Hi,

As I am trying to look after the environment and try and keep all file sending relating to business online, I was thinking in the *rare event* of sending/printing documents to clients, I will need to charge them to cover the costs ONLY (not make a profit on it). I was thinking of having a 5% stationery charge to cover paper/printing costs (I will be paying my mammy who will do it very nicely at work), and for postage charges I will be charging them the exact cost of the postage (i.e. 42p for a letter). Is that a good base for charging for such things, and if you do charge for stationery, what are your policies?

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com

I charge actual costs. Most ink cartridges will tell you how many pages the cartridges are expected to print, so I take the cost of the cartridge and divide it by the # of pages. Mine average $.28 each. The cost of the paper is $.01 each. So I charge $.29 per page.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

$.29 per page is right on! I was trying to assist a client to see whether it would be cheaper for me to do a 900 piece mailing versus going to a commercial printer, where they charge around $.49 per page. We still needed to factor in my time and materials as well. My hesitation with doing it myself is the wear and tear on my printer, especially if it's a mail merge over a couple hundred pieces. Incidentally, I was having a heckuva time trying to find a printer that could print a mail merge! Most print the letters off a press versus a laser printer so it took a little explaining to my client. So after all of that, we still don't know what we are going to do!

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

You definitely have to factor in wear & tear on your printer, plus printing time. I currently just have an inkjet instead of a laser so it would be very time consuming to print a large mail merge.

For something like that I would go to my local printer, some places, like Kinko's have do-it-yourself print areas, which are cheaper than having them print for you. They have computer stations with microsoft office software so you could print your mail merges, just bring it with you on a disk. Fortunately, I have a local printer right up the street and I know the owners, so they give me a good deal.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

thanks for that, I was thinking of just putting an extra 1% on invoicing (about 18p when worked out with my rates) for printing costs as I am aiming on only using a printer when necessary/as requested. Thanks for the tips!

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com