some kind of easy get rich quick plan they can learn on a forum :-
11. Spend some time learning about the printing industry if you're serious about being a reseller. Perhaps some kind of college course if it's available, or work at a printing company for a while - there are so many pitfalls with ordering print and you can easily lose money. You wouldn't set up a business as a car dealer (etc) if you knew nothing about cars...
Thank you, sir! And an excellent follow up there.
Can't believe you ran presses out of a garage! How big was it?!
Davidw
Member
Hello printbar
I had my single garage extended by about 50% - a Heidelberg platen (letterpress) has a footprint of around 4ft square, so plenty of room
In fact I also had a small litho machine in there as well - and a guillotine
Regards - David
stevednp3
New Member
As I have posted elsewhere the cheapest option is not always the best esp for your company image, if your handing out poorly printed material it will do your company image more harm than good, with our company the only thing cheap about our leaflets is the price! We use high quality 130g Gloss Art and print to the highest standards possible.
garlex
Member
This is very true, I wholeheartedly agree. However, we actually use 150gsm as standard and I wonder if customers actually take notice of this, rather being drawn to the cheap prices as the most important feature.
Like us you probably would offer the thinner option and actually be more competitive than most of these companies who are in truth purporting to be cheaper but in reality compromising the quality, which as you say should, one would think be the main criteria.