Guide to Office Supplies News and Trends

Stay on top of office supplies news and trends to find deals and get the best new products

By Denise Brown

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Sign up for newsletters that feature office supplies

These are a great way to keep on top of office supplies news and trends. Many of the newsletters feature new products, as well as new ways to use them.

I recommend: MyInkPro.com offers discounts and sales to businesses that sign up for their newsletter. WebWire offers a newsletter that showcases new business office supplies as well as office equipment.

Find out about the latest green business supplies

There are newsletters devoted entirely to eco-friendly office supplies. You can not only find new ways to use these products, but you can find tips on how to save money by using them.

I recommend: Waldeck’s, an office supply company that specializes in green products, offers a free newsletter. TheGreenOffice.com, an eco-friendly business office supply store, has a free newsletter to help you reduce your office's carbon footprint.

Read blogs about office products

Blogs are another way to stay current with office supplies news and trends. Office suppliers sometimes use this method to showcase new office products as well as to demonstrate how to use office supplies and office equipment.

I recommend: Find helpful tips, as well as information about office supplies news and trends, on the Pettus Office Products Blog. The Office1000 Blog not only looks at office supplies news and trends, but at different ways to use business supplies.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Quite often newer office supplies are more expensive unless the office supply company offers the item at an introductory price. If the office supply is something that can truly make operating your business easier, it's probably worth the extra cost. If not, wait until you order similar items again. Chances are good that you can find the new product at a much lower cost.

Guide to Buying Office Supplies

Get a better deal on the things you need by shopping right

By Greg Brown

The key to keeping your people moving – while not spending willy-nilly or buying exactly the wrong products – is making time to understand office-supply shopping online. Taking full advantage of the Web sites of major office stores can:

1. Save time. Most offer free next-day delivery on orders of just $50.
2. Save money. Superstores often use loss leaders to drive sales.
3. Save your sanity, if you learn how to use online shopping tools.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Cut Web time to a minimum

Office stores online now offer favorites lists, one-click ordering and even personal sites co-branded with your company's logo with pre-set shopping categories. Lock down prices, quantities, and your credit data and the intern could do the monthly buy.

I recommend: Staples offers an easy re-order service for items you buy often, while OfficeMax keeps a favorites list waiting for you.

More than 20 employees? Ask about discount programs

If you find your spending is regular and tends to mount to hundreds of dollars at a go, better to talk with your office store's small business rep about volume discounts and special small business ordering Web sites.

I recommend: OfficeMax has a small business portal, while Staples has a contract division for medium-sized businesses or companies with many stores nationwide, like franchises.

Buy store brands

Grocery stores and drug stores have done it for years, now office stores will happily sell you their own brand of their highest volume (and highest margin) products, sometimes at substantial savings. It's a win-win if there ever was one.

I recommend: Check out store-brand selection at Quill, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples.

Go the warehouse-shopping route

Office stores will often cut you a deal for buying in bulk. Of course, regular warehouse stores, too, sell plenty of office supplies, from pads and pens to furniture and electronics.

I recommend: Read up on the Staples bulk buying plan here. Warehouse stores that sell office supplies include Sam's Club and Costco.

Get personalized office products and services

NEBS is known more for its extensive lineup of personalized business forms, checks, greeting cards and other promotional items for small business, but it is also a great place to get office supplies and equipment.

I recommend: Check the NEBS lineup of small business products and services.

Comparison shop your way to savings

Online shopping giants are crowding into the office store space. The advantage they offer is multiple vendors on one search, which you can then sort to find the best price.

I recommend: Shopzilla, Bizrate and Amazon are good bets if you know what you want. It helps, often, to have the product number of what you seek. Get these first from the office-store sites.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Short on cash? Online office stores can extend 90 days or offer you a store credit card.
• •  Keep a leash on spending by using office-store site services for small business to generate monthly spend reports.
• •  Most online stores offer rewards programs that kick back a few percentage points for your loyalty. If you buy the same things often and are happy with the delivery, this is a good deal.
• •  It's always a good idea to centralize buying through a single person in your company or two. If not, supplies can pile up in closets and people order more without looking.

