Understanding TCO
When purchasing a printer, consumers tend to look at the price tag in front of them and do not consider other varaibles that accumulate during the life of the printer such as consumables. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a method of calculating both the direct and hidden cost of a printer purchase.
For example if you were a small business or home office that printed on average 500 mono pages a month, to work out the TCO you would calculate how much toner and consumables you would go through in the life of the printer (average 3 years) and add that to the initial pruchase price.

Ok that is a very basic method of calculating TCO but for a more detailed TCO calculator contact us at Printerbase and we will compare the running costs of any printer you are going to purchase.
The general rule of thumb is the more expensive the printer the cheaper it will be to run. This is not necessarily the truth there are many factors that need to be considered but one thing we know through our experience is that a low-cost printer dosent stay low-cost for long. An example of this can be seen below:

TCO Over 3 Years
A4 Mono Laser Printers – 500 pages per month over 36 months

HP LaserJet P1005  – Buy price £83 – Toner cost over 36 months £530.04 
-  TCO  £613.04

Kyocera FS-2020D - Buy price £295 – Toner cost over 36months £ 75.04
- TCO £370.04

As yo can see the TCO can no-longer be over looked especially since printers are now averaging up to five year lifecycles. Whether you are a small home-based business or you’re responsible for purchases within a large company with many departments and workgroups, take time to call us at Printerbase and we will help you ensure you have the right device for your environment.
To find out more about TCO click here or call Nick Simpson on 0845 230 7234