Buying or Leasing a Photocopier What to Look For
Practically all advanced multifunctional machines combine copy, print and scanner functions. An early thought must be what size copying or printing you need? While some machines are only maximum A4 size capable the majority will copy and print on A3 to 4 and A5 size paper with some also able to print A3+ oversize which will give you a full edge to edge print.
Exploring Cost Options
There is a colossal range of photocopiers and printers and MFPs available with costs going from around less that £100 up to huge production machines which can cost over £150,000.00. In our experience the majority of office machines are multifunctional and cost in the region of £2,500.00 to £10,000.00.
There is of course a further consideration do you choose a New machine or do you buy or some consider to be more environmentally friendly refurbished or remanufactured machine. All will have the same or similar functions and price savings of a refurbished machine over new would normally be circa 30% to a maximum of 50%.
As at the time of writing this article November 2021 which is post the worst of the COVID pandemic we have seen a substantial increase in requests for costs based on refurbished or remanufactured, usually ex-lease machines.
Usually small to medium sized companies, say 2 persons to in the region of 5 employees need a starting copy or print speed in the region of 25 – 35 pages per minute (25 – 35 ppm) going up to larger companies say up to 40 employees. These larger companies will usually have a mixture of size and speeds of machines going from a copy or print speed of 25 ppm up to 75 ppm. Whilst the largest production press machines can do 140 ppm the capital costs of acquiring the machine leap up enormously.
Leasing Considerations
Then what should you do Buy equipment outright or consider a lease which would normally be for a period of 3 – 5 years, but you must be careful there have been instances in the past of companies offering a 9 year lease. How could the happen you ask, who would agree to a nine year lease?
Unfortunately, unscrupulous companies would hide crucial terms in the small print – an insurance clause would say, “You will insure the equipment for the period of the agreement which is one hundred and eight months”. Take a calculator and work that out one hundred and eight months is 9 years.
Lease or Buy Photocopier
So as you are reading this its fair to assume that you are looking for tips on what to look for if you are buying or leasing a photocopier, we would summarise some items as:
- Would you like a new or used, refurbished photocopier?
- Do you need A4 only or larger paper sizes of A3 copy size? Architects etc may use larger machines still going up to AO size printers sometimes called plotters.
- What copy or print volume will you use monthly and therefore what speed will you need?
- Cashflow permitting would you prefer to buy your machine outright or take a lease out?
- Companies will assess your credit score to offer leases, and you must decide the lease duration, ranging from 3 to 5 years.
- Sometime ago you would also have to choose if you need a mono only or colour capable machine, the cost difference nowadays is very small so most companies only take colour printers/photocopiers.
Latest technology adds to your choices of should you use laser machines or commercial ink jet machines which are considered by many to be more environmentally friendly printers because they do not use a heat process including drum units and fuser units. Consider inkjet as it is still relatively new in the business market.
Ease of use is another worry for many users but again the Photocopier manufacturers have put a huge amount of effort into overcoming possible problems caused by user error. The majority of machines are very easy to use and have functions such as copy or print from your phone, tablet or smart device.
Paper Capacity
Paper capacity is important to high volume users. But, for most the standard A3 set up of 2 x 500 sheet paper trays with say a 100 sheet “by pass” tray is sufficient, you can always add an extra 2 x 500 sheet paper trays if you feel you need it.
Security today and GDPR regulations is important and manufacturers such as Canon, Ricoh and XEROX are at the forefront of this area. Security is obviously a key consideration for many companies not just for confidentiality but due to legislation which could result in huge fines for data breaches.
In conclusion if you are unsure of any aspect of what you need to choose the right Copier for your business, please contact us to talk about your needs and our suggested solution.
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