3 Costly Print-Buying Mistakes You Need to Avoid

In print buying, many common mistakes can lead to unnecessary expenses, delays, and frustration. It’s crucial to dispel some myths about print jobs and bidding processes and learn how to avoid risks by optimizing buyer and marketer communication.

For example, did you know that bigger print jobs don’t always mean more savings? Or that sourcing print jobs in today’s competitive market demands more than just three bids and an award?

Let’s explore these issues and learn how to achieve cost-effective print solutions with PathForward:

1. Big Print Jobs = Big Print Savings?

Are you under the impression that bigger print jobs equal more considerable savings? Think again.

In reality, print jobs under $10,000 – which make up over 90% of all print jobs – often have a much wider distribution of price quotes than the massive print jobs that get all the attention.

When a large job hits the market, every provider wants to win it, leading to fierce competition and narrow distribution of price quotes within a 10% range.

But for those “routine” jobs, the price spread can be as much as a whopping 90%. We’ve seen it firsthand – a typical $5,000 print job quoted anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000!

2. Getting 3 Bids and an Award

In today’s business landscape, sourcing print jobs has become increasingly competitive and challenging.

With Covid intensifying the competition among print providers who rely on print work to fund their investments and fixed costs, it’s essential to find a way to tap into the industry’s excess capacity and expand your options beyond just bidding on the same three print providers.

Fortunately, technology offers a solution that streamlines the entire process of sourcing print jobs. By leveraging technology, you can qualify and source local, regional, and national print providers across every category of print job you require.

Moreover, the same technology offers customized, automated bid tables and detailed analytics that help you make data-driven and fact-based sourcing decisions for your next print job.

Whether a small business or a large organization, technology can give you the competitive edge to stay ahead in a crowded and rapidly changing print industry.

3. Not Managing Marketing

Managing marketing to timelines can also be a significant challenge for print buyers and managers alike. Late fees, change costs, excess shipping, and freight charges are just the beginning of the headache.

Unfortunately, many of these issues result from poor planning and late decisions from Marketing and management, ultimately impacting the well-planned campaigns and print processes.

For print providers, these delays can make a significant margin. They have had to set aside staff, equipment, and supplies and are ready to go, only to experience delays.

Print buyers must communicate with marketing to avoid these pitfalls and commit to planned time frames. By doing so, they can help keep marketing ahead or at least on track, ensuring that their budget stays on track.

Remember, communication is critical if you wish to avoid these costly problems.

By avoiding these common print-buying mistakes, you can save money and ensure your print projects run smoothly.

At PathForward, we specialize in helping print buyers navigate these challenges to achieve cost-effective print solutions.

So, want to source more intelligently and more efficiently?

PathForward can help.