Copier prices on the Gold Coast, and what drives them

Six things that set the price

• A3 or A4. Machines that take A3 paper sit above A4 models on price.
• Speed. The faster the machine, the higher the price, so a 45 page a minute copier is dearer than a 25.
• Colour. A colour machine is dearer to buy than a mono one, and its colour pages cost more to print.
• Grade. Brand new is dearest, followed by renewed, refurbished and then used. When an ex demo machine turns up, it prices close to new.
• Extras. Stapling and finishing units, added paper trays and high capacity feeders all lift the price.
• Payment. All at once, or as a rental or finance over 36, 48 or 60 months.

Costs that are easy to miss

• Minimum billing. Certain agreements charge for a fixed volume of pages, or a fixed sum, each month even when the office prints far less.
• Rate reviews. A good number of service agreements let the page rate be revisited while the term runs, commonly each year. Find out how often that can happen and how big the rise can be.
• Toner heavy pages. Page rates are built around a typical page of mostly text. Glossy flyers, property brochures, photos and big blocks of colour use a lot more toner, and some agreements add a charge for that.
• What the rate leaves out. Ask exactly what sits inside the page rate. Some agreements exclude particular parts, or charge labour and call outs on top. And with no service agreement in place, you pay for every visit and every part as you go.
• Toner freight. Even where toner is part of the page rate, each order can still have a delivery charge.
• Getting it going. Delivery, network installation, scanning setup and staff training can all be billed as extras. Check if the quote includes them. With Gold Coast Copiers, every one of them is in the price.
• Insurance. A rented or leased copier usually goes on your own business insurance, and damage outside the agreement is yours to cover.
• The finish. An agreement may keep billing in full until it is formally ended, and there can be fees to collect the machine or clear its hard drive.
• Leaving early. Expect a payout that is usually most of what is left to pay, along with any service charges not yet paid.
• Finance fees. An establishment fee or a documentation fee can be added to a finance agreement.
• Software. Secure release printing, scanning apps and cloud links may each come with a monthly fee of their own.

These are ordinary features of copier agreements, and you should know about every one of them before you commit. Whoever you deal with, ourselves included, ask to see each item set down in writing first. Work through the full agreement checklist.

Look past the purchase price

Spread over a three to five year term, the money spent running a copier can match what was paid for it, and a busy office can spend well beyond that. By running cost we mean the page rate, which on a service agreement is the one figure that covers toner, parts and repairs.

A machine that looks inexpensive to buy can be costly to run. When the quotes come in, line up each supplier's mono and colour page rates, in writing, along with what those rates include.

What a copier costs you each month

Each month you pay two things: the rental or lease payment, and the pages your team prints. For a quiet front office the payment tends to be the bigger share. For a busy one, such as a school office or a builder printing plans, the pages usually outweigh it by some distance. Share your volumes with us and we will work out both.

Why you will not see a price on our machines

No two machines on our list are quite the same. One has done more pages, another has a finisher fitted, and every customer wants to pay a little differently. A printed price would suit almost nobody, so instead we prepare figures for your business, in writing, on two or three machines that fit. A quick call, or the enquiry form here, gets that under way.