Print guides · 4 min read
How to read a printing quote
Two quotes for the same job can differ by a third and both be honest. The difference is almost never dishonesty; it is that they have assumed different things, and the assumptions are not written down. Knowing what sits behind the numbers turns a confusing comparison into a straightforward one.
Fixed cost and running cost are different animals
Every print quote contains two kinds of money. Fixed costs happen once regardless of quantity: plates, dies, make-ready, setup. Running costs scale with how many you print: paper, ink, press time, finishing.
This is why the unit price falls steeply at first and then flattens. It is also why asking for a price at three quantities is more informative than negotiating one. The shape of the curve tells you where the job wants to be ordered, and no discount will beat ordering at the right quantity.
Origination: the one-off charges
Plates, cylinders, dies and pre-press work are one-off. On a first order they can dominate the quote and make the unit price look terrible. On a repeat order using the same plates and the same die, they largely disappear.
So always ask what the repeat price is. A quote that looks expensive for 10,000 may be very competitive at the second order, and a quote that looks cheap may have buried origination in the unit price where you will pay it again.
The quantity tolerance nobody mentions
Print is a process with waste, so printers deliver within a tolerance rather than an exact count: order 10,000 and you may receive slightly more or slightly less, and you are billed for what is delivered. This is standard practice, not a trick.
It matters when the quantity is tied to something else, a promotion, a filling run, a customer order. If you need a guaranteed minimum, say so and have it written into the quote, because the default is a tolerance either side.
What the quote assumes about your artwork
Most quotes assume print-ready artwork arrives correctly built. If your file needs colour correction, re-separation, dieline redrawing or repro work, that is chargeable and often is not in the number you were given.
Ask explicitly what is included. A quote that includes pre-press and one round of amendments is not comparable with one that does not, even though the two numbers sit next to each other looking like the same thing.
Delivery, packing and payment terms
Check whether delivery is included and to how many addresses, because splitting a delivery is a real cost. Check how the goods are packed and counted, which matters if they go straight onto a filling line. And check payment terms, since an advance requirement is part of the price in any practical sense.
These lines are where quotes most often differ silently. Two prices that look ten percent apart can be identical once delivery and terms are equalised, or twenty percent apart in the other direction.
Making two quotes comparable
Send both suppliers the same specification, in writing, with the quantity, the stock, the colours, the finish and the delivery requirement stated. Then ask both the same three questions: what is the repeat price, what is included in pre-press, and what tolerance applies to the quantity.
If a supplier will not answer those plainly, that is information too. We quote against a written specification and will tell you which line is driving the number, because a buyer who understands the quote orders better the second time.
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