Question for paper buyers (buying bulk paper for printing)?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DoubleEntendre
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DoubleEntendre

Hello all,

Lets say I wanted to buy 25,000 sheets of 11x17 paper that was a pastel
color, around 20 weight, needed to feed a laser. I live in the Pittsburgh
area, considering freight charges, state taxes, driving cost & etc:

Any suggestions ? Buy local, (where possibly) or via internet. (I tried a
search on Google, but got more confused buy the results of "paper pastel
11x17 retail wholesale").

Cost IS the bottom line, but I will pay more (as most would) for
dependability & consistence.

Paper is heavy, but can it be shipped media mail?, or do other shippers
(FedEx/UPS/Trucking Companies allow a discount? Sorry for being vague & too
many questions rolled into one.

Thanks,

DE
 
DoubleEntendre said:
Paper is heavy, but can it be shipped media mail?,
Click to expand...

No, it is not media

or do other shippers
(FedEx/UPS/Trucking Companies allow a discount?
Click to expand...

Trucking companies go by classification. I don't know what paper is, maybe
class 60 or 70 but a phone call or two will tell you. If you know the class
freightquotes.com may help. Carriers charge by weight and UPS and FedEx
offer no discounts for high density, only penalty for low density, thus
dimensional weight. .
 
Hello all,

Lets say I wanted to buy 25,000 sheets of 11x17 paper that was a pastel
color, around 20 weight, needed to feed a laser. I live in the Pittsburgh
area, considering freight charges, state taxes, driving cost & etc:
Click to expand...

That's 10 cartons of 11X17.
Any suggestions ? Buy local, (where possibly) or via internet. (I tried a
search on Google, but got more confused buy the results of "paper pastel
11x17 retail wholesale").
Click to expand...

The freight will kill you.

Look in the yellow pages for printing supplies or copier paper or
paper store. There are a lot of them around. Cost is about
$35/carton, although it is actually computed on the basis of 1,000
sheets. The pastel may have to be a special order. They usually only
have one or two cases, if any, of each pastel in 11X17 on the floor.
 
DoubleEntendre said:
Hello all,

Lets say I wanted to buy 25,000 sheets of 11x17 paper that was a pastel
color, around 20 weight, needed to feed a laser. I live in the Pittsburgh
area, considering freight charges, state taxes, driving cost & etc:
Any suggestions ? Buy local, (where possibly) or via internet. (I tried a
search on Google, but got more confused buy the results of "paper pastel
11x17 retail wholesale").
Cost IS the bottom line, but I will pay more (as most would) for
dependability & consistence.
Paper is heavy, but can it be shipped media mail?, or do other shippers
(FedEx/UPS/Trucking Companies allow a discount? Sorry for being vague & too
many questions rolled into one.
Click to expand...

Is there not an online stationers that offers free delivery over there.

Amazon might be a place to start, a quick look shows they have got a
ream (500 sheets) for less than $10, there's one(white) at $7.18

I have ordered 100 reams of A4 (c.11x8) with free delivery, in the UK,
which is about the same size of order really.

I would expect the colour choice to be a bit more limited on that size
of paper (since fewer people have large enough printers).

Neuseidler (sp?) and Xerox both have good ranges of papers available.
 
I thought this was going to be one of those math problems, if a parcel
has to go from New York to Pittsburgh and it takes 3 hours to get to
Trenton, how long will it take to get to Chicago, when it gets even
further lost. ;-)

I ran a poster company some years back. Obviously, we dealt with a lot
of paper movement. Believe it or not, it might be cheaper to buy your
paper from a local printer. They already have the connections for both
wholesale paper purchases, and shipping to get the best deals. You
might be able to piggyback your order on one of theirs, assuming the
product is available from one of their regular distributors. Or, they
may even carry something similar to your specs.

If not, truck or rail/truck is usually less costly with commercial size
shipments, and they have the equipment to move this stuff easily. If it
can be shipped on a pallet, that could keep your shipping costs lower
also, since it can then be moved with a forklift etc.

The trade off on getting best price may be further shipping distances,
and with gasoline prices up so much, distance adds costs. Also, you
want to make absolutely sure you get a good sample (preferably several
dozen sheets) to test to make sure the thickness, grain, surface, color
and other qualities meet your needs, because you do not want to have
to send a shipment of that weight back.

Lastly, consider storage space and cost on purchase. If you have to lay
out a lot of money on paper you won't be using for months, you may not
want to buy it all at once. Also, paper can absorb moisture and become
buckled and difficult to print on, can change color over time,, can curl
or sag during storage, etc. So, how long it will be held is important
and may make you decide to pay a bit more through making several orders
over time.

Anyway, hope some of this is helpful.
 
Thanks to all for the help!

I agree with you. Arthur, buying off the local printer might be the best
way. What does he have to lose if I'm being honest with him (1/8 of a loaf
is better then none, "adjusted quote by me")

My main goal is to make Placemats for Restaurants & the size is more like
11"14/15"or 10"14/15" sooo, I guess I will have to cut them also (another
expense unless I buy the paper pre-cut, but then my HP might not adjust to
that cut (Hp 8000N).

Well, at least I am a few steps up the ladder with all of your help!

Sometimes I wonder (and I will scrutinize better in the future) if going
with a fair priced printer (haven't found one yet ((but maybe I'm expecting
too much)) might be the way to go, even thought I think having my own
printer/toner/paper will be cost/time effective.

Thanks again for all the help,

DE
 
In message said:
Thanks to all for the help!

I agree with you. Arthur, buying off the local printer might be the best
way. What does he have to lose if I'm being honest with him (1/8 of a loaf
is better then none, "adjusted quote by me")

My main goal is to make Placemats for Restaurants & the size is more like
11"14/15"or 10"14/15" sooo, I guess I will have to cut them also (another
expense unless I buy the paper pre-cut, but then my HP might not adjust to
that cut (Hp 8000N).

Well, at least I am a few steps up the ladder with all of your help!

Sometimes I wonder (and I will scrutinize better in the future) if going
with a fair priced printer (haven't found one yet ((but maybe I'm expecting
too much)) might be the way to go, even thought I think having my own
printer/toner/paper will be cost/time effective.
Click to expand...

Having a scan around I found officedepot.com which does free delivery
above $50 might be worth looking at. As a first order, I'd be inclined
to order a small quantity of several different brands to find a
paper/cost combination that you are happy with.
 
The printing biz has changed considerably over the last few years.

Small run printing has become quite reasonable in price compared to days
gone by. When considering color printing costs at home, keep in mind
that toner and other consumables can really add up quickly if the item
being printer requires major coverage of color. Text is relatively
cheap to print die to the amount of "white" space around it, but images
can easily use upwards of 20 times more toner, so when making cost
calculations consider the real coverage of the printed result. If your
printer quotes a cartridge is good for 2000 copies at 5% coverage per
color, that could end up declining to 200 copies at 50% coverage.

At home printers usually have costly consumables, while commercial
printers, even if using the same basic technology often have commercial
laser printers or photocopiers where the big expense in ownership of the
printer itself and so consumables are priced at very much cheaper costs.
For these printers, the printing company is more considered about
keeping them running, because they cost so much to own per day and per
hour. Consumables become a less important expense in those business
models.

If you know you are going to develop a business around a printed good,
consider making your money on the design and marketing aspects, and try
to establish a working relationship with a local printer who can benefit
from your repeat business and who might offer you pricing based upon
quarterly volume rather than per job costs. With many short run
printers, they make digital plates so cost of initial set up is low per
item, since there are not actual consumables involved in the print run
other than paper and toners/inks.

Art
 
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