PVC card printer
PVC card printer: what does it really cost?
The purchase price is only the start: ribbons, blank cards, maintenance and staff time make up the real cost. Work it out for your volume, then compare it with printing on demand.
Calculator
The real cost of a card printer, for your volume
Adjust the assumptions to your situation: the figures update as you type, and the on-demand price is the online shop's.
Your volume
Your printer
With a printer
€1,467per year
that is €2.93 per card
- Printer depreciation€833
- Ribbons and blank cards€225
- Maintenance€200
- Operator time€208
With printing on demand
€950per year
that is €1.90 excl. VAT per card, in orders of 100 cards
With these assumptions, printing on demand saves you €517 a year, with no machine to buy or maintain.
With these assumptions, a printer pays for itself from about 1,010 cards a year.
See the shop's pricesEstimates only. The default values follow the ranges on this page (a printer from 2,000 to 15,000 €, 0.20 to 0.80 € of ribbon per card): replace them with your own quotes. On-demand prices exclude VAT; delivery is free in France on the online shop.
The true cost of a card printer
The initial investment is just the tip of the iceberg. Consumables, maintenance, operator — the TCO is often 3 to 5 times higher than the purchase price.
PVC card printer
- Investment: €2,000 to €15,000
- Print ribbons: €0.20 to €0.80 per card
- Blank cards to store and order
- Regular maintenance and calibration
- Dedicated operator for each print run
- No built-in NFC encoding (separate encoder)
- No shipping logistics
- Scalability limited by machine capacity
Printags — printing as a service
- Zero initial investment
- Subscription from €19/month, all-inclusive
- No stock, no consumables to manage
- No maintenance, zero downtime
- 100% automated via REST API
- NFC encoding integrated into production flow
- White-label shipping built into the production flow
- Unlimited scalability via global network
The right question
Is your business printing cards?
If the answer is no, you don't need a printer. You need a service that prints for you, automatically, on demand, white-label.
That's exactly what Printags does. One API, a network of qualified printers, and your customer receives their card without ever knowing it's us.
Ready to ditch your printer?
Create your account and send your first order. No investment, no commitment.