Bulk Printing Cost Guide

Printing is priced in slabs, not linearly

The most useful thing to understand about print pricing is that it steps rather than scales. Doubling the quantity does not double the cost, because setup, plate-making and make-ready are fixed regardless of run length. Our rate card breaks at 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 units, and the per-unit price falls at each break.

Indicative volume discount curve

• Under 100 units — base rate
• 100+ — approximately 3% lower per unit
• 250+ — approximately 7% lower
• 500+ — approximately 13% lower
• 1,000+ — approximately 20% lower
• 2,500+ — approximately 26% lower
• 5,000+ — approximately 32% lower
• 10,000+ — approximately 38% lower

These are indicative and vary by product, but the shape holds: the steepest savings come between 100 and 1,000 units, after which the curve flattens.

Seven ways to reduce your print budget

1. Ask for the next slab price

Ordering 900 when the next break is at 1,000 means paying a higher per-unit rate for fewer items. Always request pricing at your quantity and at the next two slabs before deciding.

2. Gang your jobs

Printing business cards for twelve employees separately means twelve setups. Printed as one ganged job on a single sheet, it is one. The same applies to running letterheads, envelopes and compliment slips in a single press pass.

3. Standardise paper stocks

Every additional stock means another setup and often a minimum purchase of that paper. Choosing one coated and one uncoated stock across all your material lowers cost and improves brand consistency at the same time.

4. Design to standard sizes

A custom size that does not nest efficiently on a standard press sheet wastes paper on every impression. Designing to A-series or standard card dimensions can reduce material cost by 15–30% with no visible difference.

5. Be selective with finishing

Spot UV on the logo alone achieves nearly the same premium impression as full coverage, at a fraction of the cost. Foiling one element beats foiling four. Single-side lamination often suffices where the reverse is not handled.

6. Reduce colours where the design allows

A two-colour offset job costs materially less than four-colour. For internal forms, bill books, letterheads and pamphlets, a disciplined two-colour design often looks better than full colour.

7. Plan around your deadline

Rush surcharges are real and entirely avoidable. Express 48-hour production typically adds around 22% and 24-hour rush around 45%. Building three extra days into the marketing calendar is the cheapest saving available.

Purchase order and corporate account workflow

For organisations ordering repeatedly, a corporate account changes the economics. Slab rates are negotiated and locked for the financial year so budgeting is predictable. We quote against your PO format and reference it on every invoice. Artwork and colour profiles are retained so reprints match. Invoicing is consolidated monthly rather than per job, and credit terms are available to verified accounts after an initial order history.

The one thing not to economise on

Do not skip the proof stage. A rejected 10,000-piece run because nobody caught a wrong phone number costs more than every saving listed above combined. We supply a digital proof on every order and a physical proof on large or critical runs — approve them carefully.

Related reading: bulk and B2B printing, offset vs digital printing and instant quote calculator.