Printer for rapidly growing (art) stationery business

[Frankicks]

We create art stationery (mainly paper stickers) for our website. Take a look at lettoonstore.com to get a better understanding of what we're trying to accomplish
The Epson Ecotank ET-16650 looks like a solid candidate, but I'm not sure if the color will be sufficient enough.

Info & Requirements:

• Budget: 2000 euro
• Country: Netherlands
• Color or black and white: Color
• Laser or ink printer: Ink
• New or used: Preferably new
• Multi-function: Yes
• Duplex Printing: Not necessary
• Home or business: Business, which is at home
• Printing content: Hand drawn art
• Printing frequency: 200 - 500 pages a week (could be more)
• Pages per minute : As fast as possible, but the quality is most important
• Page size: A3 or A4, not sure
• Device printing from: Laptop
• Connection type: USB (C) and WiFi

Printers are difficult for us. Color is very important, but so are the costs per print and the speed. We would like to be able to print on multiple kinds of paper (matte, glossy, clear, PVC, linnen, thicker card paper)

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[SoggyWinter]

You should do the cost benefit of print outsourcing vs in house at your current volume and future growth volumes (1000, 5000, 20,000 sheets) before making a printer investment. That being said, an Epson P5000 series would give you the best image quality and media flexibility in your price range. Print Factory is a good RIP software that is around 250eu/month to subscribe to and it includes ink cost estimation.

 

[Frankicks]

Hi SoggyWinter,

Thanks for your suggestion.

We have looked at printing outsourcing, but since we currently have around 100 designs, this doesn't seem to work for us. Besides, we haven't been able to find a supplier that prints on (90gsm) sticker paper with consistent coloring. Finding a printing company to print on vinyl seems to be straightforward, but paper is a different issue.

I've looked at the P5000 and it seems like a beautiful printer. However, for our use case (mostly a4, maybe a3), it seems to be a bit overkill. Also, the cost per print is too high and the printer seems to be a bit slow. I might be wrong here since I'm definitely not an expert, but this doesn't seem like a great fit for our use case.

Do you have another suggestion?

 

[SoggyWinter]

Hi SoggyWinter,

Thanks for your suggestion.

We have looked at printing outsourcing, but since we currently have around 100 designs, this doesn't seem to work for us. Besides, we haven't been able to find a supplier that prints on (90gsm) sticker paper with consistent coloring. Finding a printing company to print on vinyl seems to be straightforward, but paper is a different issue.

I've looked at the P5000 and it seems like a beautiful printer. However, for our use case (mostly a4, maybe a3), it seems to be a bit overkill. Also, the cost per print is too high and the printer seems to be a bit slow. I might be wrong here since I'm definitely not an expert, but this doesn't seem like a great fit for our use case.

Do you have another suggestion?

I don't have an other suggestion pertinent to your price range and volume. Getting good ink cost, media cost, image quality, and wide media compatibility, and scratch resistance means getting a toner* printer, and you're looking at 20,000 to 100,000. That is why outsourcing and buying a few months of inventory to get volume discounts is a better investment.

*Latex or UV cured inkjet could technically work, but would be less cost and labor effective than toner for what you're doing.