As with most other technologies on the market, it seems like there’s always a new color label printer vying for your attention. Color label printing technology is evolving rapidly, and the label printers are getting better, faster, and more versatile with each innovation.
It’s tempting to trade up because who doesn’t want the latest and greatest? However, your sense of fiscal responsibility is probably telling you to hold off until your old color label printer finally dies. That said, upgrading could actually be financially advantageous under some circumstances. With that in mind, here are some thoughts about when to upgrade a color label printer.
- Determine how many labels you actually print each month. You might think you’re only printing a few dozen labels each month, when in reality you may be printing many more. One way to figure this out is to review a few months of receipts for your label stock. Are you burning through six 500-count label rolls each month? That’s 3,000 labels. At this volume, the cost of ink for color inkjet-based label printers could become a deciding factor.
- Calculate your ink costs. Again, review your receipts. You may be shocked to discover that you’re paying hundreds of dollars each month in ink cartridges. At higher print volumes, ink costs can turn an inexpensive color label printer into a costly one. It might be cheaper to lease an Epson TM-C7500G, a Memjet label printer, or a color laser label printer from iSys Label, all of which have much lower consumable costs.
- Consider the cost of time. Improved ink efficiency isn’t the only reason to upgrade to one of the new color label printers; print speed and capacity are also benefits. For example, if it takes you all day to print a roll of labels, this could affect your ability to get your products shipped in a timely manner — and you may feel constantly overwhelmed with backorders. What if you could print that same roll in just two minutes? If print speed is important, you’ll definitely want to look at the Epson TM-C7500G or one of the Memjet color label printers like the Afinia L801, Vortex 850R Memjet label printer, or the iSys Label Edge 850 laser label printer.
If your print volume has increased substantially since you purchased your original color label printer, or if your color label printer cannot keep up with your production needs, upgrading your color label printer could cut your monthly ink costs and increase your capabilities.
If you are using a Primera LX400, LX800, LX810 or LX900, LX2000 or a VIPColor VP485, you may want to look at how many labels you are printing per month. With these label printers, when you start producing more than 3,000 labels per month, upgrading starts to make financial sense since the savings from the ink and the much faster print speed will save your business lots of money. Plus, if you finance the new printer with us, the ink cost savings alone can pay the monthly payment. We can do financing from 12 to 72 months to best suit your needs.
DuraFast Label Company can recommend the best color label printer for your specific requirements. Get a free cost analysis on a new color label printer suitable for your real world usage and find out if it makes sense to upgrade.