I DID search through the forums before posting this but as it essentially a new year I thought it’d be a good time to confirm top recommendations.
I’ve had my notary and NSA for a year but have yet to do anything with them. My husband deployed and things just got hectic, but I’m getting ready now. I’ve been trying to get this printer (HL-L6200DWT), per the recommendations of many, but it’s jumped from $350 to $530 plus shipping on Amazon through 3rd party seller. I keep waiting for Amazon to restock, hoping the price drops again but so far it hasn’t. I’ve checked in local office supply stores and they don’t have it. Has it been discontinued? Is there somewhere else I can get one? Has a better, or more recent version or just a better printer been released? Or literally any other advice you can send my way to get through my current printer dilemma.
You can work even with the cheapest Brother printer as long it has a scanning properyty added, just switch from letter to legal as needed, no need to break the bank buying expensive devices just because someone’s suggested you to do so…
Anyway, we are so slow in this kind of business…
It’s almost as slow as it was when I began…over 30 years ago (back when we were much valued).
Check eBay for gently used older printers or mfc if you have to go that way. (I recommend separate machines as it seems one of the needed functions dies before the whole machine does.)
Look for the lowest page count, a duty cycle a tad higher than you expect to need, availability & cost of compatible toner and that the machine will work with your operating system. Dual tray is nice, but doing as mannie suggested held me thru the really busy years (which ain’t now). I’m running on a printer in the 3000 series (that’s a real oldie, but a goodie). Agree with mannie 1950. Do not go down the ‘gotta be new’ rabbithole!
You can get your feet wet by doing GNW. No printer needed–just free search sites (yelp, yellowpages, etc.) is all you need to start that.
I purchased new HP dual tray printer 2015 and later used HP printer purchased on Facebook market much cheaper. Lot of people going out of business and sell online by various methods. Never had an issue with either printer. Research HP for warranty recycled printers. They keep changing website links but might be worth research.
Thanks, everyone. Just the right amount of helpful. 88 Printers doesn’t have a lot atm but I’ll keep my eye out on there, eBay and FB marketplace. I was hoping for some brand and model recommendations or specific ones to avoid, anyway. I don’t mind old. I have a wonderful 20 year old cheap HP that has outlasted 3 newer very expensive higher-end printers. She just keeps going and going. I was told only to use laser printers though, hence my search for another one.
I love the GNW recommendation; I didn’t know about that. I’m trying to get as much experience as possible in the next few months, just to commit it to muscle memory basically.
Sounds like I picked a good time to not want to be a full time notary (for the purposes of reliable income, that is). I’m curious though, is it slow because of market saturation or because no one is buying?
A lot of us oldies use HP 4350. Probably hard to find now, but they are workhorses (& weren’t that old when we started!) There seems to be 2 camps: HP & Brother. Tho’ there are most likely a lot of other brands that will do the job. Dual tray is a time-saver, no doubt. But you can survive with a single tray & can always just add a 2nd tray if/when/maybe business picks up and warrants the cost.
Biz is slow because interest rates went from 2-7%. All real estate businesses are slow, so if real estate is the field you were going to focus on, it’s going to be slow for you right now. If interest rates go down in 2024, then things may get better. Unfortunately, there’s also a saturation of mobile notaries as well. Signing services know this and take advantage by paying barely profitable fees. When the time’s right, try going directly to title companies.
Affirmative: “Saturation” Hmmm: “barely profitable” ===>>> In my direct (& anecdotal) experience, across the board the fees currently advanced by Signing Services [SSs] AREN’T profitable at all.
If one accepts their offered fee, the professional signing agent [PSA] will be working for FREE/or at a loss (after subtracting the direct out-of-pocket expenses to provide the services).
Couple that scenario with several of the SSs that refuse to pay for 90+ business days (not calendar days) we’ve seen over the most recent year span of time & therein lies an equation for disaster (non-payment of professional services successfully provided).
It’s slow for both reasons, but the low (NOT profitable) fees are due to way too many notaries looking for a sliver of the shrinking pie and believing that they’ll be offered volume and the big bucks once they prove themselves. When, in fact, all hiring party will do is move on to the next newb.
In November I had to buy another top unit for my HL-L6200DWT. The fuser on my prior top unit was dying and I didn’t have time to buy the fuser and replace it. I ran to Office Max and they sold me the floor model for $265 including tax. I’m using the original second tray with it.
You might want to see if you can buy the 2 units separately. I have been told a second tray will run about $100 (I can’t verify). You can typically find many top units for sale on many sites.
This is part of the “Sales Pitch” that is selling the ‘sizzle’ and NONE of the ‘steak.’
The line of “do this one for this low fee & we’ll catch you on the next one at a much higher price. Plus, you’ll be rated as ‘Preferred’ to receive a volume of orders . . .”
======
Unfortunately, this ‘pitch’ is just an age-old bait & switch technique intended to ‘confuse & dazzle’ you with bs . . .
I bought my first Brother 5340 dual tray online for $75. It lasted 2 years until the fuser went. Got a 6200 new and that fuser went. kept the 2nd tray and bought a 6200 for $100. when you buy used make sure you check the fuser life and page count. Welcome to our commhnity
I agree with checking ebay or even local facebook marketplace or crsigslist depending on the size of your community. I got lucky as when i reactivated my commission, a lot of businesses were closing doors. I got a xerox 1800 series with 2 drawers. It has proven to be a real workhorse, almost as good as my old HP.
I have a seperate panasonic scanner. Another ebay purchase.
What state are you located in? I purchased 2 Brother 6200 printers, one is still in its shipping box. I never set up my mobile office and have no idea if I’ll ever do that.
The one you are looking to get is the one I have and it works great but you are correct; it is pricey. About 6 signings to pay for it depending what type of signing. I only do signings on the side and 2023 was my slowest of the four years I have done this. I did a total of 21 signings all year!
percent accurate.