We've had 4 Komori's. L426, S226P, L428 & now a L626.

L426 cost us 145k in 1996 - we traded in for the L428 at 90k against a purchase price of 165k. The we traded the L428 at 75K against 187k for the 626.

Installation took 5 days, but we've been operational from power-on on day 1.
DDJ were very good - a few teething issues mainly with the Ir unit needing some parts. Otherwise painfree install. Not so with the L428 - 5 weeks before we got saleable sheets off it. That was Knights (Martin Knight).

Btw we charge 15 per col m/r & 18 per plate. And yes we vary our price too - depending on customer and volumes of orders placed.

Do you have inhouse artworking? We have 3 Apple G4 workstations up for sale - with shedloads of 'extras' - see our ad in the classifieds.

Yes i do inhouse artwork, but i do it all on g5's. but i will try and find a buyer for you for those, i think their iis a prepress dealer in the norh that buys such things but i have forgoten his name. but not many ppl want g4s any more.it ooks like you did quite well with the sale of the 28. i will get back to you about that dealer, but i think your price is quite high

richard, i am wondering if you could help me, do you know how to work out the age of a komori using the serial number, is it possible or would i have to contact A komori agent. Thanks in advance

Hi ob1 you could try David Jarrett - I think he has a database.

If the Komori has a PQC open the doors and check the dates of manufacture on the various PCBs - although not conclusive they usually are accurate to within 12months. Also date of manufacture is not necessarily date of first installation.

Hello, I've been a broker for about 3 and half years looking to start buying my own equipment. Can anyone shoot me some pointers on how you get your clients? Do you have sales reps, direct mail? What strategies work best for you?

Any response is greatly appreciated.

The annual reports show 67 Million dollar annual gain for only one printer relying on internet based marketing.

Here is a great internet deal for you: 100 "free" postcards will "cost" you nothing PLUS $20 for recycled paper (since when does recycled paper cost so much), $22.50 for "fast" shipping in 3 business days but "only" $7.50 if you are willing to wait 3 extra weeks after job is done, and 'ONLY' $165.00 if you want to customize anything beyond their prebuilt template . vistaprint prices are not always cheaper, but one reason small printers are going out of business is they buy into the hype ads on the web, rather than understand their advantages (honest prices for a high quality product turned around quickly and delivered to customer's front door exactly as expected). I forgot, after getting the "free" job, you now have to put up with vistaprint's advertisement on a CUSTOMER'S postcard he is going to send out to potential clients. Can you imagine any of our clients accepting putting our logo next to theirs on thier postcards ?

Some of the internet "trade" printers pricing strategy is also interesting. Seems like they can do the job for 50% of what it would cost to get it locally, but then comes the surprise (shipping will double the price) Right, like it will cost $500 to ship out a carton across a couple of states. Then, they'll only accept using their prestocked papers and only with your money upfront and no terms. How many clients would really accept such outrageous way of untrustable business model?

If you are willing to wait a few months, you can really save buying from china since labor is so "cheap" though. As long as you don't mind picking it up at the airport, and if anything is wrong, eating the costs with no reprecussions for the china based printer None of my customers will take these terms, but I'll try again tomorrow, maybe they'll do it

But if you can't beat them, join them. hire an internet marketing company, build an advanced SEO based web ordering system, only offer templates and only certain papers to get a job "cheaper" and then add your own logo on the job and double the price for "shipping and handling" costs.