I'm not an expert on print buying. I know two people who are*. But I'm still amazed at what people pay for getting stuff printed. Of all the things I get as part of my work, print costs vary the most. As a designer, when I get involved in the print side I simply pass on the cost. Any markup is minimal and I include a management fee if I negotiate with the printer. I think clients are unhappy now with so called agency markups of 20-50% on their print bills.
Having said that I don't always use the cheapest printer and I don't spend hours shopping around. I tend to use people that I've had consistent good results from and from who I know I'll get a good result. Also I want as much automation as possible, I want to be able to upload files and get them in the print queue as soon as they are ready to go. I want the process to be predictable and repeatable. And I want guaranteed turnarounds.
*one of them lives here: http://www.printbydesign.co.uk/, and no, they haven't paid for this ad, nor are they expecting it to appear.
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