What an office printer costs month to month

Six things set the monthly number on an office printer: color, speed, paper size and finishing, what service covers, the term, and how you pay. Change one and the number moves.

This page walks through each one so you can read a quote and know what you are paying for. There is no price on this page. We keep one rate sheet, the same for every office, and the quote names the machine that fits yours.

How much does it cost to rent an office printer?

It depends less on the printer than on the paperwork around it.

Two offices can pay the same monthly amount for the same machine and end up with very different bills. One quote includes service. The other bills it on top. One carries a page minimum. The other does not.

So the useful question is not “what is the monthly payment?” It is “what does the monthly payment include, and what gets billed on top of it?” A quote that answers both is a quote you can compare.

What changes the monthly number?

Color or black and white

A color machine costs more than a black and white machine, and a color page costs more to print than a black and white page.

If your office sends anything to clients in color, you want a color machine even if color is a small share of what you print. If nothing leaves the building in color, black and white keeps both the machine and the pages simpler.

Speed

Office machines are rated in pages per minute. A faster machine costs more because it is built for more work: a bigger engine, more paper on board, more hours of printing a day.

Speed should match your volume. A low volume office does not need the speed a medium to high volume office does. Paying for speed nobody uses is money spent on nothing. The opposite mistake costs more: a machine too slow for your volume makes people wait at it and works harder than it was built to.

Paper size and finishing

A compact machine runs letter and legal. A full size machine adds 11×17 and paper up to 12×18, four paper drawers, and a finisher that sorts and staples.

If your office prints spreadsheets, plans or booklets on 11×17, or staples packets every day, you need the full size machine, and it carries a higher monthly than the compact one. If you only print letter and legal, the compact machine does the job. A compact machine can take an internal stapler if stapling is the only thing missing.

Service and supplies

This is where most quotes differ. Service covers toner, parts, labor, maintenance and service calls. Some quotes fold service into the lease with a monthly page allowance. Others bill it separately, per page.

Read the allowance closely. It is set from a guess about your volume made before the machine is installed, and it holds for the whole term. Print under it and nothing comes back to you. Print over it and the extra pages often bill at a higher rate than the one you were quoted. Office print volume tends to fall year over year, so an allowance sized in year one can be too big by year three.

Our Total Coverage Plan is billed separately, per page, month to month. It covers toner, parts, labor, maintenance, training, and phone and onsite support. There is no minimum, no overage and no base charge, and scanning is never metered. When something breaks, a technician is onsite within 4 hours. Paper is the one thing it does not cover.

Term

On a lease, the term spreads the cost of the machine over the months you keep it. A longer term means a smaller monthly payment for the same machine.

Our leases run 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60 months, and 36 is the term most offices choose. A longer term is also a longer commitment. A lease cannot be cancelled in the middle, so choose the term you are sure of, not the one with the smallest payment.

Lease, month to month or purchase

How you pay moves the number more than anything else on this list.

A lease spreads the machine over the term. It carries a lower monthly rate than month to month on the same machine, and it needs a credit approval.

Month to month puts a full machine in your office with no term and no credit application. You pay a one-time setup deposit that covers delivery, installation, setup and pickup, then one monthly number for as long as you keep it. The monthly rate and the per-page rate both run higher than a lease, because what you are paying for is the freedom to send it back.

A purchase is one payment, with delivery and setup included, and you own the machine. Service is still billed separately, per page, month to month. It fits offices that have the cash and keep a machine three to six years or longer.

Is renting a printer worth it?

For an office that wants a full machine without a multi-year commitment, yes. Month to month is the whole machine, delivered, set up and serviced, with no end date to track.

If you already know you will keep the machine three years or more, look at a lease. The monthly rate is lower on the same machine, and delivery, installation and training are included with no setup deposit.

One flat number or pay per page?

On a lease there are two ways to handle pages.

The Turnkey Plan is one flat monthly number: the machine, the Coverage Plan, and a block of pages. Pages past the block bill at the same published rate every office pays, not a penalty rate. It suits an office that wants one number on the books every month.

Pay-Per-Print is the lease on its own plus metered pages, with no minimum. It suits an office whose volume moves around.

The quote shows both side by side, so you can see what each one includes before you choose.

What should a monthly quote show?

Before you compare two quotes, make sure each one answers these:

• The machine, by speed, paper size and finishing.
• The monthly equipment payment and the term.
• The per-page rate for black and white and for color.
• Whether there is a page minimum or allowance, and what extra pages cost.
• Whether scanning is metered.
• Whether the lease renews on its own, and the notice window if it does.
• What happens on install day.

On our quotes, install day includes delivery, installation, network and print driver setup, scan to email and scan to folder setup, and in-person training. We haul away your old machine at install. In Dallas Fort Worth and Houston the machine is installed 3 to 5 business days after approval, and on a lease nothing is due until it is installed. Our leases do not auto-renew.

A quote that leaves any of those lines blank is not finished. Ask for the missing line before you sign.

FAQ

Does the monthly price include toner?

On our quotes, toner is part of the Total Coverage Plan, with parts, labor, maintenance and service calls. Paper is the only thing you buy.

Is there a minimum number of pages?

No. The Coverage Plan has no minimum and no base charge. You pay for the pages you print.

Why does month to month cost more per month than a lease?

Month to month has no term. You can send the machine back when you no longer need it, and the rate covers that freedom. A lease commits to a term, so the monthly rate on the same machine is lower.

Do you publish prices?

One rate sheet, the same for every office. Ask and we will send it. The quote names the machine and every rate on it.

How fast can a machine be installed?

3 to 5 business days after approval in Dallas Fort Worth and Houston.

Request a quote for your office. Tell us your pages per month and the paper sizes you print. The quote names the machine and every rate, in writing.