Owning your label printer is better than ordering printed labels
Many companies order pre-printed rolls of labels from a print shop or online label store.
Let’s talk about the three main (and often hidden) inconveniences and unnecessary extra costs associated with this method.
1) Minimum orders and price breaks
When you need labels, you’re thinking it makes sense to pre-order a bunch of them—to avoid minimum quantity rules and fees, as well as to bring your per-label costs down.
In reality, many companies throw away thousands of labels per year due to changes or mistakes in design, regulations, or other label requirements.
Printing your own labels keeps you with just the amount of labels you want and need. If something changes, cost and waste are minimized.
2) Managing and storing inventory
Downtime is expensive and costly, and labels are a necessary part of day-to-day business. Making sure you’re stocked with labels of all your products and SKUs often means filling shelves with pre-ordered labels.
When you own your own label printer, you only need to stock blank labels, which are cheaper and can be sourced from many companies, so you’re not on the hook. This can drastically simplify your label inventory management and storage.
3) Inability to react to opportunity
It’s tough to react to short-term and short-run promotional or sales opportunities when you’re ordering labels from a third party. Lead times or short-run fees get in the way. Plus, you already have an inventory of labels that need to be used.
In-house labeling gives you the freedom to easily react to market trends. Why not keep your products and branding feeling fresh and standing out?
Explore other options.
If you want to untether your packaging from third-party resellers and start making your own labels, you should explore the idea of owning a label printer. It’s an easier and more financially-viable option than you might think.