Sharps a penny a click??????

[nmfaxman]

I have an account that is looking at Sharp MXm620 and MXC311.
I have them beat on machine price, but they are proposing $0.01 per copy B/W and $0.065 color that includes everything but paper and staples.
I don't see where they can afford these maintenance prices.
I am proposing Ricoh MP 4500 and MP 3350. The lowest I can go is $0.018 and $0.12 to make any money.
Are these Sharps that cheap to run and are they any good?
Is anyone else pricing this cheap or are they hiding something?

[copiman]

I have found that Ricoh is high in comparison to other manufactures. I have worked for Ikon as well as Ricoh. Did not know this at the time I worked there. Found it out when ventured out. Maybe someone who knows Sharps will chime in. By the way, do you increase your maintenance pricing each year? No answer needed. If not offer a locked in price for a specfic term. Good luck.

[nos]

your color price is pretty close to what we charge. your black is a bit higher. i have yet to come across a color machine that you can charge that low a color click and not lose money. if they are figuring on getting full yield on toners they are screwed. we usually take at least 2000 copies off stated toner yield when figuring maintenance rate. you gotta' look to at what kind of coverage customer will be running. we have one that runs beautiful FULL color pages. we were loosing our butts. we had to crank their rate up to compensate.

[nmfaxman]

I should increase each year, but don't. Customers complain and start shopping around.
My B/W price includes network support which is why it is a bit higher than most.
I am thinking that after the first year, Sharp will increase the charge and blame it on something else or charge for drum and dv units calling them consumables.
I could drop my price, but I work to make money. Not give stuff away.

[daveyball]

I have found that Ricoh is high in comparison to other manufactures. I have worked for Ikon as well as Ricoh. Did not know this at the time I worked there. Found it out when ventured out. Maybe someone who knows Sharps will chime in. By the way, do you increase your maintenance pricing each year? No answer needed. If not offer a locked in price for a specfic term. Good luck.

You have to increase something per year, toner,parts etc never go down,only up, eventually the machines will cost you money when they get older, that's my opinion anyway

[copiman]

There is some truth to what daveyball said. Usually, dealers increase the MA each year. How much? Depends on who is doing it. If you are offering network support, ask the customer if the other guys are offering it to. Are you willing to put the network support in writing? If so, ask if the other guy is. You may be surprised. Most do not offer that. I know we do, and it makes a big difference. In todays times you have to get creative. Offer them something that the others don't do. That's how we get business, and it seems to be working. Knock on wood. What do you have to offer that sets you apart?

[mojorolla]

Sharps run well if you do the maintenance. The Dragon 3 and Hercules machines are well running tanks.
If you have access to the Sharp IDNC site, there is a section called Configurator. You can pump in the model, expected volume, options, etc and it will produce the expected maintenance costs AND a cost per copy average.
As to cpp, your color is about average and as stated previously, your mono seems a bit high;.008 is where it usually is.
Prices have plummeted over the past ten years. When I was with Xerox, it was common to see color at .20 or greater. Nowadays, dealers have to, basically, low ball the others out of existence. However, if your service is good everything else will fall into place.

If you don't have access to the IDNC site, shoot me a PM with the specifics and I'll run it for you.

[cbs]

Separate your MFP service agreement from your network support services. If you include network services as a part of cpp rates, you are going to get hammered. On numerous occassions we get calls relating to network issues (new pc that need userid/password to perform scanning, a print driver added, ISP changed and new router has a different subnet or gateway that renders printing unavailable, the list goes on...). We bill for these issues. Customers with an MFP service agreement get a discount off our labor rate; but never is this included at no charge. This way, you can bring your MFP service agreement rates more in line with your competitors, offer comprehensive network support at an affordable rate, keep the customer in your corner, and not go broke!

[cccjjn]

On new Ricoh mid volume color like the MPc3002 I will go down to $0.0095 Black and $0.065 color all day long on competitive deals. We don't jack contracts up and we still make money.

On Ricoh pre-owned units a generation back from new I will do $0.01 Black and $0.07 color.

[kingpd@businessprints.net]

I think Sharp was a little less expensive and Ricoh more in general. Honestly, it's so hard to compare just rates anymore and you really need to look at the whole contracts...for instance...

I know I personally ran into a lot of super low click rates when trying to take over a Xerox account...and the rates were pretty darn low...however, if you looked at the contracts, every year Xerox is allowed an increase, and guess what, every year, they increase the rates.

It's the age old draw them in and recoup over the length of the contract later...