by Terry L Choate Jr
I have found, throughout the course of my career, that unless publishers have a resource to utilize in which to track accurate paper pricing, many times they find themselves over-paying their printer for the paper that they are consuming and being billed for. I think that while many printers try to be as efficient about reducing paper prices when the market dictates as they are when raising prices as the market dictates, too many times they fall short when reductions occur. Do they do this purposely? Absolutely not! Is it their responsibility to monitor the market and automatically reduce pricing when the market falls? Yes, no and yes. Yes because they should be fair with their clients and react to both positive and negative market fluctuations equally. No because you should be on top of it as a responsible publisher and not place the responsibility on your printer. And yes because most publishers rely on their printer to provide them with fair market intelligence.
It is difficult to find the information necessary to know where paper market pricing, for your particular type of paper, falls at any given time. Typically, publishers dont find out that they have been overpaying until they go out for bid.
The Publication Paper Price Monitor is being provided for use as a simple and quick resource to enable you the ability to ensure that what you are paying your printer for paper reflects fair market pricing. I am going to update this monitor periodically or as pricing adjustments occur in the marketplace. Please keep in mind that there are many things that affect paper pricing which accounts for my need to create a range for each paper grade and weight. “Grades within grades” including opacity and brightness contribute to the ranges.
Continues at: Making Magazines.
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