Digital Copiers

Sometimes, the best way to learn about the purchases you need to make for your business is from other people going through the same process. Here are tips submitted by other uses who have recently purchased copiers.

Do your homework on toner and technologies

"Have an understanding of what type of toners the copiers use and know the difference between carbon based and polymerized toners, especially if you're looking for sharper, crisper images. Also know what the difference is between laser and LED."

- Pam Kowal, Other Services, Minneapolis, MN

Get more for your money

"You can negotiate pretty hard with copier salesmen. Once they get to their 'final offer' on the copier you want, you can still get things like toner and drums or even service agreements thrown in. Be aggressive in negotiating, the manufacturers come out with new models all the time and they have to move the older models."

- taxman00, Education, Davenport, New York

Don't believe paper claims

"We copy onto glossy paper quite a bit. Several sales reps told us that it would be "no problem" but when we tested it ourselves it was a problem. I now recommend to anyone buying a copier, bring some of your stock to the dealership and run it through the copier to see for yourself."

- EdSantino, Financial Services, Griffin, Georgia

Use "pure fleet" buying to lower costs for multiple copiers

"When you have separate types of copiers in various departments it dilutes your purchasing power. Pure fleet your company and make an overall agreement with your provider to give you a cost per copy on each machine, and then negotiate that figure down from there. Copier companies always over estimate your maintenance agreements thus costing you more than it should. $0.09 per copy is a place to start negotiating for copiers for sale."

- Draymo, Education, Bismarck, ND

Don't rush into a purchase

"Take your time. One of the merchants took a little more time to contact me, but had an excellent offer as well."

- Dena D, Health Care, Knoxville, TN

Networked copiers get A LOT of use

"When we switched to a network copier, that lets people use it as a printer, we expected an increase in usage - but not as much as we got. Many employees switched to use it as their default printer - it maxed out its duty cycle in the second month. Expect heavy usage - leave a good pad in your monthly duty cycle numbers."

- TFMPro, Travel/Hospitality, Watertown, Massachusetts

Reserve your serious printers for serious users

"At average a small company spends about 2k to 3k copies per month on worthless printouts (usually internet junk). As a Network admin I can tell you that by limiting the access to only users that do large jobs, you will lower your monthly paper count."

- Health Care, Miami Lakes, FL

Don't buy right at your volume estimate

"The dealer will suggest that you estimate how many copies you make per month, then buy a machine that can handle that amount. After we had two copiers that went over their monthly allotment, causing us to have to upgrade our service contract, I would say that you should round up and buy a machine rated for a good percentage more than you actually expect to copy."

- Archie C., Equipment Sales & Service, Costa Mesa, California

Stick to your own schedule

"Many copier salespeople contacted us and "really" wanted our business. Once they knew that we were in the market right away, they were very aggressive in providing comparable copiers with the best service, the best product for our needs and the most awards for being the best. They also wanted to go ahead and place the copier in our office and make us happy. Take your time and evaluate all offers on their copiers for sale. Each salesperson who contacted me had information that I didn't think to ask the last salesperson. In the end I asked each salesperson many questions that helped me to make an educated and "best" choice for my needs."

- Debbie Allard, Construction/General Contracting, Munford, TN

Keep an eye on the future

"Try and look past just your present needs in buying major equipment. Just because the copier can handle your workload at the present time. Will it be able to accommodate the level of need 6 months from now? Buying tip: buy a little more than you think you need because it will be needed in the future."

- Vonnie Visser, Other Services, St. Augustine, FL

Go try them for yourself

"When buying a copier it is best to meet the vendor at their office/showroom and to have them demonstrate the equipment. Know what you're buying first hand, touch and feel is best when making a purchasing decision. Receiving a quote and reading through the specifications only reinforces the capability of the equipment to meet your office needs.

- Zina Lucas, Consulting, Charlotte, NC

Let salespeople compete for your business

"When I was buying a copy machine I found it helpful to be open with the different salesmen about what other offers I had been given. This gave them the opportunity to match or beat the prices I had already received. It also helped to lower the ""per copy"" service agreement price because the salesmen were competing to have the lowest price. Being open about other offers I had received also helped me to catch important problems. For example, I had one company offer me a new machine that was last years model for full price, without telling me that it was an old model. Another salesman pointed out this detail and I did not purchase the machine. Yet another salesman pointed out that the machine I was considering buying would not be able to upgrade to Windows Vista if we decided to switch to it. He encouraged me to have all sellers that we were considering meet with our IT department so that the machine we purchased would be compatible with our network."

- D.M., Manufacturing, Columbus, OH

Want more information on choosing a copier supplier? Read our Digital Copier Buyer's Guide.

Information was provided by BuyerZone.com users. Tips have been edited for clarity only.