The question is simple: how much should it cost? The answer is elusive. Accurate perspective on printing prices requires constant examination of the industry. Recently, print pricing has been turbulent as printers cope with falling demand while seeking the profit margins a small, consolidated market should allow. Pricing norms change, and change rapidly.

Tracking that market requires more than opening up a window on print prices every few years by soliciting bids. To give you a precise view of current pricing, Printmark created Pressmarket, a database of manufacturing prices. A Pressmarket analysis answers the central question of any publisher’s cost control strategy: Am I paying more than I should?

The Pressmarket database is updated constantly to reflect pricing trends by run length and publication frequency. Accurately and succinctly, Pressmarket reveals your position in the print marketplace. It is the very tool you need to:

• verify the competitiveness of your contract

• determine the likely benefits of soliciting quotations

• evaluate the merits of an advance renewal price proposal

• assess the legitimacy of a specific price escalation

• prepare for renegotiation with your existing printer

• develop a negotiation strategy when analyzing bids

A Pressmarket analysis presents market averages for your price increments and compares your total cost for a typical issue against the market. The comparison includes paper waste and average paper transaction prices.

Your report is based on market averages for publications with pressruns similar to yours. Pressmarket adjusts for variations in trim size and basis weight reliably so that all comparisons reflect pricing that matches your magazine’s specifications. For most pressruns, at least 20 sets of prices contribute to the market average.

Your analysis will include a narrative discussion of the pricing you submit for analysis, including notes on prices that are particularly high or low and areas that represent significant negotiation opportunities.

The knowledge in Pressmarket can benefit you whenever you need to know if you are paying what you should for manufacturing. If you’re curious, Pressmarket has the answers.