Guide to Making the Most of Office Supplies

Save money by making the most of office supplies

By Denise Brown

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find the best business office supplies for the money

On some consumable items it's OK to buy the cheapest products available. But for other things it pays in the long run to buy better quality.

I recommend: StarReviews.com compares the major office supply companies for costs, supplies carried and customer service. Read unbiased reviews of a variety of business supplies from TheOfficeGuide.

Buy wholesale business supplies

While you may not have a wholesale office supplies store near your business, you can order wholesale office supplies either online or over the phone. If you plan your ordering so you place large orders, you can generally save even more money in the long run. Find wholesale office supply stores that offer free shipping especially on large orders.

I recommend: Buy wholesale business office supplies from CleanSweepSupply.com, a subsidiary of My Supply Depot. Wholesale Warehouse Supply also sells office equipment and office products at wholesale prices.

Purchase office supplies in bulk

While you can go to your local big box or warehouse store and find bulk office supplies, it may still not be the cheapest option. Bulk office supply stores specialize in selling large quantities of office products and passing the savings on to the customer.

I recommend: Bulkofficesupply.com offers steep discounts on its bulk business office supply products. You can find bulk office supplies online at the Rapid Supplies website.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  As more and more businesses look for ways to go 'green' with environmentally friendly products, the office supplies industry is doing its best to keep up. You can find many business office supplies offered with at least one green option, from recycled paper products to refillable ink cartridges.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Toner

Make sure you have a steady supply of ink to make your various office printers, faxes and copiers work. Toner is a form of ink that works in copy machines and laser printers. It works by using electrically charged ink to adhere to an image of the opposite electrically charged polarity.

I recommend: PCMAG.com explains how toner works and what office machines it works with.

Ink cartridges

Another way to meet your offices printing needs is by stocking up on ink cartridges. Ink cartridges work with inkjet printers and hold all the ink needed to print to the page. Ink cartridges come in black, cyan, magenta and yellow, the only colors needed to make any other color. The black ink cartridge is always separate, but sometimes the color inks will be encased together, depending on the type of machine you own.

I recommend: To learn how exactly ink cartridges work, the different types you can purchase and for tips on purchasing ink cartridges, visit Inkguides.com.

Laser printer paper

Used for almost everything from professional presentations to everyday office printing needs, it is important to stock a large supply of laser printer paper. Laser printer paper is a heavier weight and a higher quality paper than regular paper. It is designed for two-sided printing and color definition. Laser printer paper comes in a variety of weights and brightness levels.

I recommend: To learn more about high quality laser printer paper and its weights, check out OfficeMax.

Organizers

One of the main pillars of success is organization, so it's no wonder that organizers are a top office supply. Organizers include desktop organizers, drawer organizers, business card organizers and cubicle organizers. Specifically, organizers are products that give you a way to compartmentalize items to make them easy to find and use, leaving your employees feeling efficient and professional.

I recommend: Office Depot offers a great description on organizers, while Staples has many examples of organizers to browse through.

Removable labels

To get organized and stay organized, your office can utilize removable labels. Removable labels are multi-use. They stick and stay stuck to flat surfaces, but remove easily without leaving a sticky residue. Removable labels work on drawers, files, shelves, boxes and just about anything else you can think of that needs to be labeled in your office.

I recommend: Visit CleanSweepSupply.com to see what removable labels can be used for and the variety of sizes and colors available.

Binders

Binders may be useful in your office setting. They are used to organize, put on presentations, hold information and more. There are two main types of binders, poly binders and vinyl binders. Poly binders are more durable and can hold large amounts of paper, while vinyl binders have a more flexible front and back and hold less paper. Both hold paper in place using metal rings.

I recommend: Bindersinc.com is a website that offers information on various types of binders as well as the sizes and colors that they come in.