Selecting a custom printing service and approving a contract involve much more than choosing the vendor with the lowest price. Of course, price (as reflected by the total cost of the estimate), and quality (as determined by a review of the book printing vendor’s samples and phone interviews with his references) are highly important, but here are a few other considerations. If you look closely, you’ll see them in the custom printing estimates or hear them in discussions with printer’s representatives. If not, be sure to ask.
The book printing and delivery schedule may or may not be flexible.
Last year for a small run of a perfect-bound book, a rather large printer in the Midwest provided the lowest price of all the custom printing vendors on my list. Unfortunately, this company needed four to five weeks to print and bind the job—plus a few days for delivery. My client needed the entire book printing run in her office in two weeks. She opted to pay more for the shorter schedule and printed the job locally.
Keep in mind, however, that a custom printing vendor may be able to produce a job more quickly than his initial offer might suggest. Of course, this could necessitate adding extra equipment and staff, which would be reflected in the total cost. In addition, the schedule the business printing provider offers might reflect the amount of work already in his “pipeline.” During a slower time, a printer might complete your work more quickly than during a busy period.
Delivery costs for shipping books from printing companies to your office add to the total price.
The printing cost is not the total cost. Your vendor must get the books from his plant to your office or storage location. If he’s a local vendor, this might be included in the cost (i.e., as a value-added service to remain competitive with other printing companies).
If, on the other hand, you have chosen a printer half a continent away since the printing cost was so low, you might be surprised by the cost of freight. Books are heavy, and mailing 100 cartons across the country can wipe out the savings of the lower printing cost. Then again, if your printer mails the books directly to your subscribers (a service called “mailshop” or “fulfillment”), freight might not be an issue. Or the book printing cost might still be low enough that the sum of the printing cost plus the freight cost might still be less than the total cost provided by a local vendor.
Terms of payment with printing companies may be negotiable.
A client of mine started a relationship with a local printer by producing a perfect-bound directory. Since this was the client’s first job, the printer requested half of the payment up front. This year, another printer is bidding on the work. This printer is willing to forgo requesting half payment up front and instead do a credit check and invoice my client after the job is complete. Last year, the schedule was more important than the terms. This year it may not be.
Keep in mind that many items are negotiable, and most will be on the printer’s estimate. However, some, like the payment of a portion of the job up front, may not be. So be astute and discuss terms with your printing companies.
The custom printing vendor may not have bid on the paper you specified.
You may have specified Finch Opaque for your book printing project because the whiteness, brightness, and opacity appeal to you. But maybe the estimate of a printer with an especially attractive price includes a paper substitution. Maybe this printer’s house sheet is of a lower quality than Finch Opaque. Maybe it’s not as opaque as Finch, leading to potential “show-through” of photos and solids (text and images visible from the back of the page when you are reading the front of the page).
Be astute in comparing bids from different printing companies, and be aware that some specifications may differ from those you requested. Be especially wary if a vendor just sends your email back with a price. After all, in that case, how will you know on what specifications the custom printing vendor has based his estimate?
This entry was posted
on Friday, September 30th, 2011 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Book Printing, Negotiations, Offset Printing, Printing, Soft Cover Book Printing.
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