Printing in Cheap, risks, and consequences

It is no secret that the overwhelming majority of people want to buy low and sell high like the printing. In light of this, cheap typography might seem like a good choice.

Almost no one will sell cheaper if they can sell more expensive and buy more expensive if the same thing can be obtained cheaper.
Nevertheless, the belief in a miracle continues to exist in the minds that someone will provide you with a service very cheaply, very efficiently, and on time.

If you are offered a really high-quality service at a lower price, then most likely the company is oriented “to take not by price, but by volume”. I remember taxi drivers from the recent past: some drove around to take passengers on the road at a cheaper price; others, who wanted more money and less fuss, patiently waited for their passengers in crowded places. In the end, both of them earned about the same.

The same thing happens in the printing industry. Someone is trying to work, even if it is cheap, but someone will stand better, but wait for suitable orders.

Why is the printing house selling cheap?

Because they don’t buy expensive. Usually they do not want to pay for something that is not worth it. Those who are focused on quality, convenience in work, high service will never look for where it is cheap and bad.

And cheapness is a more than relative factor and depends, for example, on the current production load. Sometimes, a few successful orders can instill confidence in the printing house in its own relevance and lead to an instant price adjustment.

I do not deny the existence of printers with excellent prices and high quality. But there is always a queue, always missed deadlines and never – an apology or an attempt to get into the position of customers, because “there are many of you, but we are the only one.”

Golden mean

Of course, it would be wrong to waste money, especially in our difficult times. Therefore, it always makes sense to approach the golden mean. For example, you spent 4 days on a tender, sent the technical assignment to 20 printing houses, then bargained for a long time, and finally received a difference in the price of 50,000 dollars. While you were doing this, there were no other projects that could bring the company more profitable than saving this 50,000 dollars. In other words, common-sense rules.

Because the term “cheap printing” is not entirely correct. After all, one and the same printing house, depending on the type of work and the season, can be both cheap and very expensive. It would be more correct to say “print cheap circulation”.

And here there is one more dangerous point, if you print copies cheaply, then there is most likely about 90% of the cost of materials and 10% – the cost of work. If you have any claims about the printed circulation, reprinting it will be extremely disadvantageous for the printing house. You will be “convinced” with a very high probability that everything is printed in accordance with GOSTs and other standards and that this will be true. Modern standards provide such tolerances that any independent examination will confirm that this obvious printing defect is not actually a defect.

So what should you choose?

The most reasonable thing is to work with those people who will appreciate, respect, and monitor the quality of the supplied products. Take care of yourself and be able to answer for your mistakes. All works are launched only if there is a color proof or a sample if such an edition was printed earlier.

If we are dealing with large editions, then in order to avoid surprises, we go to the costs associated with the preparation of offset color proof, because we carry out a full-fledged offset make ready on the machine on which the given edition will be printed. If this is not sheet products, but various folders, portfolios, boxes, packaging, then we will definitely make a test sample to make sure that the stamp is correct, in accordance with the selected materials, and we approve all this with the customer.

A pedantic approach to work takes time, costs, travel, negotiations, careful checking of layouts, attention to detail, so serious typography cannot be cheap. The formula “time is money” has not yet been canceled. In a cheap printing house, in any case, the customer will be to blame: you yourself sent such a layout, but you did not ask for a color proof, the circulation was printed according to standards, etc.