5 Ways to Buy Your Office Stationery on a Budget

As with anything that you leave to the last minute, emergency stationery shopping can be expensive. Rather than doing your research and choosing the best deals or most cost effective supplier, you are more than likely going to pick the first provider you come across, which could end up costing you dearly. By planning ahead and never letting your stationery supplies run too low, you’ll have time to hunt down the best deals and take advantage of upcoming promotions.

Bigger organisations will have the buying power to reduce their per unit costs thanks to bulk buying discounts, but just because your organisation isn’t huge doesn’t mean you can’t save money on stationery. Rather than ordering 10 packs of printer paper per month, for example, you could order 100 at the start of the year and take advantage of a lower per-unit cost. As long as you have somewhere to store your stationery items, stocking up in one shop could be more cost effective than lots of smaller orders in the long run.

If you set up a business account with your chosen stationery supplier, not only will you get preferential treatment as a loyal customer but you may also have access to exclusive discounts, your own account manager and a more straightforward purchasing process.

It can be tempting, particularly when first setting up a business, to assume that you will need every item from the stationer’s cupboard, but chances are you won’t need them all of the time, and some items you will never use. So, it pays to choose wisely when ordering your office stationery. Only order items that will be useful and enable staff to be productive – don’t buy things just for the sake of it. One way to determine what you really need is to send an email to staff members asking them what items would help them do their job more effectively, then cream off the top 5 overall items and make sure you always have these in stock. The more obscure products will probably only be requested by one or two people and therefore won’t really justify the cost.

It is not just consumer purchases that end up at the back of the wardrobe, unused because they aren’t right. In a business context, it is also quite common for organisations to receive incorrect items and never return them because they forget or don’t have time. These incorrect items are still paid for yet you can’t get full use out of them, so remember to return any items that aren’t right for your business.

If you’re looking for office stationery, whatever your budget, Discount Office provide honest pricing and a friendly team. Call them today on 0800 298 5742 or visit the Discount Office website to find out more.