I’ve seen many topics on this forum, but I have seen none related to the supplies we regularly use for our business. The most expensive of those is printer cartridges. If anyone knows a way to get around this most expensive of costs I would be really grateful for any information. But, in the meantime, I want to share what has been great finds for me as I try to present a quality product on all fronts.
I love and get great feedback on two things: the type of paper and the pens I use in signings. I have found the best buy on paper is through Costco. Recently they had a sale on HP paper in store @$3.99/ream (limit 2). The ream contains 825 sheets of high-quality multipurpose copy paper. https://www.costco.com/HP-Multi-purpose-Paper%2C-Letter%2C-24-LB%2C-97-Bright%2C-825-count.product.100372117.html
I went twice a week and asked family to pick up a couple reams for me when they went shopping. I now have 20 reams of paper stocked in my office storage. On a regular basis I normally purchase Xerox Premium Multipurpose Copy paper at Costco. Again, it is a quality 800/ream product that regularly sells for $6.99 in store. These prices beat any office supply costs for any print/copy paper I have found to date at other outlets. https://www.costco.com/Xerox-Premium-Multi-Purpose-Paper%2C-Letter%2C-24-LB%2C-96-Bright%2C-800-count.product.100352721.html
Recently I found equal quality 8.5x14" multipurpose copy paper at Staples. I cannot speak highly enough of Diversity Products Solutions (DPS) multipurpose copy paper. Beats that thin, see-through product produced by most other suppliers, for almost twice the cost. I found a case at Staples online for a steal at $71.49. Check it out! https://www.staplesadvantage.com/shop/StplShowItem?catalogId=4&item_id=52302120&langId=-1¤tSKUNbr=820165&storeId=10101&itemType=1
Lastly, the item I get most comments about are my signing pens. I tested pens for about a month before I finally settled on TUL Retractable Needlepoint Medium pens. https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/631682/TUL-Retractable-Gel-Pens-Needle-Point/ This was the Office Max in-house pen before Office Max was merged with Office Depot. I bought all the 12-packs I could find before my local Office Max closed. About six months later I discovered Office Depot would continue to carry this product. What a relief! At least 50% of all signers comment on the quality of my signing pens. I regularly give away about six pens a month (a gift to those signing their first home purchase), or have noticed them politely tucked away by the borrower who hopes I have forgotten to ask for them (and there are those who outright ask to keep them).
If you have products that you enjoy, or if you luck upon a deal or coupon that the rest of us would appreciate please post it with a time-sensitive alert so that we can all enjoy one another’s occasional good fortune. HAPPY SHOPPING!
Thanks for the info - I agree that the quality of the paper and pens we use is a direct reflection on the quality of service we provide the signers. The title/escrow company notices when the paper is high quality, in fact there’s an EO that has specifically requested that I’m at the top of the list for her signings because of the paper I use and because my packages come back in the order it printed and everything is filled out and completed properly. Costco does have great prices for paper. I use Hammermill Laser for both letter and legal, I’ve found that using the laser paper reduces the printer from jamming to practically zero, it seems that the times it has jamb it was due to my error of not putting in the paper properly.
The pens I use are pricey - a 3 pack is approx. $7-8.00 but well worth it. I too have signers that want to keep my pens raving about how smooth they write. Pentel Energel both .07 medium and .05 fine point. I order the refills from Amazon or Ebay which then drops the price to $1.25.
For laser toner I use a Brother HL-L6200dwt and found the off brand for a fraction of the price on Amazon, about $25-30 each.
This is great info, I really appreciate it.
PENS = Energel or Ink Joy, 0.7 point is just about the right point for me. Yes, invest on pens. Those are pricey ones.
PAPERS = Letter size from CostCo, Legal size = many places, depending on price or my Staples coupon… I compromise a bit on paper but will splurge on higher quality when there’s a deal lin CostCo. I will not compromise on pens.
PRINTER = Any Brother MFC, laser, anything over 20 ppm, B/W, dual tray, with scan feeder up to legal size glass.
TONERS = Amazon
Any other tips where I can find best deal or steady place for Legal-size papers???
For legal paper I recommend you try the DPS paper carried by Staples. I’ll post a link again just in case the one I posted in the prior message was for the recycled paper. I consider the 8.5x14" paper to be of pretty good quality that is equal to the 8.5x11" HP or Xerox paper I purchase from Costco. (Not quite the quality of Hammermill, but certainly better than most.) Print quality is good and I have never had a paper jam using it. At ~$7.25 a ream for a case, I’ve never gotten a better price for legal, unless it was discontinued stock I purchased on Ebay or through one of the Amazon merchants. Also, DPS is a minority owned business, which is a plus for me being a small business owner myself. Another plus is that the shipping is free, and I got the delivery within a week.
https://www.staplesadvantage.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StplShowItem?isAutoPrevOrdered=true&catalogId=4&superCatType=0&item_id=52302119&field2=&langId=-1&storeId=10101
Thanks for sharing. I agree that the TUL pens are the best I’ve used. While they may be on sale from time to time
you can always find them at great prices on eBay and not have to wait for or shop around for them.
