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Question How to you make large purchasing decisions?

FireSprint.com

FireSprint.com

Trade Only Screen & Digital Sign Printing
Hello everyone!

UPDATED: Here's a link to our blog post with the deck and sample file to download:
firesprint.com

Making Large Purchasing Decisions in the Print Industry

Thinking about making a purchase in the print industry? Use these tools to prevent costly mistakes on your next printer, cutter, or other large equipment purchase.
firesprint.com firesprint.com




How do you make large purchasing decisions? I would like to discuss this for this week's livestream. Join us this Thursday at 3pm CST on Facebook or YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/c/Firesprint/

In the mean time, have you learned a few tricks along the way?
 
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Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
A ton of research, calling and talking to sales reps and actual owners of what i'm purchasing.

e.g, for printers. I would have a specific requirement. Such as speed, quality & cost per sqm.
Then i'll go down on maintenance, cost of ownership, etc.

Boy it's a fun process.
 
Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
Texas_Signmaker said:
I think about it for way too long and do too much research and then once I make a decision... wonder why I ****ed around for so long.
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Me too! ^^^^^

Two of the biggest things for me are:
1. Maintenance - am I knowledgeable enough to operate or maintain it myself? - It's just me, no co-workers.
2. Labor - will it save me labor or add to my labor?

- Made a great purchase with the IColor printer. I purchased it more for expansion and it's saved me labor on other jobs that I didn't expect and definitely helped expand my apparel business - very glad I bought it!
- Wide format printer is next...just not sure if I have the time to devote to the learning curve yet. It's really nice to upload 50 banners, press "buy now" and go home. Once I buy one I will wonder why I didn't buy it sooner.
 
L

LarryB

New Member
JBurton said:
After the 23rd phone call from a sales rep about a router, telling him I have no time to talk about this purchase.... that I've already determined will cut down on production time... because I'm swamped in production.
For me I spent a lot of time looking at used machines to see what was 1. being sold in just a few years and 2. being sold for a premium after 10 years. Very few folks were parting with a 'young' multicam, but plenty of folks were asking for around 50% new price on 10 year old machines...
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I am buying a Kongsberg cutter and will be selling my 7 year old Multicam Router for $35K. I originally paid $78K. The routers hold their value as opposed to my HP FB500 which I will only be getting $10K. I am replacing the HP FB500 with an Agfa H2500i LED hybrid printer.
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Stacey K said:
Me too! ^^^^^

Two of the biggest things for me are:
1. Maintenance - am I knowledgeable enough to operate or maintain it myself? - It's just me, no co-workers.
2. Labor - will it save me labor or add to my labor?

- Made a great purchase with the IColor printer. I purchased it more for expansion and it's saved me labor on other jobs that I didn't expect and definitely helped expand my apparel business - very glad I bought it!
- Wide format printer is next...just not sure if I have the time to devote to the learning curve yet. It's really nice to upload 50 banners, press "buy now" and go home. Once I buy one I will wonder why I didn't buy it sooner.
Click to expand...
Stacey, it has been more than 2 weeks. It will take you 10 minutes to learn how to run it and you can still hit "buy now" when you need to supplement your production. Don't be scared.
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Stacey K said:
Me too! ^^^^^

Two of the biggest things for me are:
1. Maintenance - am I knowledgeable enough to operate or maintain it myself? - It's just me, no co-workers.
2. Labor - will it save me labor or add to my labor?

- Made a great purchase with the IColor printer. I purchased it more for expansion and it's saved me labor on other jobs that I didn't expect and definitely helped expand my apparel business - very glad I bought it!
- Wide format printer is next...just not sure if I have the time to devote to the learning curve yet. It's really nice to upload 50 banners, press "buy now" and go home. Once I buy one I will wonder why I didn't buy it sooner.
Click to expand...
That's what keeps me from buying one. I will feel obligated to use it and you're right... hitting buy now and being done is very nice. So far the decision has been that my time is more valuable than what I'd be saving doing it in house. Besides, I don't do that much production in house, mostly project mgt and install.
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
It's not all about a buck, convenience and capability are just as important in business as anything else is. I'm not a welding/fabrication shop but I still have a mig welder with spool gun, tig welder and plasma cutter. I could sub that work out all day long and do but I'm never put into a corner when I need something in a pinch. They aren't revenue producing tools and I have a decent amount invested in it all.
 
FireSprint.com

FireSprint.com

Trade Only Screen & Digital Sign Printing
Notarealsignguy said:
It's not all about a buck, convenience and capability are just as important in business as anything else is. I'm not a welding/fabrication shop but I still have a mig welder with spool gun, tig welder and plasma cutter. I could sub that work out all day long and do but I'm never put into a corner when I need something in a pinch. They aren't revenue producing tools and I have a decent amount invested in it all.
Click to expand...

As a wholesale supplier, I'd love to say don't buy a printer and sub out all your work. Unfortunately that's just not feasible for every business model.

Most of our largest customers run their own equipment. It makes alot of sense to specialize. I think most shops should get really good at what pays the bills. Establish a plan A, B, and C for that core stuff. Then sub out the rest.
 
Z

zspace

Premium Subscriber
First question for me is - What’s the true Return on Investment? After that i have to figure out if it will fit in my building.
 
C

ChaseO

Premium Subscriber
FireSprint.com said:
As a wholesale supplier, I'd love to say don't buy a printer and sub out all your work. Unfortunately that's just not feasible for every business model.

Most of our largest customers run their own equipment. It makes alot of sense to specialize. I think most shops should get really good at what pays the bills. Establish a plan A, B, and C for that core stuff. Then sub out the rest.
Click to expand...
I run my printers everyday, but I sub out 95 percent of banners and coroplast. Banner hemming is too time consuming for me to make any money at, and coro without a flatbed is not even close to feasible for more than 1 offs.

I just purchased a CWT flatbed laminator, got it yesterday, and have been using it today. I wish I could have bought one sooner, but I didn't want to finance, so I had to wait until I had the funds in my checking account without killing my winter cushion. I don't owe a penny on any of my equipment (printers, plotters, aerial equipment, router, fab tools) and feel more comfortable that way if things ever go sideways. I do owe on my building, and won't make very much money until it is paid for. I have bought very little over the years that I didn't regret not buying sooner.
 
MHester

MHester

New Member
Stacey K said:
1. Maintenance - am I knowledgeable enough to operate or maintain it myself? - It's just me, no co-workers.
Click to expand...
^^^^ Me Too ^^^^ I'm running a solo print shop as well. Girls rock!

FireSprint.com , in answer to your question, I research the hell out of the options of what I'm going to purchase, based on my needs. The first place I start is recommendations from signs101, then I'll google reviews on the product, as well as ask my supplier. With those 3 "opinions", I'll have enough info to go on to make my decision.
 
FireSprint.com

FireSprint.com

Trade Only Screen & Digital Sign Printing
Stacey K the last few minutes of our livestream was for you. ;)

I hope you all found this useful. I know it's long, but we go into alot of detail. Your feedback, good and bad, is always welcome. We just want to help us all grow together!

 
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