When you’re talking about printing cost per page there are two categories: black & white copies, and color copies. Whether a page is being printed in color or not is the greatest differentiator when it comes to printing cost per page.
On a commercial copier, which is exclusively what we sell at Dean Office Solutions, the printing cost per page for a black and white copy is between a penny and a penny-and-a-half. By comparison, the printing cost per page for a color copy is between 6 and 8 cents.
As you can see, that’s a big difference in cost.
If you’re concerned about the printing cost per page, what we suggest is to set the default printing mode to black and white when you purchase or lease a new machine.
If there is any bit of color in your prints, or the machine is set on auto, the printing cost per page will be the amount of a color copy. If it is set to black and white by default then you’ll be paying less, but that also means you have to be proactive in routinely adjusting the settings when you do need to print in color.
One of the reasons why people upgrade to a commercial copier machine from a consumer model is because they find out that with consumer models they end up paying the same amount in ink as they did for the copier. There is a substantially greater cost in ink for a consumer machine versus a commercial machine.
Printing Cost Per Page = Ink, Toner, Drum, Roller, Etc.
When we’re talking about the printing cost per page we’re not just talking about the supplies, we’re talking about the cost of parts and maintenance as well.
At Dean Office Solutions we offer an all inclusive package where we can ensure your printing cost per page is never more than 1 and 1.5 cents on black copy.
If you were you buy something from Staples, for example just the toner you need will cost 3 or 4 cents for a black copy and up to 30 cents for color. Quite a few people will go out and buy a cheap color printer for $400 to $500 thinking they’re getting a good deal. It doesn’t seem like such a good deal when they go when go back to get ink and just cartridges cost what they paid for the printer.
In Summary
With a commercial color copier the printing cost per page is significantly less than something online from Staples. Generally, a good rule of thumb is the more expensive a machine the more volume it is made to do. Machines that are made to print in large volumes offer cheaper costs per page.
The cost per copy of a commercial machine is much less than what you can get from consumer electronic stores or online. The upfront cost of the machine is more when you buy commercial, but it is much cheaper to run. If you’re going to use your machine a lot, more than 500-1000 copies per month, it pays to have a commercial machine.