Overview
This topic describes how to price in-Stock Paper, one of the four paper categories available in Morning Flight. As the name suggests, in-Stock Paper is any paper you keep on hand, or can get a hold of fairly quickly.
More important from a pricing perspective, in-Stock is the only paper of which Morning Flight let's you sell a broken ream or a partial box of envelopes. No vendor will sell you half a box, so the assumption is you're willing to put left-overs on the shelf, waiting for the next customer to come in. That makes it a shelf item. Should we have labeled it shelf paper instead? Not without a disclaimer. Who'd want to explain to the odd customer that this isn't paper you line shelves with?
Carton-Plus
Here's another feature exclusively available for the in-Stock category: Carton-Plus Pricing. It's worth looking into if you're carrying paper in inventory, and your vendor offers a lower rate for full cartons than for broken ones. Those are the requisites. Activation is optional, Carton-Plus can be turned on and off.
Say you want to sell letterheads and envelopes for less than what your competitors are selling them. The most popular paper for stationery in your area seems to be Camelot in white and a couple of off-white colors. Here's the rub: The average quantity on the stationery orders you're getting is less than 5,000. Much less, now that you mention it. More like 500 to 2,000.
That's classic broken-carton territory, tailor-made for a Carton-Plus solution. The way to undercut the competition is to add Camelot in the most popular colors to your in-Stock Paper list, always buy those colors in full cartons, then use Carton-Plus pricing and pass some of the savings on to your customers. They're paying much less for orders under 5,000 ($16.38 per 1,000 versus $20.48 in the sample below), you're getting a bigger markup ($5.88 per 1,000 versus $4.73). Everybody wins.
Cost Plus versus Carton Plus
Of course, having the cheaper price, that's just the beginning. Making your customers aware that you have the cheaper price, that's when the plan comes together and brings results. As it did years ago with our Instant Paper Caper, a Unitac promotional campaign when we still had the print shop (more at the end of this topic).
Updating Paper Markups
| 1. |  Click the My Store button, then enter your Markups for each category: |
| • | in-Stock for in-Stock Paper |
| • | to-Order for Buy-as-Needed Paper, PaperShop Paper, and Special Order Paper. |
| • | Blank for unprinted blank sheets or envelopes. |
| 2. | Check the CartonPlus Pricing box to price in-Stock Paper at Carton-Plus, or uncheck it to price in-Stock Paper at Cost-Plus. Carton-Plus only affects in-Stock Paper, and even there, only when the quantity drops below a full carton. It has no bearing on the other three categories, all of which are Cost-Plus throughout. If you need to completely eliminate markups (recommended for In-Plant shops only), click the umbrella to turn off data validation, then enter zero in all markup fields. |
See also
The Great Instant Paper Caper
And, like most good ideas, this one is simple. Most printers wait for the job to come in, then order the paper. That looked peculiar to us from the very beginning, having read that 91% of all printing paper is specified by the printer anyway, and having learned early on that the penalties for buying paper piecemeal can be enormous.
For instance, while the usual press run is under 3,000, even the smallest carton holds 5,000 sheets. Orders for less than that can draw a surcharge of 100% . . . One Hundred Percent! That's double, in round numbers, and in effect makes the cost of buying half a carton exactly the same as buying a full one. So it boils down to this: Either we buy half a carton and pay for a full one, or we buy a full carton and hoard what's left over and before we know it we're up to our dimples in old paper.
Comes now our Instant Paper Caper. The secret? Make a list of the most asked for brands and colors, always buy those brands in full cartons . . . and then get bigger shelves! True, our caper does tie up money in inventory, but that's a small price to pay when you look at the dividends:
No Penalties for Broken Cartons. Not when you order 2,000 of our in-stock house sheets, not when you need just a few hundred. The money we save by buying paper in full cartons, you save too.
No Excuses about having to wait for the Paper. Because at Unitac, the paper will be waiting for you. Tons of it, from plain bonds to fancy texts, in a whole rainbow of attractive colors.
No Over-Runs to allow for spoilage. When the job develops a few wrinkles, we can go to the shelf for more paper. What we don't need we can put back. This means at Unitac, when you order 10,000 flyers, you'll get 10,000 flyers, not 10,500 as is trade custom.
