Notes for owners · Sales management
How to price a repeat print job so the buyer does not shop around every time
A standing rate card for jobs a buyer reorders, with a stated validity period and a rule for paper price changes, removes the reason to ask three printers each time. A layout you can copy.
The GullySales team · Updated 17 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
On this page
Some buyers who order the same job again and again still ask three printers for a rate each time. Not because they dislike you. Because nobody told them what your price for this job will be next time, and the person who signs the purchase order wants a comparison on file. Give them a rate card for the job: the specification, the price at each quantity, the period it holds and what changes it. Then there is nothing to re-ask.
What is a rate card for a repeat job?
It is one page for one job code. It states the exact specification the buyer orders (size, paper, colours, finish, packing), the price at the quantities they usually order, a validity period and the terms that sit around it. The buyer attaches it to the purchase order or the vendor file. A new order becomes "same job, same card, new quantity".
It is not a general price list. It is a record of what you and this buyer agreed for this job.
The layout
Use a one-page layout like this and fill it per job.
| Field | Example (illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Job code and name | HL-02 hang tags, two-colour |
| Specification | 90 mm by 50 mm, 300 gsm art card, both sides, matt lamination, drilled hole |
| Quantity and rate | 5,000 at ₹1.10; 10,000 at ₹0.95; 20,000 at ₹0.88 |
| Artwork | Buyer's file, unchanged; changes charged as set out below |
| Packing and delivery | Bundles of 500, boxed, delivered to the factory gate |
| Payment | As agreed on the vendor file |
| Valid until | The date you write on the card |
| Paper clause | Rate reviewed by both sides if the paper cost moves beyond the band written here |
| Reorder lead time | Days from artwork confirmation to dispatch, as you have actually met them |
The figures are illustrative. Use your own costing, and do not copy another printer's numbers.
Rules for setting the rates
- Price on the quantities the buyer really orders. Look at their last six orders. If they order 8,000 each time, put 8,000 on the card, not 5,000 and 10,000.
- Make the quantity break real. The next step must save the buyer something they can see, and cost you less per piece because the make-ready is shared. If it does not, do not offer it.
- Hold the rate for a stated period, not "until further notice". A period gives you a date to call and renegotiate, and gives the buyer a date to budget against.
- Write the paper clause before you need it. A rate that cannot move when paper does will be broken quietly, and the buyer will notice.
- Say what is outside the card. A change of size, an extra colour, a rush: each gets a new quotation.
The paper clause is the one that is easy to leave out, and the one that causes the argument. Agree the band with the buyer on the first card, in numbers you both accept, and write it on the card itself. Here is wording to adapt: "The board rate behind this card is ₹___ per kg on the date above. If the rate on the supplier's invoice moves more than ___ from that figure, either side may ask for a review. The new rate applies from the next order, never to one already placed." The blanks are for you and the buyer to fill, not for anyone to copy from a blog.
Imagine a carton press in Ludhiana
Imagine, as an invented case, a Ludhiana press that prints cartons for a hosiery maker. The buyer's purchase officer has asked three printers for a quote on the same carton every quarter, because the buyer's owner insists on it. The press wins some and loses the rest by a few paise.
The press owner sits with the purchase officer and offers a card for the carton: the specification, three quantity steps taken from the buyer's past orders, a validity period and the paper clause. In exchange, the owner asks for a standing job code and a rough sense of how many cartons the buyer expects to use over the period. The purchase officer takes the card to her owner. Her owner still wants a comparison once a year, which is reasonable, so the card carries a review date. Between those dates the carton orders go straight to the press.
One mistake in the first card: the press owner put a fixed rate with no paper clause. When board prices rose the press absorbed it for two orders and then raised the rate without warning, which cost the goodwill the card had built. The card was reissued with the clause and an explanation. The buyer accepted it, though one order was lost in the gap. A change written in a clause is a rule. A change made in a phone call is a complaint.
When a rate card does not make sense
Skip it for one-off jobs, for jobs whose specification changes every time, and for buyers who order a few times a year with no pattern. Skip it too if your costs move so fast that you cannot hold a rate for any period. A card with a one-week validity is only a quotation, so call it one.
Also resist offering it to every customer. Pick the buyers whose repeat orders carry real value for you, and start with one or two.
How the card helps at renewal
When the validity date nears, you have a reason to call that is not "any orders?". Bring last period's quantities, the paper position and a proposal for the next card. For reorder reminders, see getting printing orders that repeat.
Draw up the first card this week
Pick the one job that a single buyer orders most often. Today is not too soon. Fill the table above from their last six orders and take it to them. The trade is on our paper and printing sales and marketing page, and renewal management is the related service. If you want help with the wording and the paper clause, tell us what you need.
Related services
