Pricing & Leasing

Did you know that a staggering number of individuals and businesses end up with printers that don’t meet their needs? It’s a common scenario: you purchase a printer, only to discover it doesn’t support color printing or can’t handle the paper size you regularly use.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to printer purchasing pitfalls. Falling into these can lead to frustration and wasted time.

Imagine investing hundreds or even thousands of dollars into a device that doesn't meet your requirements or costs you more in the long run.

At Strategic Technology Partners of Texas (STPT), we've been helping customers navigate the intricate world of printers for over 35 years. Today, we're addressing four of the most common mistakes people make when purchasing printers. Plus, we’ll share how you can avoid them to help you make a smart investment.

Table of Contents

Did you know that the average employee prints 34 pages a day? And of those 34 pages, 17% of them go to waste? 

That statistic, courtesy of Offix, is one of the reasons why you could be overpaying for printing.

Most businesses, schools, and organizations spend more on printing than they realize. And it’s not just paper that’s wasted; it’s also time, supplies, and avoidable service headaches.

With unmanaged printing expenses eating up as much as 3% of a company’s annual revenue, it’s clear that this is an opportunity to improve your business’s bottom line.

At STPT, we’ve spent nearly 40 years helping companies get their printing under control. And in that time, we’ve seen the same three problems crop up again and again behind inflated printing bills.

Price fluctuation happens in almost every industry, and printers are no different.  

Whether you buy directly from a printer manufacturer or through a vendor, the price of machines can change at any given time.    

This is especially true under today’s current circumstances, where supply chains remain disrupted and inflation continues to rise across most sectors of society.   

As a local print vendor (and Xerox partner), we see these fluctuations up close. Customers often ask, “Why did this printer cost X last month and Y today?” That’s exactly what we’re here to answer.

To help you understand why printer prices fluctuate, we’ve identified four main reasons for these changes and how frequently they happen. We’ll also explain how buying from a retailer, a manufacturer, or a vendor makes a difference and provides practical steps to make smarter buying decisions.

Remember when you first bought your office printer? It probably felt like the easiest, most cost-effective choice. Buy it once, set it up, and get to work. But as your business has grown, you might have noticed that same machine causing more headaches than it solves. Whether it’s running out of toner at the worst time, breaking down when you need it most, or simply struggling to keep up with demand.

As a print vendor, we work with businesses and organizations every day who hit this exact crossroads. Many started out with a retail-bought printer from a place like Staples or Amazon, but soon realized their needs had outpaced their machine. We’ve helped hundreds of businesses make the switch to leasing, giving them access to better equipment, ongoing support, and predictable costs.

When it’s time to buy a new printer, one of the first questions many businesses and organizations ask is: Should we buy directly from the manufacturer, or work with a local print vendor?

It’s a great question, and not always an easy one. The right answer depends on your business’s needs, how much service you want, and what kind of long-term relationship you're looking for. As longtime partners of Xerox and experienced print vendors ourselves, we understand both sides of the equation.

In this guide, we’ll break down the pros and cons of each option, clarify what each buying route really looks like, and help you start making the best decision for your business. If you're feeling unsure, that’s okay, we’re here to help.