The paper you mention, when equated to a 5000 sheet full case, comes to about $25 a case…when on sale.
The everyday price at Walmart is $26. I don’t believe that the best and brightest specs are called for in our business.
Superwhite and heavy weight are crucial for graphics work / color jobs. Kinda overkill for black and white text.
Some of us live closer to one retailer than another. Keep in mind the travel cost. If I go to my local Costco to buy
a $29 case of paper (everyday price) it cost me $5 in gas. If I got to Walmart my gas cost is negligible and I pay
$26.
In regard to your print toner, I suspect you are using brand name products. I have two Brother printers and use
off brand products exclusively. They work perfectly and and the cost per page hardly shows up in my expenses radar. I buy
the laser toner high capacity cartridge for about $13-14 and is rated at 8000 pages and I continually get well over
7000 pages per cartridge. There is a plethora of these available on eBay.
Don’t overlook eBay or Amazon, especially if you have Prime. Except for paper I get all of my supply’s there.
No tax, no shipping charges and not 1 extra mile on my vehicle. Best of they are always on sale.
Hope this is helpful.
Walmart for legal paper. Hopefully there is one near you.
WalMart for Georgia Pacific standard 92 bright 20 lb multipurpose letter paper - $28.96 per 10 ream case, in store. High quality paper, very white, holds toner very well, rarely jams. Same place for legal, a ream of Georgia Pacific legal 92 bright 20 lb ranges between $5.90 and $6.28 in store. I use a custom pen I order imprinted from epens.com - the barrel is cushioned and the point writes very smoothly. Blue ink, of course. I buy them in batches of 100. If customers snitch them, I don’t mind - it’s advertising!
Great shopping resources. Walmart never occurred to me as an option since there is not one near me. But, since I drive around the county for my job I do pass them on occasion. Next time I will stop in and pick up a ream of GP paper to try out. Thanks everyone, keep the ideas coming.
The delivery price is also good - about $32 a case for the GP.
Hello Tisino,
Have you search for toner online? I purchase my toner from Amazon, and I spend less on Amazon, than if I purchase from Staples or office Depot. If you’re okay with non brand name toner.
For printer cartridges I use generic/refurbished cartridges I’ve found on Amazon. I used them for my Brother laser printer as well as my Brother and HP inkjet printers. I’ve done this for over 10 years and have never had a problem. Search for cartridges for your specific printer and you’ll likely see generic/refurbished cartridges listed. Look at the star ratings. Anything with a decent number of ratings and an average of 4 or more stars is a safe bet. Read the reviews keeping in mind that EVERY item on Amazon (or any site) will have at least some negative reviews…that is reality even with the brand name items.
For my Brother MFC printer I use http://amzn.to/2ylGKTA and my Brother laser printer http://amzn.to/2hlfAsM.
These are for my specific printers…but I’ve never had any issues, prints with the same quality, and costs a great deal less!
I bought the same printer that you mentioned (brother MFC with dual trays) with the extensive amount printing I have done. It wasn’t very long before I determined how expensive the toner cartridges and other expendable supplies to keep the machine fully operational. Over time after numerous problems keeping it running and could not afford any down time.
I discovered the solutions to my problem, the money pit,
which is to “LEASE” a printer. The great thing is that the maintenance and printer supplies are all included in the lease agreement. No more spending hundreds and hundreds of dolllars annually in expendable supplies and worrying about it breaking down and getting it repaired or more often buying a new one.
With the leasing of the printer I no longer have such worries. If the machine breaks down they will send a repair person out as soon as they can. If it breaks down they will replace it. At the end of the lease you can buy the printer, if you choose not to, they will provide a new printer for the renewed lease. How great is that… I recommend that you all should look at the leasing of a printer and consider if is a good economical fit for your Notary Business.
I know this for sure, I will never buy a new printer, toner cartridges, and other expendable. All I will buy is paper.
And of course the monthly lease payments are all deductible expenses. All I pay is about one penny per page printed.i
I agree about Walmart for paper, both sizes. They beat everywhere else, even Amazon. I just discovered Dollar Tree carries multi-packs of binder clips in various sizes, as well as sticky flags and gel pens. I got lucky and found a gently used Xerox Phaser 3610 laser printer with dual trays on Ebay for $125 with free shipping. It works perfectly and came with nearly full super high capacity toner, so I should be good for about 15,000-20,000 pages. I already owned a Brother multifunction coper, scanner and color printer, but that one is too expensive to run for this type of business.
Office Depot and Amazon both have the Brother HL-L 5200DWT for $199.00 right now with free shipping.