How to Save Money When Buying Office Supplies

Are you frustrated by the amount of money  you spend on office supplies? Then I am glad you’re reading this post.

Office supplies may seem like a minor expense compared to other office purchases. But this is far from the truth. Unlike the major purchases, such as office equipment and furniture that tends to be a one-time buy, office supplies are used on a daily basis as they need to be replenished regularly.

If left unchecked, expenses from office supplies can obliterate a well-structured budget. But don’t worry.

There are a lot of things you can do to reduce the amount of money spent on office supplies. Continue reading and learn more.

Contents

Conduct Regular Audits

Conducting regular audits is the first step towards reducing money spent on office supplies. This involves keeping a record of all office supplies available in your office, where they are located, as well as the staff who can access them.

If, for instance, the audit shows that your business is using more paperclips than required, you should come up with ways to minimize that. This should apply to any other supply as well.

Alternatively, if some workers are using more supplies than others, you should talk to them to find out the reason behind that.

Use Recycled Cartridges

Nowadays, printers aren’t as costly as they used to be. It is the cost of cartridges that many find expensive.

Therefore, finding the best deal for ink cartridges is the way to keep these costs to a minimum.

One of the ways to do this is to find businesses that recycle old cartridges.

Recycled cartridges offer an economical option that contributes to environmental preservation without losing quality. 

Look for Discounts

Before making office supply purchases, check to see if any sellers are running specials or discounts. Hope you’d like a coupon that saves you some few dollars, right?

By using this trick, you can get discounted checks for personal and business use, paper, ink cartridges as well as other necessary supplies.

Also, if you’ve established a good relationship with retailers, you can use your connections to ask whether they are offering discounts for regular customers, especially bulk buyers.

Compare Prices and Make Purchases Online

Before purchasing your office supplies, compare the prices that different retailers are offering.

Fortunately, you don’t have to physically visit each store to see the items they are selling and their prices. You can research and shop for all your office supplies online.

But remember to factor in shipping costs when comparing prices. Many times, shopping online is less costly than buying from a physical store.

Go Bulk

Buying office supplies in bulk is one of the ways of reducing costs. This is why major companies always buy their supplies in bulk. You should do this too.

For instance, instead of ordering 500 sheet packs, consider a case of 10,000 sheets. However, you’ll have to tie up some money to buy supplies in bulk as well as preparing a place to store your supplies.

Consider the Quality

When buying office supplies, use your best judgment to determine whether to order a brand name or generic products.

Some will consider ordering generic brand as a sure way of saving a dime. Others, however, will choose to buy a name brand as they consider cheap products eventually end up being more expensive in the long run.  

However, in often cases, the differences in quality between name brand and generic products are negligible. Therefore, choosing generic brands can help you save, especially when buying expensive supplies. 

Stock Before You Run Out of Supplies

You’re likely to spend more on office supplies if you wait until they run out before ordering more. When your supplies run out, you’ll frantically rush to the store to buy what you need, and might buy other things in the process.

Stocking up before the supplies are finished will decrease your chances of ordering something out of impulse. It also allows you to take advantage of specials and discounts.

Establish Corporate Accounts

Establishing corporate accounts is a sure way of saving money on office supplies. Corporate accounts will not only help build relationships but also makes it easy to track what office supplies you use the most.

This information will help you come up with ways to reduce your usage and subsequently, the expenses.

Corporate accounts will also help prevent supply theft, especially when you entrust the supply distribution duties to a trusted worker.