general cost per copy questions

[brent]

maybe this is the wrong forum not sure so I will ask and if I need to erase or find a different forum I will

what is the general consensus on cost per copy that dealers are charging? rural areas like myself I have them all over the board
to compete with spokane getting my butt kicked. to a better range... thoughts>?


thanks all.. I realize that this is more of a dealer billing question but I own my own office so I am the dealer.. I do bills order parts
clean the toilet fix copiers etc.. anyone else out there like my situation?

thank you

brent idaho

[patrickjlc]

I dont know if its the same, but we charge 5c a page, and share it 50/50 with the business. But I supply paper, toner, and service.

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[BillyCarpenter]

You shouldn't worry about national averages because you're limited to your local territory.

My strategy starting out as a new company was to gather information on all of my competitors. Customers really don't have a probem telling you what they're being charged. Many times they will show me the service contract.


With all of that said, I don't have a set price that I charge. I charge as much as I can unless I'm forced to come down.

Remember this sales rule: You can always come down but you can never go up.

[tsbservice]

You shouldn't worry about national averages because you're limited to your local territory.

My strategy starting out as a new company was to gather information on all of my competitors. Customers really don't have a probem telling you what they're being charged. Many times they will show me the service contract.


With all of that said, I don't have a set price that I charge. I charge as much as I can unless I'm forced to come down.

Remember this sales rule: You can always come down but you can never go up.

I'm serviceman to the bones but your strategy sounds pretty darn good to me.
Agree also on lowering the prices you will never get them back to the previous levels.

[mloudy]

I do bills, order parts, clean copiers AND fix the toilets.

We have a set cpp and minimums based on model. Non-profits get better pricing for equipment and cpp.

The largest machines we sell are 75ppm. They start at .0069 and a 180K per year minimum. For a small desktop printer it would be .0175. Color ranges from .055 to .065 for year 1. Most A3 machines will be around .01 for year 1.

The lowest rate we have currently is .0035 at a school system locked for 5 years. I will never offer that rate ever again. Breaking even isn't worth it.

The majority of our rates go up annually .001 for black and .005 for color.

I told a potential customer yesterday that I would not guarantee their cost per page for more than 1 year. I could tell they were a bit put off. They are in manufacturing so I asked them, with the current world situation could you guarantee your customers that you would honor your prices for the next 5 years? Kinda brought things into reality for them.

[progoffice]

I use life insurance as an analogy for raising rates annually and people seem to get it. A few years ago my premium went up. Why? Because I'm getting older and the probability of things going wrong go up, hence the increase. A maintenance contract on a copier is no different and should go up slightly to offset the probability of it costing more to service it as the machine ages. You can probably get by keeping it the same rate for 3 years, but after that you should definitely go up annually after that to cover your costs.

[copyman]

Of course depending on what's included with contract and volume that customer will run, etc. But average for my area is 6-8 cent per page for color and 1-2 cent for B&W.

[BillyCarpenter]

I use life insurance as an analogy for raising rates annually and people seem to get it. A few years ago my premium went up. Why? Because I'm getting older and the probability of things going wrong go up, hence the increase. A maintenance contract on a copier is no different and should go up slightly to offset the probability of it costing more to service it as the machine ages. You can probably get by keeping it the same rate for 3 years, but after that you should definitely go up annually after that to cover your costs.

The only critique I have is that the amount to be increased per year should be stated on the contract. The customer needs to know that they won't be gouged.

Example: "Service agreement shall not be increased by more than (insert figure) 10% annually. "

[brent]

You shouldn't worry about national averages because you're limited to your local territory.

My strategy starting out as a new company was to gather information on all of my competitors. Customers really don't have a probem telling you what they're being charged. Many times they will show me the service contract.


With all of that said, I don't have a set price that I charge. I charge as much as I can unless I'm forced to come down.

Remember this sales rule: You can always come down but you can never go up.

that is some good info thank you

[brent]

Of course depending on what's included with contract and volume that customer will run, etc. But average for my area is 6-8 cent per page for color and 1-2 cent for B&W.

thank you.. I am getting 1.9 black and 9cents color.. I do well on most contracts and I need to adjust on some other ones.. the konica minolta c3320i machines and most of the smaller printers I just will not put under contract.. the toners cant even be bought from km right now.. its frustrating

prices just went up on machines parts etc from km as well.. that is why I am asking on this page as I feel I need to adjust to cover my ass. since everthing else is going up that seems sad but look at vehicles.. medical care etc.. par for the course I guess

thanks