Envelope Printer for small quantities

[raminmd]

Hello,

We are an all digital print shop. We primarily print direct mail pieces and outsource any envelope printing we get. However, we are looking to bring that in house.

Our envelope orders range from 200 to 10,000. Most of the envelopes we print on are 2 color or 4 color. The most common size that we print is #10 envelopes. However, we would like to print to envelopes up to 10 x 13.

We don't get huge volumes and we average about 5,000 a month right now. We don't need a production machine that can run non stop but we do want something that can handle growth. I know it is easier to outsource but we do want a machine in house.

I looked at the Xante series but it seems like overkill for us at this point and is way too expensive. Are there any machines in the sub $5,000 price range that print envelopes and not cost an arm and a leg to acquire or to run/maintain.

Thanks.

 

[Fatboysmart]

The xante Ilumina does sound like the machine for the job. You don't NEED to buy the envelope press model, the 'normal' model will print envelopes just fine. It just needs some more 'hands on' since the envelopes have to be stacked in the tray manually. I print envelopes regularly on my Ilumina 502, and it does a good job.

 

[OkiTech]

I can offer you a OKI C9800 GA, ES3640e or OKI CX3641 All these printers can print your envelopes and use the same print engine as Xante, technically, it is other way around - OKI makes print engines for xante and then sell you supplies more expensive that OKI. The main difference would be that Xante adds a little board on the back that makes printer go really sloooooooow which allows thicker media to be printed. There is no real advantage in envelopes and there is no point to buy Xante for more money and spend more on consumables later. I can offer you a C9800 GA (Efi fiery print controller) with less than 30K on the meter which is next to nothing for these printers, all supplies are 50% and up, toners 100% full for $1700. Machine can be packed and shipped nationwide. Also, being OKI Authorized service partner we can support you in the future.
Let me know if you're interested. UnlimitedBT at Yahoo.com Roman.

 

[Possumgal]

That's the way to go. Get an Oki and your consumables will be one third the price you'd pay if you had one of these "envelope" printers that just use an Oki with their feeder. Get a third party feeder for your envelopes. The one most commonly mentioned on here is the Straight Shooter.

 

[raminmd]

Thanks for all the replies. Roman, I emailed you some questions. We are interested in exploring the Oki printers further. I will look at the straight shooter as well.

 

[bertman98]

Unlimet BT we have an Oki and it works great. only drawback is the costs of toner. I seriously need to find a less expensive supplier for toner.