Business photocopier prices

Photocopiers are an essential piece of office hardware. Even in these ever-more-digitised times, businesses still need to copy important documents, articles, letters, meeting handouts, training material, and so on.

To buy a quality business photocopier, you’re looking at anything in the region of £750 to £30,000 depending on your business size and requirements. But, when it comes to photocopier prices, how do you know if a certain device is a good investment for your office? Is there a difference between a black and white or colour photocopy machine price, and are there any hidden costs lurking behind the initial investment?

The following addresses these nagging questions, and more, so you can make the most informed decision possible. We can also give you the opportunity to compare price quotes directly from photocopier suppliers – take a minute to answer a few question about your business photocopier needs at the top of the page to get the ball rolling.

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How much do office photocopiers cost?

Basic business photocopiers can come in at as little as £100, but these models will be predominantly suitable for smaller, home-based businesses.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are the industrial all-singing-all-dancing photocopiers reaching upwards of £20,000 a piece. Such machines are more at home in high-demand, commercialised business environments.

Startups has created an overview of different photocopier prices, covering a spectrum of machines, ranging from the home-office copy buddy, to the high-end copy giants.

Photocopier type	Best for	Price region
Budget copier	Small start-up businesses, working from home, and offices with very low copy volumes.	£100 – £150
Free-standing mono (black and white) photocopier price	Smaller businesses or growing start-ups with a high copy demand but are happy to compromise on quality.	£800 – £1,000
Colour photocopy price	Smaller businesses or growing start-ups with a high copy demand.	£2,500 – £4,500
High-performance copiers	Larger businesses with high copy volumes and quality requirements.	£5,000 – £10,000
Industrial photocopiers	High copy intensity businesses.	£20,000

Also take into consideration that second-hand photocopiers will also be available for a approximately half of the retail price. However, a photocopier’s lifespan is typically five to ten years, so don’t invest in kit that’s going to become outdated within six months.

Note: photocopiers have scan-memory, so if you you’re dealing with sensitive information and decide to sell your copier, be sure to wipe its memory first.

Photocopier prices by brand

Here are the buying prices and top features for three of the top photocopier brands from UK suppliers:

Photocoper	Function	Features	Cost
Ricoh Aficio MP2000	Monochrome A4 Laser photocopier (basic level)	500 sheet capacity 50-sheet Automatic Reversing Document Feeder (ARDF)	£890
Toshiba e-Studio 2050C	Monochrome A4 Laser Photocopier (basic level)	100-sheet Automatic Reversing Document Feeder (ARDF) Multiple paper cassette sizes 2,900 sheet-hold capacity	£1500
Canon imageRUNNER 1730i	Monochrome photocopier (high-end)	2,300 sheet paper capacity Remote diagnostics and printing via connection Scan-to-email capability	£900

The above table is a condensed snapshot of what you might expect to pay for a good quality photocopier. You can also visit our best business photocopiers page, on which you can find cost comparisons, detailed colour photocopier price lists and a handy breakdown of model pros and cons.

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Photocopier pricing and features

These days, modern high-end photocopiers can ‘do all but the washing up’ – that is to say, they can offer several functions in one unit.

The main photocopier features available are:

• scanning
• printing
• automatic binding
• automatic stapling
• image editing
• faxing and emailing

So, it’s important to consider what exactly you’re looking for in a photocopier so you’re not investing in something you don’t need – although highly practical multi-function devices can really contribute to day-today operations in an office.

Another key consideration is: do you need a colour or a black and white photocopier?
Black and white photocopiers are less expensive, firstly because you only have to buy one toner, secondly because the technology involved is slightly less complex. However, having copies and print-outs in colour can make a big difference when you’re presenting documents to employees, colleagues, partners, and so on – not something to be overlooked.

In any case, do remember the ongoing costs of buying replacement toner cartridges in the future.

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Photocopier prices – the hidden costs

It’s important to be aware of the bigger picture when looking to buy a photocopier. Initial costs often aren’t the entire story, because photocopiers are high maintenance machines with big technological demands.

Here’s a breakdown of the ‘hidden’ photocopier costs associated with a mid-range copier:

Additional requirement:	Payment frequency:	Associated cost:
Full toner cartridge	Annual	£174
Staple refill	Annual	£50
Drum cartridge replacement	Every two/three years	£350
Scan to PC license (five users)	Monthly	£10

Note: your photocopier will inevitably require further ad-hoc services and maintenance jobs that won’t be cheap. Also, photocopiers are very energy intensive machines, so your electricity bill is a very worthy consideration when making an investment.

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Photocopiers: to buy or to lease?

The all important question when it comes to photocopiers is whether you buy or lease your machine. Buying one outright will ultimately give you complete autonomy as far as pricy office equipment is concerned, but will also require you to make a hefty initial investment. Then again, owning your own photocopier means that you aren’t tied into a contract and you’re free to do what you like with it.

Leasing, often considered the more affordable option, could give you access to otherwise unaffordable kit, but is somewhat of a false economy in the long-run. This is because you’ll probably end up paying more in leasing fees over the years than you would have spent on the photocopier in the first place.

There are clear pros and cons to both options, here’s a quick breakdown of the key considerations as far as the leasing/buying debate goes:

• Servicing:
  Photocopier servicing can cost upwards of £100 a time – this is a significant cost and it might be worth looking into whether or not your supplier offers a service plan alongside the price of your chosen copier.Note: Leasing a copier will usually include any servicing and maintenance included in your lease price.
• Cost per copy:
  Leasing a copier will grant you a certain ‘copy allowance’ that’s measured on a cost-per-copy basis. This means that you pay for each copy as you go, creating a tariff that’s usually added onto a contract in case you to exceed your inclusive monthly
  print allowance.As a general rule of thumb, these are the kind of costs you can expect to pay per copy:
  • Black and white = 0.5p up to 2p per copy
  • Colour = 5p upwards

 

Note: the above costs are dependent on the size, age and type of machine, and are judged according to the average A4, 80 gsm piece of white office paper.

When it comes to leasing, the smaller, low-density machines come in at around £25 a month to lease. Right up at the other end of the scale, you could be looking at several hundred pounds a month for a super flashy photocopier.

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Comparing business photocopier prices: Next steps

Whether you make the choice to lease or to buy a photocopier, it’s a business investment that’s worth your time and consideration to make sure you’re getting the right one for you. Remember to think about how much copying your office realistically does, how much space you have, what standard you need your copying to be at and what your manageable budget is.

Receiving more specific price information directly from trusted UK suppliers can really speed up the process of finding the best photocopier to suit your business’s needs (and will likely save you money). You can receive bespoke quotes by answering a few quick questions about your business below (or at the top of this page).