How Many Should I Print? A Simple Guide for Small Business Marketing Materials

One of the most common questions in small-business printing is also one of the simplest: how many should I order?

It’s tempting to look at the price per piece and assume more is always better. Sometimes it is.

Sometimes it means a box of brochures sits under the counter until the price, offer or information changes.

A better starting point is: how many can you realistically use?

Start With How You’ll Use Them

Think about where the printed pieces are going.

Are you handing them out at the counter? Adding them to customer orders? Mailing them to a neighbourhood? Taking them to an event?

If you’re testing a new offer, 100 or 250 pieces may be plenty.

If it’s a brochure, postcard or insert you use every week, 500 or 1,000 might make much more sense.

There isn’t a magic quantity. The right number depends on how quickly you can put the pieces into customers’ hands.

Smaller quantities are useful when the message may change.

That could be:

You’ll usually pay a little more per piece, but you also reduce the chance of throwing away unused print.

Larger quantities make more sense when the piece is fairly evergreen, and you know you’ll keep using it.

A good example is a general company brochure, packaging insert or take-away card that doesn’t contain dates or frequently changing prices.

You also don’t have to guess.

If you think you need around 650 brochures, ask for pricing on 500, 750 and 1,000.

Sometimes the difference between quantities is small enough that printing more makes sense.

Sometimes it isn’t.

Seeing the numbers side by side usually makes the decision much easier.

A lower unit price is not much of a saving if half the run becomes outdated.

Before increasing the quantity, take a quick look for:

If those details are likely to stay the same, ordering more may be worthwhile.

If not, a smaller run followed by a reprint can be the better value.

Print enough to use comfortably, not enough to get the lowest theoretical cost per piece.

A few extras are useful.

Twice as many because the unit price looks attractive may not be.

Not sure whether 250, 500 or 1,000 makes sense? Send us the piece and tell us how you plan to use it. We can price a few sensible quantities so you can compare the difference.