Many people have desktop printers at home for personal use. They work perfectly to print off your own documents, homework, and even photos people have emailed you. Some people also have these printers in their offices instead of larger all-in-one copiers. Are they as effective there?
For some, yes. The executive who needs a desktop printer to print confidential documents, for example, wouldn’t want to risk sending that information to a larger machine the entire office shares. However, what about employees who work together in the same department? Do they all need individual printers? The answer is likely no, especially once you start adding up the cost.
Leasing a copier instead of purchasing a number of small printers has a number of advantages beyond just the cost, too. If you’re looking to save money while also improving your office’s printing capabilities, it’s time to consider leasing a copier. Let’s take a look at why desktop printers aren’t the best solution for many offices and how leasing a copier can benefit you.
The Downsides of Desktop Printers
Why are desktop printers not a great solution for offices? While they may be conveniently sized, they also don’t offer as many capabilities. They usually only have one paper drawer, so you will have to change out paper if you want to print on something different. Most can’t handle thick cardstock or paper that’s larger than legal size, either. These small printers are also considerably slower than larger machines, too. If you’re printing documents to give to a customer, it’s likely that the customer is going to have to wait a few minutes. That may not seem like much, but when it’s every customer, that time adds up.
These small printers can also have a variety of different maintenance issues, especially if you’re using them every day. They’re not designed to print thousands of pages, and they will break down. Finding someone who does maintenance on these smaller printers can be difficult, too. Most companies have you ship the printer back to them, and they don’t repair it—instead, they send you a new printer or a refurbished printer. While that may sound great, shipping also takes time. It could be several weeks or even a month before you get a printer back.
Finally, these desktop printers may lack key features that larger machines have. They may not have auto-duplexing, for example, or be able to scan documents with more than a few pages. Most aren’t secure, either—they simply print every print job that comes in without needing a code or any other type of protection.
Hidden Costs of Desktop Printers
One of the biggest issues with using a desktop printer is the cost. Initially, these costs seem fairly low. For example, if you buy the HP PageWide Pro 477dw all-in-one, you’ll pay around $700. That seems very reasonable for a printer. However, you’ll also need to purchase ink. For this model, ink typically costs around $150 per color cartridge, and it uses four: black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. Now your $700 purchase is $1,300 plus tax. If you have to pay for shipping, buy an extended warranty, or have the printer set up, those are additional costs. In the end, you may pay $2,000 or more.
But that’s it, right? Not quite. Those ink cartridges aren’t going to last forever. Depending on how much printing you do, you may need to replace them fairly often. Most businesses need to replace their cartridges about every three months, especially if you do a lot of color printing. That means you’re now paying over $3,000 for the first year and then $2,400 every year after that for ink.
Then there are issues such as repair costs, the lost productivity if the printer malfunctions or has to be sent away for repairs or replacement, and the amount of energy all these desktop printers use. There are environmental costs, too. You’re using a lot of ink, and many of these cartridges don’t get recycled. The printer itself may end up in the landfill once you’re done with it.
Copier Leasing: A Game-Changer
Leasing a copier, on the other hand, may seem like a more expensive cost at first. After all, you’re paying every month for it. If you buy a printer, you only pay the initial cost. However, we’ve already shown that you have ink costs plus maintenance, repair, or replacement costs. Leasing a copier removes many of these additional fees and actually makes more financial sense in the long run.
Advantages of Copier Leasing
There are many different benefits to leasing a copier:
Cost savings and predictable monthly expenses
Many leasing agreements include maintenance and all supplies except for paper. This means you don’t actually pay for your ink cartridges. At Common Sense Business Solutions, we always make certain every client has an extra set of ink cartridges on the shelf in addition to the ones they’re using, so there’s no risk of running out of ink. Once they swap in those spare cartridges, we send them another set. You pay a single monthly cost and never have to worry about initial purchasing costs, ink, or maintenance. For example, leasing a Konica Minolta C300i may cost around $155 a month. That $1,860 a year—already less than what you may have paid for a desktop printer, never mind the cost of all the ink.
High-speed and high-capacity printing
Desktop printers may only print a few pages per minute in full color. Even with black and white, it may take several minutes to print a long document. A leased copier, on the other hand, can print several dozen pages per minute, even in full color. They can also scan a large number of pages. For example, a Konica Minolta C250i can scan up to 80 pages per minute. No desktop printer can match that.
Expert maintenance and technical support
Your lease includes all repairs and maintenance from an expert. If something goes wrong, CSBS will have someone to your office within hours. If it looks like we can’t get your machine back up and running quickly, we will bring you a new one. There’s no cost for any of this outside of your monthly leasing fee.
Customized solutions
When a new client reaches out to us, we will sit down with them and discuss their copier needs. With this information, we can create a tailored solution to fit those needs. For example, if you have two departments in different spaces, it may make more sense to have two copiers instead of one. No one wants to walk across the building to pick up their print job. For a company that needs to scan large documents on a daily basis, we may suggest machines with a large intake tray and fast scanning speeds, while a company that prints on different media may need a machine with multiple paper trays.
Eco-Friendly printing
Desktop printers are bad for the environment. There’s very little argument to be made against that statement. Most of these printers are now made to be disposable instead of repaired. The resources used to refill cartridges are almost the same as producing new ones, so there’s not always a benefit there, either. Plus these printers and cartridges come packed in Styrofoam and other materials that go in the trash.
Copiers, on the other hand, are designed to last for years. CSBS even refurbishes machines after five years, so they last for a decade or more. These copiers offer duplex printing, so you can save paper (and money on buying paper). The cartridges also often come with minimal packaging, and much of it is recyclable.
Simplified budgeting
We’ve already talked about the cost of leasing a copier versus buying a printer. Your single monthly fee is much less than what you would spend on ink in a year, but with a lease, those cartridges are included. Beyond this, a single fee helps you budget. You know exactly what you’ll pay. There are no surprise repair fees or need to project when you will have to buy new ink.
Common Sense Business Solutions Can Help You Find the Right Copier to Lease
The bottom line is that leasing a copier instead of buying a desktop printer reduces your overall costs, gives your employees access to more powerful machines, and is environmentally friendly. You can replace multiple desktop printers and their costs with one single machine that includes all maintenance and ink. With these advantages, why not at least consider leasing? Reach out to Common Sense Business Solutions today to see what custom solutions we can offer you.
