How to calculate your printing costs

John Sollars, managing director of printer consumables superstore, Stinkyink.com, explains how to calculate your printer running costs

Forecasting and maintaining your printing costs is not easy, yet it’s an important task if you want to limit the amount you spend whilst still getting an office printer to suit your needs.

Printer running costs will generally dwarf the upfront purchase price of a printer over its lifetime. So if you’re looking to buy a new printer, it’s important to work out what it will cost to run before you make your purchase.

However, manufacturers tend to quote a cost per page based on a level of use which doesn’t reflect the real world. And if you’re trying to work out your existing printer running costs, only a few printers actually include page counters to help you work out the cost per page.

Printing costs? Put your needs first

If you’re looking to buy a new printer, printing costs will be an important consideration in your choice. However, it’s more important to find the right printer for your needs.

Search online for printer reviews. Make sure your chosen printer has consistent performance, good printing quality and a level of after-sales support you’re comfortable with.

Decide what features you need. Forget about limiting costs for now. Your office requirements will have to be met, so you might as well address them now.

It’s all about printer running costs

Always check the cost of ink or toner cartridges before you buy. Manufacturers make their profits on these – often the cheapest printers will have the highest running costs.

To roughly calculate the cost per page, divide the price of an ink or toner cartridge by the number of pages the manufacturer says it should cover. However, these figures can be unrealistic. Printer manufacturers base their figures on five per cent of each printed page being covered in ink. In reality a full page of text is usually closer to ten per cent.

Accurately forecast the cost per page

If you know the format and layout of pages you will be printing (such as a company letterhead or marketing brochure), you can use page coverage software like APFill to predict the cost per page for printing in your company.

This will help you find the best value printer for your business’s needs – no matter whether you need to do lots of colour printing, or need standalone, high-volume black cartridges for more general printing. By coupling this running cost with the initial printer purchase price, you can build a clearer picture of how much a particular printer will cost your business overall.

Monitor your printing costs

Once you’ve bought your new printer, see if it comes with printer maintenance or counting software to automatically monitor how many pages you get from each ink or toner cartridge. With time, this will allow you to accurately predict when you need to buy replacement cartridges.

Remember that there is no such thing as a steal in office printing. Check feature lists, user reviews, and the cost of consumables like toner cartridges. There will be a catch somewhere.