Is It A Setup?
Mike Beckman
I'm Not Your Average Pen Guy. . . MASi Master Advertising Specialist PPAI Fellowship PPAI Pyramid Award Winner
One of the necessary evils in the promotional business is that of the Setup Charge. Very few vendors provide pricing and service without adding that nasty little surcharge. Picture the Setup Charge like paying double taxes on gas or alcohol, it’s not needed but you have to pay the price if you want to buy it.
For the most part setup charges are rarely even needed anymore. With most printing on promotional items going digital there really is no setup, just enter the logo and information into the computer, tell it how many pieces you want to print on and press GO. Laser engraving takes a little setup in that the product must be positioned a little more accurately but that’s about it.
Setup charges originated when they had to make printing plates for the logos and then use those plates to press an ink pad on to create the imprint. Inks had to be mixed by hand to match PMS colors and then added to the pads. Pad Printing is a term you might hear when describing this process, very similar to the old newspaper days of creating printing plates and setting type.
So if digital printing is doing away with having to create setup plates why is the charge still there? Quite simply it comes down to simplicity and profit. Some items still cannot be run through the new digital systems and a pad print is required. Rather than separate items that have no setup charge and those that do, manufacturers find it easier to publish one common setup charge across the board. The second reason is they have always been there and they will always stay - a nice additional stream of revenue that allows manufacturers to reduce the pricing on the product side while still retaining a little additional revenue.
So the next time you see a Setup Charge on your quote or invoice, just know we have to add it because we are being charged for it as well. Like taxes, it’s not going to go away but unlike taxes they shouldn’t be going up at least.