Are you disappointed in keeping buying and replacing your office supplies? If you are, then this is the right article for you. Buying office supplies may look simple, but they can surpass your monthly budget by a considerable margin if you are not careful. Currently, most offices are operating cost-effectively and offering flexibility to the staff. This article will discuss some tips on how to save money buying office supplies from furniture, accessories, and other office supplies.
Let us jump in on some saving tips that will save you money on office supplies without any further ado.
Make Sure You Do a Regular Audit on Office Supplies.
Ensuring that you conduct regular audits on office supplies is the first tip on how to save money buying office supplies. If you want to reduce money on your office supplies, conducting regular audits might save you some money on office supplies. You should keep a record of all office supplies in your office. Also, make sure you have a history of staff using them. You can also look for organizations that offer bookkeeping solutions to install a system that will aid you with bookkeeping and also index records.
Check for Suppliers Giving Discounts
If you wonder how to save money buying office supplies, you can look for suppliers giving discounts. Before settling for a supplier, make sure you check for others offering discounts on supplies. You might be lucky and find someone giving crazy discounts on office supplies and end up saving yourself and the company a few dollars.
Also, it is good to have a good rapport with your suppliers since you can use them to ask if they can connect to their wholesalers, who will give you crazy deals when you purchase office supplies in bulk.
Buy Your Supplies in Bulk
Another trick to how to save money buying office supplies is to go in bulk. Instead of buying your office needs in small quantities, it is advisable to buy in bulk, especially if you have ample office space to store your supplies. For example, if you have bought ten packets of pens, you can buy 100 packets or buy PPE in bulk. It is advisable to research companies that sell in bulk at lower prices. However, you need to have a lot of money to buy in bulk.
Be Loyal To Your Supplier
You understand how it feels to have that one loyal client if you have been in business. Being faithful to your supplier is another tip on how to save money buying office supplies. When you get into a loyalty program, they will reward you when shopping for your collections, saving some money. Repeated purchasing and buying in bulk can reward you during your next shopping trip. Some companies can reward you with cashbacks or huge perks. You can enquire from your suppliers about any loyalty program you can join for your company.
Shopping Online
Shopping online is another hack on how to save money buying office supplies. When you shop online, it gives you all the details about items you might be interested in buying. But when you walk to a store, you pick up the item without so much information. When you research what you want online, you will get what you need. Also, when you shop online, you might get codes and coupons that will help you save on your shopping. When you search online for any item you want, you will see them listed with a description of the sellers from the cheapest to the most expensive.
Buy High-Quality Supplies
If you want to know how to save money buying office supplies, start by putting quality first. It is not wrong to bargain for office supplies while shopping, but you should not settle on cheap products. There is no harm in spending a little more cash on crucial office supplies like an extension cord, printer furniture, interior painters, and more. A premium quality office supply will serve you for a long time, and it will take time before you think of making a replacement.
Restock Supplies Before They Run Out
Restocking your supplies before they run out is another tip on how to save money buying office supplies. Make sure that you replenish your office supplies before they are entirely out. It will make you avoid buying other items impulsively. For instance, when you visit a store and get a deal on other office supplies, you might be tempted to buy those which were not in your plans. You will end up using more money than saving.
Buy an Older Version.
Another easy answer to how to save money buying office supplies is to go for an older version if it’s available. For example, you can buy second-hand furniture and electronics. New models are coming onto the market each day, and their prices are higher than those of the older version. If you buy an older model, you will save yourself some money, and it will serve the same purpose as that of the new model.
Buy Generic
If you are wondering, another possible way to save money on office items is by going for generic items. Here you will save some pennies when shopping for your office supplies. In most cases, the difference between generic and original is minimal, and you can hardly notice it. For example, if you buy ink cartridges for the printer, you won’t see any difference after printing a document. And the price of the generic is almost half of the original one, so here you will save thousands of money.
Shipping
Another secret of how to save money buying office supplies is to avoid shipping heavy office furniture. Before buying oversized office items like furniture and printers online, it is good to consider the shipping cost.
