Photocopier buy your own lease etc
Discussion
Hi all I need to replace our very old printer/photocopier what do you guys do ? I have had a company in with a new deal which looks ok with a contract for maintenance etc we do a lot of colour copy's so it does cost a bit more then most what do you guys pay the machine they are suggesting is Ricoh MPC305SF £1800 plus vat plus contract
Photocopier salesman are the lowest of the low imo.
How many pages do you print (ie how many reams). If it is a great deal then I would:
1) Understand why you print so much (you maybe a solicitor or you may just be printing stuff you don't need to)
2) See if any of that colour printing could be done in black and white (many times it is just people being lazy)
3) Find someone who will give you a pence per sheet price that includes the copier, maintenance and ink. Dependant on numbers it will work out cheaper.
If you live in the East Mids I have a really good contact who always gives a fair deal to clients (and I have never asked for or received a kickback from him).
How many pages do you print (ie how many reams). If it is a great deal then I would:
1) Understand why you print so much (you maybe a solicitor or you may just be printing stuff you don't need to)
2) See if any of that colour printing could be done in black and white (many times it is just people being lazy)
3) Find someone who will give you a pence per sheet price that includes the copier, maintenance and ink. Dependant on numbers it will work out cheaper.
If you live in the East Mids I have a really good contact who always gives a fair deal to clients (and I have never asked for or received a kickback from him).
I think peace of mind is useful, but not if they're taking the mickey with the contract cost. If you've got a load of stuff that needs doing and a problem arises, it's not always convenient to have to go off to find parts yourself, or find someone that will come in on spec and fix the machine.
I must agree with the comment about copier salesmen though. We had a very old copier at our office, on a contract which wasn't expensive, £10/month or something. We never reached the minimum number of "included" copies, unless they couldn't get a reading so sent us a big bill to query*. When our building burned down and the copier was destroyed, the only way we didn't have to pay some massive cancellation charge was to agree to buy a replacement machine and continue the contract, which we reluctantly did. But towards the end of that machines life, the engineer would start rumbling about how they weren't able to get parts to keep it going, so I suggested they cancel the contract. But it was like pulling teeth - even though they couldn't meet their side of the contract by keeping it working, they were reluctant to cancel it without us agreeing to sign a replacement contract. Eventually they did, but because they'd created such bad feeling, and because we were a Brother authorised dealer and could get machines for our own user very cheaply, that's the way we went.
I must agree with the comment about copier salesmen though. We had a very old copier at our office, on a contract which wasn't expensive, £10/month or something. We never reached the minimum number of "included" copies, unless they couldn't get a reading so sent us a big bill to query*. When our building burned down and the copier was destroyed, the only way we didn't have to pay some massive cancellation charge was to agree to buy a replacement machine and continue the contract, which we reluctantly did. But towards the end of that machines life, the engineer would start rumbling about how they weren't able to get parts to keep it going, so I suggested they cancel the contract. But it was like pulling teeth - even though they couldn't meet their side of the contract by keeping it working, they were reluctant to cancel it without us agreeing to sign a replacement contract. Eventually they did, but because they'd created such bad feeling, and because we were a Brother authorised dealer and could get machines for our own user very cheaply, that's the way we went.
- We never went over the included copy count per month, which I think was maybe 100 sheets - we were an IT firm, if we needed two copies of something we'd just print two copies. But when they couldn't get a reading off the machine, they'd send an invoice for something like 500 copies for that month, suffixed with a letter "E". A phone call revealed that "E" stands for estimate, but they didn't seem to understand how estimates work, and how "G" might have been better, or "NT" for "Nice Try".
I cant comment on the model or prices. However if you rely on printing, a contract is the way to go purely for convenience.
We have a couple top of the range machines which chuck out 80ppm, including label sheets and thick media. We print several hundred thousand copies on each machine annually.
Because of the volume and thick media, certain components wear out fairly quickly and we normally have a tech fault once a month or so. But its a simple phone call and normally within an hour somebody is here with a toolkit and gets it back online. They are also aware of what parts will wear and when, so always have a stash of parts stored at our premises to ensure a quick repair. They have even guided us through changing parts over the phone if we have needed an immediate fix....
I looked at it before and I could probably sort it out a little cheaper, but its all about convenience and productivity. When the machine is down can you afford to spend time trying to fix a machine? Surely your time would be best spent elsewhere?
Do you really need to print in colour? Makes a huge difference in price.
We have a couple top of the range machines which chuck out 80ppm, including label sheets and thick media. We print several hundred thousand copies on each machine annually.
Because of the volume and thick media, certain components wear out fairly quickly and we normally have a tech fault once a month or so. But its a simple phone call and normally within an hour somebody is here with a toolkit and gets it back online. They are also aware of what parts will wear and when, so always have a stash of parts stored at our premises to ensure a quick repair. They have even guided us through changing parts over the phone if we have needed an immediate fix....
I looked at it before and I could probably sort it out a little cheaper, but its all about convenience and productivity. When the machine is down can you afford to spend time trying to fix a machine? Surely your time would be best spent elsewhere?
Do you really need to print in colour? Makes a huge difference in price.
