Melbourne, FL – The latest comprehensive printing industry pricing survey was officially released November 9, 2015 by the National Print Owners Association (NPOA). Participants who completed their survey forms received a confidential link to download a PDF version of the 126-page survey. The survey was also made available for purchase by non-participants at the NPOA Bookstore at www.printowners.org. Price is $171 for association members and $285 for non-members. NPOA members who did not participate in the survey will be eligible to receive a free copy of the Executive Summary.

“This survey is one of the most comprehensive and valuable studies of its kind in this or any other industry,” said NPOA Executive Director and survey author John Stewart. “We thank those who participated and are extremely grateful for the support of survey sponsors EFI, Printers Plan, and Ricoh.”

The survey covers pricing practices for both offset and digital printing products and services. Among them are: Minimum and Hourly Graphics & Typesetting Charges; Digital Printing Prices for Gloss Text and Cover; Digitally Printed Envelopes plus ratings of devices used; Pricing for Digitally Produced Booklets (self-cover and separate); In-house and Brokered Business Cards; High Volume B&W copying prices; 2-part & 3-part Carbonless forms; 1-color and 2-color Offset Printing; Digital and Crash Numbering Fees; Specialized Bindery Services; Standard and High/Low Markup Practices for brokered work; Plus many other services and products.

Among the highlight gleaned from the survey data are insights on the wisdom of raising some existing prices, the need to purchase or upgrade digital color capabilities, the need to constantly monitor key ratios and expenses, and the fact that prices are driven by the market, not by costs. The survey also tracked trends in Sales Per Employee (SPE) which have risen steadily if not dramatically. Average SPE in 2006 was $110,000. This grew to $121,210 in 2008, $123,501 in 2010, $125,825 in 2012, and $131,593 in the latest survey. Sales of participants in the 2015-2016 survey averaged $1,009,673.

“What this study attempts to accomplish is to accurately report the average and median prices for dozens and dozens of products and services as they are, not necessarily as they should be,” said Stewart. “We make no attempt to establish or tell printers what they should charge for specific products or services.”