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Are you setting up your own business? It’s important to find an affordable, reliable supplier to avoid any last-minute envelope crises or stapler emergencies – and most importantly – save time, money and effort in the long run.

How much stationery do I need?

On average you should set aside about £200 for your initial office supplies, although it does depend on your business: how much it is office-based, whether you are a ‘paperless office’ and what size your business is.

Try to resist the temptation to spend your whole budget on the latest “look-at-me-I’m-James-Bond” gadget. It may look good, but make sure you have a desk, chair, pens and paper to get things going first.

What you will need depends on your type of business. However, there are basic essentials all companies are going to need such as: paper, pens, files, a hole punch, a stapler, CD-ROMs, a shredder, a desk and a chair.

We picked out some of the key office items that any small business would need to keep going in order to find the all-round best value providers.

Save money by going online

Our advice is simple. Do not buy your office supplies on the high street because it will almost certainly cost you a lot more than it needs to.

There are now many sites offering discount stationery at much more competitive rates than the high street, particularly when you buy in bulk. It’s also much easier to compare prices online so you know that you can find the cheapest prices without traipsing around town.

Online suppliers will also offer free delivery if you spend over a certain amount (usually around £30) so it’s a good idea to buy for the long-term and save even more money.

In our experience, there are constant special offers on stationery which are updated all the time so if you have the time to search, you can usually find some great offers on specific products.

We’ve made your life even easier by searching online for you to compare delivery prices, returns policy, ease of use of the website and of course, price.

Other useful tools are price comparison websites like these:

Do use all three to compare prices to cover as many companies as possible.

Our office stationery comparison

We took five different office supplier retailers and then compared their services when it came to price, after-care and returns policy. These were Rebel Office Supplies, UK Office Direct, Viking Direct, Staples and Euroffice.

Price

We chose a selection of essential office supplies and then compared their prices across all 5 suppliers’ websites to see who would come out the cheapest.

Here are items we compared:

500 sheets of white 80gsm paper
Black ballpoint pens (pack of 12)
Highlighter pens (pack of 6)
A4 Lever Arch file – pack of 10
Shredder (Cross Cut)


Supplier	Rebel Office Supplies	Viking Direct	Staples	Euroffice	UK Office Direct

Paper	£5.97	£2.79	£2.50	£3.09	£3.39
Pens	£5.42	£3.79	£1.49 (10 pack)	£5.69	£3.03
Highlighters	£2.06	£3.99	£1.94	£6.72	£2.52
Files	£9.52	£25.90	£4.99	£13.49	£11.75
Shredder	£34.99	£36.09	£17.99	£35.49	£37.34

Delivery Charges	£6.75 or free for orders £45+	£2.90 or free for orders over £30	£2.90 or free for orders over £30	£3.95 or free for orders over £30	£5.95 or free for orders over £30

^{TOTAL =} Including VAT not including delivery charge	^£69.55	^£87.47	^£38.43	£69.28	^£69.64

Prices shown include discounts and are correct at the time of writing, November 2011.

Our table shows that Staples provides the best overall price by a country mile, with its selection of office equipment totalling over £20 less than its nearest rival, Euroffice.

Staples also has the same ‘buy more, save more’ rewards system as Euroffice, making it our number one choice for value.

You can also opt to select Order Care which allows you to return unwanted items anytime within 12 months of purchase. They will even collect the items for free.

Returns Policy

Rebel Office Supplies – Email them within 14 days and they will collect the items for free. The things must be unused and in original unmarked packaging.

UK Office Direct – Products returned within the 14-day cooling-off period will be refunded in full after delivery costs have been deducted.

Staples – Standard returns policy is 30 days. If you contact them within 7 days they will collect items for free, otherwise they charge £3.50.

Optional care order £1.60 – allows you to return unwanted goods anytime within 12 months of purchase and collection is free.

Viking Direct – Protection Plus service which, for a nominal fee, provides you with 12 months accidental damage cover and a no quibble, 12 month returns policy. If you don’t want this service you have to opt out by calling 0844 412 1111.

Euroffice – They offer a 14-day returns policy. They’ll collect the item for free and give you credit, providing the item is in resaleable condition. This means that the product is in the original packaging and unopened.

If you contact them more than 14 days after delivery, they might be able to accept the goods back but not necessarily at full-credit value.

Useful Contacts

Visit these websites to find the best deal for you

Bagged a bargain we don’t know about? Tell us about it on our facebook page:

6 Responses to “Office Stationery: Best Buys”

Robin Woods says:

April 15, 2010 at 10:21 am

With over 25 years experience within the office supplies market, we provide office stationery, office furniture and office equipment to businesses and home users throughout the UK.

Reply
Chris says:

August 24, 2009 at 9:47 am

Hi, I used to use Euroffice but recently switched to a company called aos online http://www.aosonline.co.uk. There pricing is very competitive, and in most cases cheaper than all the sites mentioned above. The biggest difference I have found with this site though is that their search facility is 10 times more accurate than other stationery website in terms of trying to find what you are looking for. They are also happy to talk to you over the phone which I have found a great help as it’s always nice to speak to someone in person when you have a question.

Reply
Office Supplies says:

August 5, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Hi,

You can also compare office suupplies from five of teh UKs leading office supplies stores at Whistle Ink and they include two of the stores recommended above.

It does pay to compare prices – one store may not always be the cheapest but the point of comparing to save is to get the best deal overall.

And this means being wiser and look for any soecial offers and discounts a store may have.

Reply
Office Stationery Supplies says:

July 29, 2009 at 1:33 pm

Apart from all the sites you have mentioned you can also check out stationery at http://www.discount-office-needs.co.uk. They offer some premium brands at amazing discounts of 30%. One can save costs and time too. Its difficult quoting the prices as each office has its own distinguished need. But discount office needs can definitely save one a good amount with quality being the major priority.

Reply
Mark Carter says:

July 1, 2009 at 10:37 am

I have to strongly disagree with your suggestion that the online stationers offer value for money….Why? Because they are re-sellers(not manufacturers) whereas our company is.

Plus after comparing 10 different online stationers and taking a cheap casebound notebook 70gsm 190 pages, prices range from £1.46-£7.36. As we are new to the UK market, I have come to the conclusion that the end user is being ripped off and that price fixing exists. Found the article interesting.

Reply
Sarah Doughty says:

June 1, 2009 at 1:41 pm

Just thought I should add that it looks like if you just want to buy stationery (rather than a shredder) Discount Office Products looks the best in terms of price.

Thanks for the article, very helpfull

Reply