This PaperSpecsGallery.com entry is a blue chip of an idea for any portfolio. Linking the concept of the stock certificate to a collectible piece of art (both things that increase in value in happy times) is money in the bank.
We’ve recently been talking about coated paper prices as if there’s a single entity called coated paper. Of course, it’s not that simple. There are a lot of different coated papers and, too, coated papers compete with uncoated papers—not to mention electronic forms of communication.
This year during Paper Week in Chicago, I escaped from the meetings for a field trip. I was invited to visit the FutureMark paper mill, which was unlike many others I’ve visited. This one is in an urban forest, and makes high-quality recycled paper.
Sometimes, printers have to switch suppliers. What should you do? Ask the merchants to bring in samples? Look at printed samples? Look at unprinted samples? Buy what’s cheapest? Buy a truckload of four different papers and see how they perform and then decide?
Are paper markups the best way to go? A small survey that I launched revealed that printers are confused about what to charge when customers supply paper: 71 percent agreed with the statement, “paper markups are critical to our profitability” but 50 percent agreed that “when customers supply paper, we don't lose much because we still include a cost for handling the paper."
Most of you probably know all of this, but there may be a thing or two that you don’t know. Or maybe you just need to be reminded.
10. We usually like to print color on coated paper. For most applications, coated paper is best for color, but some excellent work can be done on uncoated papers, especially text and cover or opaque grades.
Coated paper declined more than any other sector during the recession, but it is also experiencing the greatest bounce-back as advertising and direct mail expenditures that were cut during the recessiont are now rebounding.
Most merchants make money selling paper, but there are a few who make money buying paper. How do they make money buying paper?
Iggesund Paperboard sent me some really gorgeous packaging samples — you know, the kind you’d want to save because they are too cool to throw away — and a note that said their paperboard will not crack at the fold with or against the grain, on even their heaviest 144-lb cover.
