Anyone that owns a business or works in an office know that office supplies are an essential part of any office environment. No matter what business you are in there is almost always a time when you are going to need pens, paper, envelopes as well as other types of office equipment and supplies such as printers, shredders, laminators, coffee and biscuits.

By doing a search on Google you will be get page after page of websites all offering different savings and incentives if you sign up your business with them. You are then left with the mind boggling questions of: Which one do I choose? Which one will save me the most on my office supplies and stationery? Who will offer me a prompt reliable service? Many will promise the world but don’t deliver on that promise.

Do Your Research

No matter if you are starting out or you are looking to change from your existing office supplier this could prove to be valuable information.

Many people will automatically select the no1 position in Google thinking “they are at the top so they must be the best” when in reality all that means is they probably have a better marketing team or bigger budget than their competitors. Before you jump straight into making a decision take a look through the top 20-30 results, research the prices and savings each one is offering.

Make a list of which office products you order regularly or order high quantities of and ask them to quote you a price on each product. You will be surprised at what a fantastic deal you can get and this could be the difference between saving a few pounds (or dollars, yen etc) and possibly saving hundreds of pounds per year on your office supplies. A lot of office supplies companies may only publish the RRP or inflated price in their catalogues and online so always give them a call and ask if they can offer a better price.

Next to consider – delivery. Some companies will offer free delivery on orders over a certain order cost, but if you shop around there are plenty of companies offering free delivery no matter how big or small your order is. If you only order small quantities but on a regular basis this could result in paying out needless charges which could be better spent elsewhere.

Find a Local Office Supplies Company

Why not consider supporting your local businesses too. I bet there are more office supplies companies in your area than you imagined and most will be willing to fight for your valuable business. You may be surprised to find how many of these can compete on price against the big national or international companies.

You are also more likely to benefit from a more personal and prompt service as many of the small businesses will take great pride in their customer service as a way of keeping your custom. If the company also has its own delivery vans the benefit of being local means that delivery of your office supplies should be much faster than those that use courier services.

So if you can take all these factors into consideration you are well on your way to getting a great deal on your office supplies and saving ££££’s.