Subject: 08 Average printing costs
There are different ways to calculate the printing costs for a single page. The easiest calculation method just takes the printing supplies (toner, drum, ribbon, ink or else) and divide that price by the number of pages printable with one set of supplies. The result is the printing price per page, in fact it's the cheapest price compared with other, more accurate methods of calculation (this may be the reason why most manufacturers use this method).
For a complete calculation you need more information (and time). First the price of the printer itself is part of the equation since you will use it for a limited amount of time (lets say 3 or 4 years), eventually the printer must be replaced when it reaches its maximum printing capacity. In relation to this, the number of pages printed per month are an important factor in the calculation. In addition you need the printer supplies necessary for the printer's lifetime, and maybe also the paper costs (especially when some of the printers to be compared use expensive high-quality paper while others work with standard paper).
After so many words let's do an example..
We have 2 laser printers called "A" and "B". Current street price for "A" is 800 USD, and for "B" it's 1800 USD. Both printers have a maximum printing capacity of 300,000 pages. Printer "A" needs a new toner & drum kit every 3,000 pages (average price is 120 USD), printer "B" needs a new toner & drum every 8,000 pages (average price is 240 USD). Both printers use standard paper (therefore we won't include it in the calculation).
The average costs should be calculated on a 4 year lifecycle base with two different numbers of pages printed per month: private usage with about 500 pages/month and commercial usage with 5,000 pages/month (since both printers may print up to 300,000 pages, the maximum capacity will not be reached within 4 years).
Calculation:
Printer "A" Printer "A" = Printer "B" Printer "B" =
500 p/month 5000 p/month = 500 p/month 5000 p/month = comment
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800 USD 800 USD = 1800 USD 1800 USD = street price
7 69 = 2 29 = # toner/drums
840 USD 8280 USD = 480 USD 6960 USD = price toner/drums
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1640 USD 9080 USD = 2280 USD 8760 USD = total costs
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6.83 c. 3.78 c. = 9.50 c. 3.65 c. = page costs
I'll leave the interpretation of the results to the reader.