Considerations When Getting a New Copier

  1. Start the process of getting bids for a new/replacement copier about 4-6 months before the current contract expires. It will take about 2-3 months to get the bids in and make a decision. Take delivery of the machine within a month of the end.
  2. Do NOT let a new vendor “eat” the current lease. They won’t eat it, they’ll just add it to the monthly bill. Let the current lease expire or come within 2-3 months of expiration before getting a new one.
  3. Ask other churches for references of companies and copiers they like. Ask those for bids.
  4. Remember, a copier is a commodity. There is essentially ZERO difference between today’s machines. THE difference is in service. Thus, when getting quotes, it is vitally important to talk with the VP/Director of service to ask about the number and types of problems that each machine has. The VP of sales will give you a nice pitch (that’s his/her job) but the VP of service will shoot straight(er).
  5. Get a 48 month lease; 36 months are too expensive and 60 months are too long. By month 42 people are ready to get a new machine; around that time, many machines start breaking down more frequently.
  6. Get a quote for the base model and then get quotes for the add-ons (hole punch, staple, saddle stitch, etc.). Most machines do 11×17; desktop copiers can’t do that but 99% of office copiers do bigger copies.
  7. To figure out how many copies you current use in a moth, ask your current vendor for that info. Most copiers today let the company login and billing info such as how many B&W versus color copies were printed that month. When you ask the company for the totals, let them know you’re putting this contract out to bid. When they know they may lose their copier contract, they’ll work harder to keep the contract.
  8. Get info from the current copier company about the cost of returning a machine if you don’t renew with them. Some companies charge a shipping fee (I’ve paid $750) for old machines. Make sure the new lease doesn’t have that clause.
  9. Financially, I was most satisfied with the leases that made you pay for the copier plus the actual number of B&W/color copies. The old method of building in X thousand copies was simply a way to pad the monthly base fee.
  10. You should pay somewhere in the range of 2/10ths to 1/2 a penny per B&W and 3 to 5 cents per color copy. Anything more than that is wrong.

 Lead On!

Steve