I am in the industry but more service orientated £1800 nearly twice what it should be for that model also it is an A4 only just in case you want A3 just make sure you double/triple check the terms and conditions on the service and lease agreement there are an awful lot of dodgy contracts out there check your not signing for 5 years when they have told you 3 check if they are looking after it for 5 that there is not a clause saying that after 3 you have to pay for everything PM me if you want any advice
I am one of the 'lowest of the low' salespeople that are mentioned here. I work extremely hard to provide the right solution for my clients at competitive costs, however many of my counterparts in the industry are indeed crooks. Plain and simple. Having seen first hand how some companies and individuals are treated I understand why their is ill feeling and distrust towards many of these salespeople. Even some of the bigger manufacturers overcharge, more often than not by accident, however it can be like pulling teeth trying to get money back. Recently we got a new customer a refund in excess of £20,000 from accidental overcharging by their previous supplier.
There are so many different ways of milking a customer in this environment and what appears at the face of it a good deal, more often than not turns into a complete headache. One favourite on the Ricoh machines is to charge for colour impressions rather than colour copies. This means that you pay for a cyan impression, magenta impression, yellow impression and a black impression. This means that what seems cheap when presented, actually works out incredibly expensive. You need to tread carefully.
If you want genuine advice and a fair price, let me know. More than happy to have a chat.
There are so many different ways of milking a customer in this environment and what appears at the face of it a good deal, more often than not turns into a complete headache. One favourite on the Ricoh machines is to charge for colour impressions rather than colour copies. This means that you pay for a cyan impression, magenta impression, yellow impression and a black impression. This means that what seems cheap when presented, actually works out incredibly expensive. You need to tread carefully.
If you want genuine advice and a fair price, let me know. More than happy to have a chat.
That makes two honest people although you probably find it hard like me convincing people they are going to get ripped off some go back to the same supplier despite being told what will happen I have just helped a school out they got shafted for £52000
over a 5 year lease sold them one for the correct price of £3000 I really don't understand how some people sign up to some of these things well I do they don't read the small print in some of the lease and service agreements
over a 5 year lease sold them one for the correct price of £3000 I really don't understand how some people sign up to some of these things well I do they don't read the small print in some of the lease and service agreements leemanning said:
I am one of the 'lowest of the low' salespeople that are mentioned here. I work extremely hard to provide the right solution for my clients at competitive costs, however many of my counterparts in the industry are indeed crooks. Plain and simple. Having seen first hand how some companies and individuals are treated I understand why their is ill feeling and distrust towards many of these salespeople. Even some of the bigger manufacturers overcharge, more often than not by accident, however it can be like pulling teeth trying to get money back. Recently we got a new customer a refund in excess of £20,000 from accidental overcharging by their previous supplier.
There are so many different ways of milking a customer in this environment and what appears at the face of it a good deal, more often than not turns into a complete headache. One favourite on the Ricoh machines is to charge for colour impressions rather than colour copies. This means that you pay for a cyan impression, magenta impression, yellow impression and a black impression. This means that what seems cheap when presented, actually works out incredibly expensive. You need to tread carefully.
If you want genuine advice and a fair price, let me know. More than happy to have a chat.
Hi lee There are so many different ways of milking a customer in this environment and what appears at the face of it a good deal, more often than not turns into a complete headache. One favourite on the Ricoh machines is to charge for colour impressions rather than colour copies. This means that you pay for a cyan impression, magenta impression, yellow impression and a black impression. This means that what seems cheap when presented, actually works out incredibly expensive. You need to tread carefully.
If you want genuine advice and a fair price, let me know. More than happy to have a chat.
Thank you for the reply and all you other posters I have decided not to go with a contract as it seems very expensive way of doing it I have a mate that can come in and set up the new machine I have decided to go for a canon c1325iF the best price so far is £980 inc vat I have been told they don't come with ink in is that correct ???
Hi Lexi
That Canon machine you mention is excellent. We have just deployed around 60 of them into one of our customers and they are proving very good.
It is quite correct though, ordered from the manufacturer they do not come with toner.
If you want, drop me a line privately and I'll get you a price.
That Canon machine you mention is excellent. We have just deployed around 60 of them into one of our customers and they are proving very good.
It is quite correct though, ordered from the manufacturer they do not come with toner.
If you want, drop me a line privately and I'll get you a price.
Stev8s said:
That makes two honest people although you probably find it hard like me convincing people they are going to get ripped off some go back to the same supplier despite being told what will happen I have just helped a school out they got shafted for £52000over a 5 year lease sold them one for the correct price of £3000 I really don't understand how some people sign up to some of these things well I do they don't read the small print in some of the lease and service agreements
You're right Steve it's outrageous isn't it. People seem to be very wary of 'new' salespeople they meet, assuming they are dodgy, when infact it's their current supplier who they're a bit chummy with that's actually ripping them off!over a 5 year lease sold them one for the correct price of £3000 I really don't understand how some people sign up to some of these things well I do they don't read the small print in some of the lease and service agreements A lot of buyers are clued in, however I would say probably 50% of them have no idea what they're signing up to and distrust anyone who counters their ideas.
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