Printer Cost: 5 Factors Beyond the Price Tag to Consider

The true cost of owning a printer can be hidden behind these expenses

Printer cost can be deceptive. While a certain type or brand of printer may have a relatively inexpensive up-front price, the additional costs of using and maintaining that printer may actually make it a more expensive option.

Choosing the right printer, then, means taking a look at what it actually costs to use that specific printer over time. Printer ink cost, laser printer toner cost, printer cost per page, printer paper cost, the cost of extended trays or accessories, and the fine details of your warranty can all add up to a small fortune if you choose incorrectly. With printing, the old adage of “you get what you pay for” should actually be “you get what you pay for upfront.”

To help explain how the hidden costs of printer ownership can add up, we will take a look at some of the common costs associated with owning a printer. You may find that a printer that seems inexpensive might not be a bargain.

Learn more about the fundamentals of these essential office companions in our guide, How Do Printers Work: Everything You Need to Know.

How much does a printer cost?

This can be a difficult question to answer. While every printer has an upfront cost, those prices don’t always reflect how much the printer will cost to operate over time. A manufacturer may offset a lower relative printer cost by making accessories or printer cartridges more expensive.

To evaluate the true cost of owning a printer, you need to not only look at the shelf price but also the costs of the consumables and services you will need to operate it. We’ve broken down some of the costs you should consider when making a printer purchase.

Toner or ink cartridge replacement

For many printers, the biggest hidden cost will be replacing toner or ink cartridges. Inkjet printers use ink cartridges to create color or black-and-white images. Those ink cartridges can empty quickly, leaving you with the need to replace them to continue printing. And printer ink cost can add up quickly, especially if the design of the cartridges means you have to replace the entire thing just because a single color is empty.

Laser printers use a laser to melt toner to create text and images, but the fact remains that toner cartridges need to be replaced over time. Toner cartridges tend to last longer than inkjet cartridges and don’t dry out as ink cartridges can, but they can also be more expensive. Laser printer toner cost can be a significant expense, depending on how much you print and how many pages you can print from one toner cartridge.

To get an idea of how much your ink or toner costs will be, estimate how many pages you will print in a month or year. Given that the typical U.S. office worker prints around 10,000 pages per year, you can easily calculate how many pages your office will print by multiplying that number by your number of employees in that category.

Next, take a look at the number of pages you can expect to print with a given ink or toner cartridge. The RICOH 132 P black and white laser printer, for example, can print about 3,500 pages with a single toner cartridge. This gives the printer an incredible printer cost per page of around $0.03.

At 3,500 pages per toner cartridge, a single office worker will use about three cartridges in a year. Multiply the number of cartridges by the number of employees, then multiply the resulting number by the cost of a toner cartridge, and that will tell you your expected cost for toner (or ink) in a year.

Printer paper cost

The cost of paper is another expense to consider when purchasing a printer. Although not dependent on a specific model of printer, the cost of paper does add up.

Paper comes packaged in reams of 500 sheets, and the cost of a ream can vary depending on the quality of the paper and the manufacturer. Plain, matte paper tends to be the least expensive, and you can typically buy it at any office goods store for less than $10 per ream. This type of paper is good for black-and-white printing and copying and suitable for most inter-office needs.

Looking again at how much the typical office worker prints, a typical office worker will use 20 reams of paper per year at a cost of about $200.

As with all things, the better the quality, the more you will pay. Thicker, heavier, or glossier paper will be more expensive. If you do a lot of photo or color printing, you will need a higher quality of paper and should adjust your expectations of cost accordingly.

Accessories

Accessories are another cost to consider. Your printer may not come with everything you need in the box. Some items might have to be purchased separately.

One example is the extended paper tray. Printers can hold a certain number of blank pages of paper, and to extend that number you will need to purchase extended paper trays. The RICOH 132 P, for example, can hold 250 blank pages of paper, or half a ream. This can be extended by another 250 pages with the optional tray extension.

Take a look at how much you expect to print and how often you will want to add paper to the paper tray. An additional 250 pages in the printer could save considerable time and hassle, but that will come with an additional cost. For the RICOH 132 P, that’s about $187.

Setup cost

Another factor to consider when purchasing a printer is setup cost. This includes the cost to physically install the printer in your office space and connect it to your network. Some manufacturers make this simple, with USB, ethernet, and Wi-Fi capability to allow your new printer to connect to whatever kind of network you may have. The printer software provided by the manufacturer will also play a role in how easy it will be to set up your new printer.

Some vendors charge hundreds of dollars to set up a printer and connect it to your network. Printers with easy-to-use software and connectivity options can save you this expense by allowing you to set up the printer yourself.

Warranty

Ensuring you buy a quality printer in the first place can help prevent the inevitable downtime caused by a malfunctioning printer, but even the best equipment breaks down sometimes.

Should that happen, having a solid warranty on your new printer will keep you from having to spend hundreds of dollars on repairs. A good manufacturer will also provide fast and reliable warranty service, keeping you from spending a long time without your equipment.

Ricoh’s Advance Exchange service program provides next-day replacements before the malfunctioning equipment is returned. This gets you back in service quickly and without the delays caused by longer warranty terms of other manufacturers. With Advance Exchange, if the technical assistance center is unable to resolve your issue, a new unit will be sent overnight.

Our recommendation: RICOH 132 P Black and White Laser Printer

With an economical and fast printing speed of up to 34 ppm, the RICOH 132 P black and white laser printer is suitable for most in-office printing tasks. Its compact, space-saving form factor makes it easy to find a home for, and its fast set-up and connectivity options make it a solid choice for individuals or small-to-medium-sized teams. The RICOH 132 P comes equipped with USB and ethernet connectivity and can provide Wi-Fi capability with the separate Wi-Fi dongle, sold for just $44. Plus, its 1-year Advance Exchange Warranty means you can rest assured you will not experience any significant downtime in the event something goes wrong. Click here to learn more.

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