With increased fuel prices and the current nature of the U.S. economy, both print buyers and suppliers alike are experiencing ramifications. In September, Print Buyers Online.com asked our major print buyer members, “By what percentage has the prices of your print projects increased in 2008 (due to paper, energy, transportation or other costs)?” Cost increases of over 7% were reported by 35% of the print buyers who responded.
At Print Buyers Online.com, there are certain Quick Poll questions that we ask once a year to see if there are significant sea changes among our members. One of these polls is “Would you go to lunch with a sales rep from a printing company that you have not yet given work?”
This year, 70% of our major print buyers said, “No, I’m generally not comfortable with that.” This caught our attention because for the previous three years, the numbers had remained steady at around 60%. What’s with the drop? Do print buyers just not “do lunch” anymore? Let’s delve
