What is trade printing?
Trade printing - what is it? What does it mean for our customers?
We are proud to be trade printers and we value the relationships we have built along the way. Not everyone is in the know with trade printing so we thought we’d put a little blog together to tell you all about it.
We’re going to go through what it is, who it is for and what you should be looking for when you look for a trade printer. We will also go over what we offer as a long standing trade printer.
It’s important you have as much information as possible before making your trade printing choice.
What is trade printing?
Trade printing is when a printer offers printing materials and services to print brokers, graphic designers, ad agencies and other printing businesses at wholesale rate.
As a rule, resellers must be in a print related industry to get these trade prices.
When buying from a trade printing at wholesale prices it means that resellers can resell to their customers at a competitive rate.
A lot of trade printers, ourselves included, ship orders to resellers or directly to the end users in plain packaging. This means that the order can go directly to the end user without any information about us whatsoever.
How does trade printing work?
Simply trade printing works like this;
Trade Printer —> Reseller —> End User
A trade printer gives the best possible prices to a reseller who can then sell it onto their end user and make a profit.
Trade printers don’t have contact with the end user and visa versa (unless specifically requested by the reseller). The reseller is the middle person in every sense of the word.
Who is trade printing for?
Trade printers serve multiple areas in the print industry;
- Graphic designers
- Ad agencies
- Marketing firms
- Print brokers
Generally trade printers do printing for businesses that don’t have printing capability.
Commercial print shops use trade printers if they have an overflow of work or if they don’t have the equipment or skill set to handle a specific request.
Trade printing helps resellers and resellers help trade printers. It’s a wonderful loop that helps everyone involved.
The trade printer gets orders from the reseller. The reseller in turn gets wholesale prices and the end user gets competitive prices. It is a mutually beneficial relationship for all involved.
What should you look for in a trade printer?
The first thing to look for when you’re finding the right trade printer for you is quality and reliability. Make sure you find an established printer with a nice long successful record. Check how long the printer has been in business, ask for samples - make sure you’re making the best choice.
Trade printers with a good reputation will respect you as the reseller and not meddle in your relationship with the end user. They should never contact the end user unless instructed to do so by the reseller and they should always send out work in white packaging!
You want a trade printer who acts as a print consultant and helps you figure out exactly what would work for your client...what material, what finish etc.
Another important point is what production and shipping options they have. A good trade printer will have multiple production options and shipping speeds.
A great sign of a reputable company is testimonials. Check their website and make sure that they have customers who have been satisfied with their services in the past. Check that they go above and beyond. How many are loyal customers?
What do we offer?
After 25 years in the industry we know that we know what we’re doing. We offer exceptional print quality, customer service and flexibility.
As trade printers we guarantee;
White Label Order Delivery
All of our orders leave us in plain packaging meaning they can go direct to your client. We can even add your own delivery note. You will also be updated with delivery tracking information.
Express Turnaround
Our standard turnaround is 4 working days, however we offer options to speed this up should your customer need it quicker. Even same day SOS services are available.
Instant Online Quotes
You can create your quotes instantly including qty discounts using our online calculators so you can get back to your client quicker without waiting for replies to quote requests. You can even save these quotes to your own admin panel for later use.
We’re a proud family run business that offers state of the art technology that can cater for all your trade printing needs. Visit our website and create a trade account here. You can see our range of products here. We can’t wait to start working with you!