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Introduction
All businesses use some form of office supplies and equipment. There are hundreds of different types; from small consumables like pens and paper to large long-term items like computers, furniture and safety equipment.
Many of these items are essential to the everyday running of your business, yet many businesses still treat office supplies as an unimportant issue. Effective management of office supplies can save your business money, as well as helping to keep it running efficiently.
This extensive article will look at some of the key information you should know when buying office supplies and equipment.
Ways to Buy Office Supplies
There are several ways to buy office consumables; from a shop, through online purchasing, through mail order, or through a purchasing company:
(i) Shop There are many small local stores, as well as several large nationwide chains selling office supplies. Buying your office supplies from a shop means that you can actually see what you are buying before you pay for it. Shops will normally sell supplies at a standard price as they are aimed at smaller businesses and consumers, although some stores do have special bulk or business price reductions (often through a 'business account'. (ii) Online Purchasing Over the past few years, the number of online office supply firms has grown considerably. As well as online sales from nationwide stores, there are several large office supply companies that sell only through online (and sometimes phone) orders.
Online stores are usually cheaper than shops as the overhead costs (e.g.: store rent / employee wages) are considerably lower. However, if you are not sure about an item you are buying, there is no way of actually looking at it apart from a brief description or (sometimes) a picture. (iii) Mail Order A number of companies allow you to buy office supplies by mail order or telephone. Some have catalogues (online and offline) that show you all of the products they sell. A few mail order services are run by existing shops, but some are based purely through mail order and telephone (sometimes also online) sales.
Mail order prices are usually cheaper than stores because of lower overhead costs; however they are not always as cheap as some online office suppliers. (iv) Purchasing Company A purchasing company is a third-party that makes purchases on behalf of your business. Instead of manually ordering products from an office supplier; you tell the purchasing company what you require and they supply it and add it to your total bill. Not only can this save a lot of time in the ordering process, it means you can receive regular invoices (not irregular bills for each order). The purchasing company can also give you feedback on the amount of supplies you are using, and recommend alternatives or bulk buys that can save you money. Their advice can be particularly useful if you are buying equipment that you have never previously bought/used, or are purchasing furniture and are not sure what to look for.
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