Choosing a Commercial Printer or a Consumer Grade Printer

Digital Printers

Commercial Printers or Consumer Grade Printers?

If your office or organization is in need of a new printer, and you’re worried about the cost, you may be considering a small desktop printer from a nearby office supply store that is typically designed for home use. After all, your business only prints a handful of things a day, and why spend a lot of money at once when you can get a printer for less than two hundred dollars? Let’s go beyond the initial price tag and consider why you should choose a commercial printer over a consumer grade option. 

Durability of Home vs Business Printers

When you’re looking at flooring for your business, you would most likely choose commercial flooring over the kind graded for residential use. You know that the flooring will see more foot traffic, customers and employees will be wearing hard-soled shoes or high heels, mud and dirt may get tracked in, and residential flooring isn’t designed to hold up to that level of wear. You’re willing to make the investment in durability rather than going with a cheaper option you’ll have to replace in a year. 

Your printer works in a similar fashion. While the initial price tag may be more than you planned on spending, you have to factor in that you’re investing in your business by buying proper equipment. Home printers are designed for printing out the occasional class assignment and annual tax records, rather than something that’s used every day. Commercial printers are designed to reliably print, copy, and scan hundreds of pages a day, everyday so you can feel confident it’s not going to wear out, break down, or deteriorate in quality in the short time a home printer will. 

The Consumable Cost of a Home Printer Vs a Commercial Printer

In addition to the upfront cost of the printer, there are secondary costs to running your equipment. The main difference you’ll see between a consumer grade printer and a commercial printer is in the cost of ink or toner. Manufacturers know that most people buying a printer for home use don’t factor in the cost of replacement ink or toner, instead focusing on the cost of the device itself. They set the cost of the printer at a low price to get the initial sale and set the replacement cartridges at a higher price in order to make a profit as they can only print an average of 200 to 300 pages. 

Commercial printers are the opposite of this. The upfront cost will be higher, but the equipped ink or toner cartridges and the replacement cartridges are designed to print thousands of pages before needing to be replaced. This lowers the cost of ownership for a business printer, reducing the per-page cost for your prints and copies. 

Service and Repairs for a Commercial Printer

If you’ve ever had a home printer go on the fritz or break down, you may turn to Google to see if you can fix the problem, but otherwise, you replace it when it stops working. If it’s within a warranty period, the manufacturer may send you a replacement, but otherwise, you’ll have to buy a new one out of your own pocket. 

Again, business printers are the opposite as they are designed with a maintenance schedule to keep them running in optimum condition. If something goes wrong, the issue can be diagnosed and repaired by certified technicians, like the experienced team at CEI – The Digital Office. This means less downtime for your office and no need to worry about replacing a printer. 

Commercial Printers Can Scale with Your Business

Right now, you may have a small business with a few people, or you may even be operating as a sole proprietorship, but as your business grows, you’ll need technology that can keep up and keep your data secure. While a home printer may offer wireless connectivity and allow you to connect a few devices, today’s multifunction printers for businesses offer a variety of solutions for growing enterprises. This includes remote printing where people working from home or in the field can have documents print out at the main office, integrate with software that allows for collaboration and improved workflows, and encrypt data so that your printer isn’t vulnerable to a security breach. 

Contact Us to Lease Your Commercial Printer 

If purchasing a commercial printer is not within your budget, many companies, including CEI – The Digital Office, offer printer leasing so you can get the printer you need for your business at a low monthly cost. Many contracts allow you to upgrade to the latest technology in a few years and add on managed print services that bundle the lease, paper, toner, and scheduled printer maintenance so you don’t need to worry about the hassle or unexpected costs.

If you’re in the Raleigh area and are interested in learning more about how a commercial printer can benefit your business or find the right one for your organization, reach out to us today at 919-781-8885 or fill out the form below to set up a consultation.



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