What Does a Copier Actually Cost?
The honest breakdown. No "request a quote" form, no sales call required. Just real numbers from a dealer who'd rather you trusted us than wondered what we're hiding.
Monthly Lease Costs by Machine Tier
These are real ranges based on what we quote day-to-day. Your exact price depends on the machine, the term, and any extras, but this'll give you a proper ballpark so nobody can take you for a ride. If you run a smaller office, our guide to the best all-in-one printer for small business narrows it down to five machines with prices attached.
A4 Desktop
£20–25
per month (5-year lease)
Similar print speeds to bigger machines
Compact. Sits on a desk or side table
Scanning speed lower (~40 ppm) than A3
Think: satellite office, small team, reception desk
Entry-Level A3 Colour
£35–40
per month (5-year lease)
25–30 pages per minute
Good for offices with 5–15 people
Basic scanning and copying included
Think: small accountancy, local charity, startup office
MOST POPULAR
Mid-Range A3 Colour
£55–75
per month (5-year lease)
40–45 pages per minute
Good for offices with 15–40 people
Faster scanning, more finishing options
Think: legal firm, estate agency, school admin office
High-Volume A3 Colour
£75–120+
per month (5-year lease)
55–65+ pages per minute
Good for offices with 40+ people
High-speed scanning, full finishing suite
Think: large corporate, busy school, multi-site operation
Options Add Up. Here's How
The base price gets you a solid machine. But most offices want extras, and each one nudges the monthly cost up:
A mid-range machine with a booklet maker and extra cassette could easily sit at £90–100/month. Still good value, just worth knowing upfront so the quote doesn't surprise you.
These ranges are for a 60-month (5-year) lease, the most common term and the lowest monthly cost. Just like a car lease, the shorter the term, the more you pay each month. A 36-month lease will cost roughly 30–40% more per month. A 48-month sits in between. We'll always show you the options side by side so you can choose what works for your cash flow.
Per-Page Charges (Cost Per Copy)
On top of your monthly lease, you pay per page printed. This is where the real cost sits, and where some dealers hide margin. Here's what you should expect to pay:
Mono (Black & White)
from 0.4p
per page
Our average starting rate is 0.4p
Higher volumes and education can go lower
If you're being quoted over 1p per mono page, ask why
Colour
from 3.2p
per page
Our average starting rate is 3.2p
Schools and high-volume clients can often negotiate lower
If you're being quoted over 8p for colour, something's off
What's Included in Per-Page Charges?
Should be included:
- All toner (mono and colour)
- Engineer callouts and labour
- All replacement parts
- Drums, fusers, waste bottles
- Remote monitoring
Usually not included (and that's normal):
- Paper
- Staples (for finishers)
Hidden Charges to Watch For
These are the ones that catch people out. Not every dealer does all of these, but enough do that it's worth knowing about.
Excess colour charges
Some contracts charge a higher rate if you exceed a colour threshold, say, more than 30% of your printing in colour. You won't know until the bill arrives. We don't do this.
Engineer callout fees
Your per-page charge should cover engineer visits. If someone's charging you £75 per callout on top of your per-page charge, you're being double-dipped.
Toner delivery charges
We've seen contracts where toner is 'included' but delivery is charged separately. £15 per delivery, four times a year. That's £60/year you didn't expect.
Network setup fees
Some dealers charge £150–300 to connect the machine to your network. Our engineers do it as part of the installation. It takes them 20 minutes.
Training charges
Showing your team how to use the machine should be standard. If it's a line item on the quote, that's a red flag.
End-of-lease collection fees
When the lease ends, someone has to come and pick the machine up. Some dealers charge £100–200 for this. Ask upfront.
Worked Example: What You'd Actually Pay
Let's say you're a 20-person office printing about 8,000 pages a month (6,000 mono, 2,000 colour). Here's roughly what a mid-range machine would cost:
That includes all toner, all maintenance, all engineer visits, all parts. The only thing you buy is paper. This is how our quotes work. No surprises.
Annual Price Increases: What to Expect
Most copier contracts include an annual increase clause on cost-per-copy charges. This is normal across the industry. It's not a trick. Fuel goes up, parts go up, wages go up. We're a business too, and we have to cover those costs to keep engineers on the road and toner in the warehouse.
Typical UK annual increases
Your monthly lease payment stays the same throughout the contract. The increase only applies to the per-page charge. On a 0.4p mono page, a 5% increase is 0.02p. Not something you'll notice on a single page, but it adds up across thousands of pages over five years, which is why we're upfront about it.
The key thing is that you know about it before you sign. Some dealers bury it in paragraph 14 of the terms. We'll tell you on the quote and walk you through what it means in real money over the life of the contract. No surprises.
If It's Too Cheap, Ask Why
We see it all the time. A company gets quoted 2p colour and thinks they've struck gold. Then six months in, the engineer stops turning up. Or the toner isn't included. Or the contract gets sold on to another provider who triples the rate at renewal.
Red flags on cheap quotes
- Toner not included. You buy it separately at full price
- Service response measured in days, not hours
- Contract gets sold on. New provider hikes rates at renewal
- Low morale engineers who'd rather not be there
- Company building a portfolio of contracts to sell, not to service
What a fair price actually gets you
- Engineers paid properly who actually want to help
- Fast response because we can afford to run the vans
- Genuine manufacturer-backed parts and toner
- A dealer who'll still be here in five years
- Transparent pricing that doesn't need a ramp-up later
We'd rather start you at a competitive, honest rate and keep it stable than win the deal at a loss and make it up later. If someone quotes you significantly below our prices, it's worth asking what's not included, or what happens when the contract changes hands.
Do You Actually Need A3?
This is one of the first questions we ask when we do a print audit. Most offices have A3 machines sitting on every floor, but when you actually ask staff how often they print A3, the answer is usually "about once a month." Sometimes less.
A3 devices cost more to lease, more to run, and take up more space. If you're only printing A3 once in a blue moon, you're paying a premium for a feature nobody uses. We see it constantly.
Real example: Welbeck Healthcare
When we went into Welbeck to do their print audit, they had Canon A3 machines across the whole operation. We walked round every department and asked the same question: "How often do you actually print A3?" The answer was almost always the same. Maybe once a month, if that.
So we suggested replacing the majority of those A3 devices with A4 machines and keeping just one or two A3 units where they actually needed them. The result? A big drop in their monthly costs, without anyone losing any functionality they actually used.
Welbeck chose us partly because of Epson's sustainability credentials. They're a large organisation and that mattered to them. But the A4 audit is what really changed the numbers. That's the kind of thing we do that the big national providers won't bother with, because it reduces the deal size. We'd rather give you the right setup than the most expensive one.
A4 machine advantages
- Lower monthly lease, often 30–40% less than equivalent A3
- Smaller footprint. Fits on a desk or side table
- Lower running costs per page
- Faster warm-up and simpler maintenance
When you actually need A3
- Architectural or construction drawings
- Property particulars and window cards
- Marketing materials printed in-house
- Regular booklet production
The smart move is usually a mix: A4 machines where people just need to print day-to-day, and one A3 device in the department that actually uses it. We'll work this out during a free print audit, no obligation, and you'll know exactly where your money's going. See the full Welbeck case study →
Want Your Exact Numbers?
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