Why is the box in the storeroom filled with last year's flyers?
Almost every office has one: a carton of printed material featuring an outdated phone number, old logo, or a price list that expired eighteen months ago. Nobody wants to discard it because it was costly, yet it's useless because it's obsolete. It simply sits there, a monument to a hasty decision.
That box exists due to a specific aspect of print economics: the per-unit price decreases as the quantity increases. Therefore, ordering more always seems like the smart move at the moment of ordering. However, it only remains a smart decision until the content changes.
Working out the right quantity is not guesswork; it is a calculation based on inputs you already possess.
Why more is always cheaper per piece
Print cost splits into two parts. Setup is fixed: preparing files, making plates if it is offset, bringing the press to colour, setting up the cutter. That cost is the same whether you print 100 or 10,000. Running cost is variable: paper and ink, which scale with quantity.
So, the per-unit price is calculated by dividing the setup cost by the quantity, and then adding the running cost. When you divide a fixed number by a larger number, the result decreases. This is the core mechanism, and it generates quotes that look like this:
| Quantity | Total | Per piece |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | Baseline | Highest |
| 1,000 | Slightly more | Roughly half |
| 2,500 | Moderately more | Considerably lower |
| 5,000 | More again | Lowest, flattening |
Focus on the shape rather than the numbers. Doubling from 500 to 1,000 often adds surprisingly little to the total, since you are mainly adding paper and ink to a setup that has already been paid for. This is when the temptation arises, and it really does present a genuine savings opportunity.
The curve flattens though. Beyond a certain point you are mostly buying paper, and doubling the quantity roughly doubles the cost. The clever quantity is near where the curve flattens, not beyond it. Ask for a quote at several quantities and you can see where that is, rather than assuming. Our note on typical print prices gives a sense of the ranges.
The missing number in that calculation
The per-unit price is based on the assumption that every piece will be used. This represents a saving only if this assumption holds true.
A flyer that costs 12 cents each to hand out ends up costing 12 cents per flyer. The same flyer, costing 8 cents each, where half are placed in a skip, ends up costing 16 cents per flyer. The cheaper option turned out to be more expensive, and it also required storage on a shelf for a year before distribution.
So the question is never "what is the cheapest per piece?" Instead, it is "what is the cheapest per piece that I will actually use?" These are different questions with different answers.
Work out the real distribution rate
Be honest about the speed at which materials move. Instead of focusing on what you hope will happen, look at what actually occurred last time.
- How many did you order the last time, and how many are remaining?
- Over what period were the remaining distributions made?
- Was the leftover pile due to low demand, or because the content became outdated?
- Is there an event or a specific date after which this information becomes incorrect?
That last question is the decisive one, yet it is the one nobody asks.
Shelf life is a content-related issue, not a paper-related one.
Properly stored paper can last for many years. When kept flat, dry, and away from sunlight, printed material will outlive the information on it comfortably.
The expiry is rarely physical. It occurs when a price changes, a person leaves, an address changes, a URL is retired, a logo is refreshed, or a regulation alters the small print. Print does not degrade; it becomes incorrect.
This means the honest question when choosing a quantity is: how long will all the information on this page remain accurate?
- A price list: months, if that.
- Anything that includes a named person and their contact details should remain as is.
- A company profile with no specific details: perhaps a couple of years in existence.
- An event flyer serves its purpose on the day of the event.
- Genuinely long-lasting, this generic branded material makes no claims.
Order the last category in bulk. Print the first two in small runs and reprint them. The savings on 5,000 price lists will be imaginary if the prices change in March.
Design so it lasts longer
There is a way to have both, and it costs nothing but forethought: keep the volatile content separate from the bulk item.
Print the brochure without prices, and include the price list on a single, easily reprinted insert sheet. Use a short URL you can control and redirect, instead of a specific campaign address. Leave space for a sticker or stamp rather than printing the branch address on 10,000 pieces. Create a generic item with a long-lasting core and a small, disposable, volatile component.
This approach is standard in businesses that frequently print. It is often unknown to businesses that only occasionally print. This method transforms a stale-content issue into a cost-effective reprint.
The other direction, briefly
Under-ordering also incurs real costs. A reprint requires paying for setup again, so 2 x 500 costs significantly more than 1 x 1,000. It also consumes lead time you might not have, and achieving exact colour matching across two runs on different days is more challenging than it seems. Running short before an event is worse than having a small leftover.
So this is not an argument for ordering the minimum. Instead, it is an argument for ordering a realistic amount: roughly what you will use before something changes, plus a sensible margin. It is not about ordering a year's supply of something that will be incorrect by August.
Tell us how long it stays true
When you ask us for a quantity recommendation, the most useful information is not your budget. Instead, it is what is currently on the page and when it changes. Based on this information, we can determine whether moving to the next quantity break will result in a cost savings or a storage issue.
We will provide quotes for various quantities so you can see the pricing curve. We will also indicate when we believe a larger number might be disadvantageous. We prefer to sell you 1,000 units twice rather than 5,000 units once, which could result in 3,000 units being discarded. If your content is volatile, we will suggest dividing it so that the expensive part lasts longer, while the changeable part can be updated without incurring high costs.
You can see the options under custom online printing, and our guide on briefing a printer covers what else to send. Ask for tiered pricing through the contact page, and tell us the date something on the page stops being true.
