Print Resellers

rob@cystem

rob@cystem

Member
Hi All

I'd like my business to start looking into printing, what are your thoughts on being a printing reseller, are there any good companies out there that you can recommend. Have any of you had bad experiences of being a print reseller, I'd be interested to hear anyone's opinion on the matter.

I look forward to your response.
 
Hi,

new to the fourm.

I had a printing.com franchise up until recently which I was delighted to get shot of in the summer. But would avoid their bolt on franchise as its the hidden costs which make it expensive compulsory marketing spending on print with them taken monthly whether you use it or not.

If you reach the volume to justify RCS top discount plugin you get two free deliveries included and can combine consignments. Printing.com, when its ready its despatched, TNT will consolidate items shipped to you on the same day however the print hub can not hold anything so jobs leave when they are complete. So add the costs of carriage to your job and the margins disappear. I was spending £4k a year with TNT on top of my franchise fee.

Great name but a true franchise once you are in difficult to get out and you are held to ransom to a degree customer details are entered on are their system no guarantee this will be used by other franchise when you leave.

Not tried any other resellers but from what i can see there is 350gm weight of paper limit, whereas you can get 400gm business cards through both printing.com and rcs.

Reading here and other forums the cheaper the print the more problems there is with the supplier. RCS offer guaranteed production times and not had any problems, a friend has been with them for 3 years now and sings their praises, hence I got out of my printiing.com letting them sell it on to new franchisee.

Have a look at their site and speak with Michael Todd the MD if you have any worries solid company.

Try and get a reprint off printing.com is impossible production throw "in tolerance" at you and you are screwed. W i d e T o l e r a n c e s

I am sure there will be problems with RCS as its the nature of print sometimes gremlins get in there and do what they do. At least there may be chance with them as with printing.com there is none.

Finally price RCS kicks the ass of printing.com on a lot of products especially if you are talking about the volumes which are just below or just in commercial printing jobs. Lots of franchisee’s complain when the lose that really nice job we have been looking for, standard answer from operations director is that volume is a commercial job and their model is not set up for that. They don't tell you that before you sign up though!

Do your own research but I am happy to well shot of it and look forward to building my own business rather than building another companies name.

Cheers

John
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I guess this would be in response to both the original poster, and John, I find it's best to steer clear of the larger "corporate machine" printers out there, like the ones mentioned. Their google rank brings you to their site first, which means they can use their position to exploit you with overpriced goods and poor quality. I was at a business conference the other day and met with several re-sellers dealing with companies such as printing.com, and the prices they were charging for some of their prints were sometimes up to 800% the cost of the printing itself. Needless to say we now have a few more companies re-selling through us! :icon_biggrin:
 
Can I suggest that you find a local printer - you may need to find two or three. One for digital, one for small format B3, and maybe a B2 or even B1 printer. Make friends - you will find that they love to work with good graphic designers, will offer a discount; will give free advice and samples; can offer different paper/board stocks; envelopes etc.; know about Pantones and CMYK, can handle the print finishing for you (laminating, spot UV, die cutting etc. We have a number of designers and agencies who use us and both parties benefit. Win win!!
 
Katedesign said:
Can I suggest that you find a local printer - you may need to find two or three. One for digital, one for small format B3, and maybe a B2 or even B1 printer. Make friends - you will find that they love to work with good graphic designers, will offer a discount; will give free advice and samples; can offer different paper/board stocks; envelopes etc.; know about Pantones and CMYK, can handle the print finishing for you (laminating, spot UV, die cutting etc. We have a number of designers and agencies who use us and both parties benefit. Win win!!
Click to expand...

Hi Kate,

I find several problems with local printers - firstly they are very rarely price competitive with the online companies, and secondly - as you have mentioned - they can be limited in their production to the machinery they operate on. This means that you need to build relationships with 2 or 3 printers (or in some case even more) to fulfill all of your printing requirements for different clients. By dealing with 2 or 3 printers you will be using more of your valuable time, and will be dividing your purchasing power by each different printer you need to deal with. That's where online print brokers come in. A brokerage will not be tied down to any particular machinery. They know which printers get each job done at the best quality and for the best price, and that's what you get from them, every time. Also, as the client only has to deal with one company rather than 2 or 3, their purchasing power increases and the brokerage is able to offer additional discount to their regulars / account holders. Many brokerages also offer a referral scheme where you can earn credit for every client you send our way.

I also completely understand the benefit of a local printer and the relationship you can build with your local print shop - but online companies can be just as friendly :icon_cheers:

Feel free to PM me for more details on how we operate at Pulse Print,

Toby
 
Hi

I can only speak of the print reseller schemes i've used but RCS come out tops. Their bolt-on prices are quite high, but this can be made back easily when you take advantage of their 2 free deliveries per week (for the top bolt on). Also they have started to offer a free upgrade per month, halving their standard production times - invaluable when you get a last minute job from a client, you can mark up loads as the clients is desperate to get their stuff.

With RCS you know where you stand, they say its getting despatched on Thursday? You know 150% that it will, peace of mind helps when running a business. Guaranteed despatch times are a life saver for a business built around customer service. You get what you pay for in this world.

Another one worth looking at is www.multicolourprint.info - dont do a huge range but pretty keen on business cards and absolutely top notch quality.

Sense Creative however is worth avoiding AT ALL COSTS - absolute sharks of the print world. Run by John Thompson, the rudest man in business by far!! As has been discussed, if you get a problem - AND YOU WILL if you're doing volumes with them then forget any satisfactory resolution with them and be prepared to be spoken to like a piece of dirt by John. Shame as their prices are the best in the industry, but service and turnaround times are like a lottery!!

RCS is worth a shot if you're serious. My experience of local printers are small margins as they tend to be quite expensive as they don't do the volumes of the likes of RCS and other online print companies. Its still possible to build a relationship online, everyone is based somewhere and can be visited if you need to build a special relationship.
 
Hi Toby

I get your point - as a 'local printer' we have our own relationships with other local printers who can produce larger sizes etc. and we deal with them for our clients and some design companies. I was talking more about the 'share-a -sheet' printers who will only print in CMYK on gloss or silk art etc. A loca printer may be more expensive but we are in danger of dying out (Printweek said that 9 out of 10 printers could close down/go bust/disappear in the next year) and that would leave the whole industry a whole lot poorer. I'm just trying to survive!!
 
Why are 9 out of 10 high street printers closing? You have to move with the times....

If you don't get a website and start to establish your online presence now I honestly don't see how you will survive long term. More and more people are looking to the internet to cut their costs and there are already many companies such as us who offer a quality product, competitive prices on batch printed items as well as bespoke quotes on different stocks with spot colours and other various options.

Don't get me wrong, you will always have your local customer who "doesn't shop online", it's only time before they realise what they are missing though.
 
Boss Hog said:
Why are 9 out of 10 high street printers closing? You have to move with the times....
Click to expand...

Having been at the forefront of the digital revolution in the very early 90s we have moved with the times!

Printweek didn't just refer to 'high street printers' - how franchisees survive paying 10% or so of turnover is beyond me!

We're not on the high street either!
 
Online printing is really putting a dent in local printing establishments, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

You have to move with the times....
Click to expand...

It's all in Darwin's book! Survival of the fittest = Better adapted for immediate, local environment
As Boss Hog says - move with the times.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top