Delivering heavy office supplies may be costly, and it’s hard to account for the costs. You might add another cost like clearance fees when they land on some of them. Also, shipping costs are measured using weight, so the heavier the furniture, you will pay money. It is advisable to buy such heavy items locally, which might be cheaper and save money on them.
Avoid Brands
Avoid buying from brands whose prices are exaggerated. You can buy from other small brands and end up saving a lot of money. Most of the brand cost goes to the beans’ name and not the quality of their products. So you can get a good office supply that is cheap and better quality than that of known brands.
Buy Refillable Items
You can also save money by buying refillable office items. You can buy refillable ink pens with cartridges on Amazon. A pen comes with 20 cartridges and is sold for 30 dollars on Amazon. It is cheaper than buying non-refill ones. Also, if you are using a laser printer cartridge, you can clean and refill them for some time before thinking of replacing them with new ones.
Make a List of What You Need
Another tip on how to save money buying office supplies is coming up with a list of things you need. You can start by tracking your inventory to know what you can buy later. It will help you get what is required and avoid buying things you already have. If you don’t do the thing, you will find so many unnecessary items.
Delegate Only One Person To Do The Shopping
If you have been asking yourself how you can save money buying office supplies and you’ve been delegating different people to do the shopping, then you should stop immediately. When you appoint one person, it will help you track your expenses and save some money. Different staff members can come up with other quotations.
Also, it is wise to check if your employees are not stealing office supplies. When asked where they bought a specific item like a marker pen, most people confidently say they got it from the office. So, when your employees keep on stealing office supplies, you can hardly save money on the same. As an employer, you should teach your staff about ethics, some like how to save money buying office supplies, and this is where you point out how they should not steal office supplies.
Also, you can decide to punish any staff caught stealing office supplies by making them buy more.
Avoid Paperwork
Most companies have gone digital, and avoiding buying any printed papers may save your money on office business data. You can look for SEO companies to protect your data on cloud data. Also, you can have an insurance adjuster who can help save claims on digital devices rather than paperwork.
When you reduce paper in your office, it will also look neat instead of piling a bulk of paper.
Working in Shifts
If you have a small working space and so many employees, you can decide whether your staff work in shifts. Overpopulation in the office can make people unproductive, and you should make sure that each employee has their own desk.
If you have so many employees, buying so much furniture could be expensive. You can plan for the employees to work in shifts. Also, to save on supplies, you can ask the employee to work remotely or have specific office days.
Buy L-shaped Desks
When buying office furniture, you should choose l-shaped working desks. They make the office look organized and also neat. Apart from making you save, they make sure the corners are occupied. L-desks always form productive workstations. Also, they provide privacy for your staff, and they are also spacious.
Encourage Daylight Accessibility.
There are so many benefits that come with working during the day. When your office has good lighting, you don’t have to switch on lights, which is expensive. Electricity utility bills are very high, which you can avoid. Also, you can decide to buy LED lamps that will help with lighting and are energy efficient.
Reuse
When you want to upgrade your office, it is wise to do an upgrade that will not cost you much money. You might want to dispose of old items like electronics such as old laptops, phones, tablets, and printers during this time. Instead of throwing them away, you can look for companies that buy used items and make money out of them.
Turn Off Computers
Most employees and employers have a habit of leaving their computers on, especially on weekends. It consumes power, but this habit may lead computers to wear out fast. Most computers do not have a regular reboot system to maintain performance, so some employees may leave them to update to avoid interference during the day. If you want to save money, kindly request your employees to ensure that they run scans and updates on weekdays to avoid leaving them on weekends.
Make Sure Employees Use Supplies Entirely
Decluttering supplies that have not been used ultimately is not healthy for a company. It will bring extra costs that you can avoid. Encourage your employees to use it entirely so them you can get value for your money. When you quickly clean your ink cartridge and refill it, it will save you money and time to go to the supply store.
Outro
As we conclude this long passage, we have learned some tricks on how to save money buying office supplies. Purchasing office supplies for your small or big firm should not drain your pockets. You can apply the tricks we have discussed in this article. Buying necessities and avoiding impulse buying are the first steps to save money buying office supplies. When you follow the tricks, you will save so much money.