Industry Trends

The 7-Point Checklist I Use Before Buying Any Printer (Saves Me $400+ Annually)

Look, I'm not here to tell you which brand to buy. I'm a procurement manager for a 75-person marketing agency, and I've managed our office equipment budget (about $15,000 annually) for six years. I've negotiated with 20+ vendors and tracked every toner cartridge and service call in our system. What I am here to do is give you the exact checklist I use. It's the one I built after a "great deal" on a printer ended up costing us 30% more in hidden fees over two years. That mistake changed how I think about office tech purchases.

This checklist is for anyone who signs off on office equipment—whether you're in IT, admin, or running a small business. It's not about finding the cheapest sticker price; it's about finding the least expensive machine to own. We'll skip the fluff and go straight to the steps. There are seven of them, and if you skip #5, you're probably missing the biggest cost.

The Pre-Purchase Printer Checklist

Step 1: Define the Actual Need (Not the Want)

Don't start by browsing "brother printer on sale" ads. Start with a needs analysis. I didn't do this once, and we ended up with a high-volume color laser when 90% of our prints were black-and-white internal drafts. Real talk: that wasted about $1,200 in color toner over 18 months.

Ask:

• Volume: How many pages per month? Be realistic. Check your current printer's counter or last year's toner orders.
• Color vs. Mono: What percentage needs to be in color? For contracts and drafts, black is fine.
• Functions: Do you need scanning, copying, faxing? Or will a simple print-only unit do?
• Connectivity: Wired, Wi-Fi, Ethernet for the office network? Mobile printing?

Write this down. It'll stop you from getting upsold on features you'll never use.

Step 2: Calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – The Real Price

Here's something vendors won't tell you: the printer's price tag is often less than 20% of what you'll spend on it. The real cost is in the consumables. I almost went with a cheaper model until I ran the TCO.

The TCO Formula: (Printer Price) + (Annual Consumable Cost × Expected Lifespan in Years)

How to find consumable cost:

1. Find the printer model (e.g., Brother MFC-L3720CDW).
2. Search for its official toner yield (e.g., "Brother TN-346 toner cartridge yield"). According to Brother's specs, the TN-346 yields about 3,000 pages.
3. Find the cartridge price. As of January 2025, a genuine Brother TN-346 cartridge is around $110-$130.
4. Do the math: Cost per page = Cartridge Price / Yield. For this example: $120 / 3,000 pages = $0.04 per color page.
5. Multiply by your monthly volume. If you print 500 color pages/month, that's $20/month or $240/year just in toner.

I only believed in TCO after ignoring it. The "cheap" printer had a $0.08 per-page cost. The "expensive" one was $0.04. Over three years, the "expensive" printer saved us over $700.

Step 3: Decode the "On Sale" Language

"Brother printer on sale" often means the hardware is discounted to get you into their consumables ecosystem. That's not inherently bad—it's the business model. But you need to check if it's a good deal.

Red flags:

• "Starter" cartridges: Many sale printers come with cartridges that are only 30-50% full. Your cost-per-page calculation needs to use the standard cartridge yield, not the starter one.
• Bundled vs. Unbundled: Is the sale for the printer alone, or does it include a set of full cartridges? A bundle with full toners might be a better true cost.
• Model end-of-life: A deep discount might mean the model is being phased out. That can make finding Brother cartridges for printers of that specific model harder and more expensive in 2-3 years.

Step 4: Verify Connectivity & Driver Support

This seems technical, but it's a practical time-saver. I learned this when we bought a printer that "supported Mac," but the driver was outdated and caused weekly crashes.

Checklist:

1. Go to the manufacturer's support page for the exact model.
2. Look for the driver download section. Are there recent drivers for your operating system (Windows 11, macOS Sonoma, etc.)? If the last update was 2021, that's a risk.
3. Check for mobile app ratings (like Brother's iPrint&Scan). Low ratings often mean buggy connectivity.
4. If you have a mixed OS environment, confirm seamless compatibility for all.

Five minutes of verification here beats five hours of IT troubleshooting later.

Step 5: Research Service & Repair Realities (The Hidden Cost)

This is the step most people skip. What happens when it breaks? The warranty is your first clue.

• Standard Warranty: Most business printers come with a 1-year limited warranty. Is it on-site, or do you have to ship it out? Shipping a 50-lb printer isn't cheap.
• Extended Service Plans: Are they available? What's the cost? Sometimes, for a critical device, it's worth it. For a secondary printer, maybe not.
• Third-Party Repair: Search "[Printer Model] repair near me" and "common issues with [Printer Model]". If there are no results or many forum posts about a specific unfixable error, that's a bad sign.

Per FTC guidelines (ftc.gov), warranties must be clear about what's covered. Read the terms. A "limited warranty" might exclude print head failures—the most expensive part to replace.

Step 6: Plan the Disposal of the Old Machine

This was true 10 years ago when you could just toss electronics. Today, many states have e-waste laws. That old printer isn't just clutter; it's a potential fee or compliance issue.

Options:

• Manufacturer Take-Back: Many, like Brother, have recycling programs. Check their website.
• Retailer Recycling: Stores like Staples or Best Buy often take old electronics for a small fee.
• Local E-Waste Event: Check your municipality's website.

Factor this cost (often $0-$50) and time into your purchase plan. Don't get stuck with a dead printer in the corner for a year.

Step 7: Make the Final Decision with Your Notes

Now, with all your notes—TCO, warranty, disposal cost—revisit your top 2-3 choices. Don't just pick the cheapest on the website.

My final question is always: "Which option has the lowest predictable cost and least hassle over the next 5 years?" Sometimes, that's the more expensive upfront choice. After comparing 8 vendors over 3 months using a TCO spreadsheet for our last refresh, we chose a model that was $200 more initially but is projected to save us $400+ annually on toner. That's a no-brainer.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Mistake 1: Buying for peak capacity. Don't buy a printer that handles 5,000 pages/month if you average 500. It's overkill, and the hardware depreciates.
• Mistake 2: Ignoring user reviews on reliability. Look past the "setup was easy" reviews. Search for "[model] after 2 years" or "[model] jam". Patterns emerge.
• Mistake 3: Forgetting about duty cycle. The duty cycle is the maximum recommended pages per month. Consistently exceeding it will wear the printer out fast. Match your needs to this number.

This checklist isn't sexy, but it works. It's saved my company from several expensive mistakes and turned printer buying from a guessing game into a managed procurement process. The goal isn't to never spend money—it's to spend money wisely, with your eyes wide open to the real cost.