Does that little machine pay for itself? Price gun, sealer and pliers included.
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
A pricing gun, sealing machine, or perforating pliers cost from a few tens of euros to almost one hundred euros. For each device, we calculate from which number of items or packages the purchase pays for itself.
You're packing the sixtieth order of the week and notice you do the same thing with every box: pulling tape from the roll, tearing it off with your thumb, writing a price with a marker on a sticker. That might add ten seconds per package. For sixty packages a week, that's ten minutes; over a year, it adds up to almost nine hours, just for tearing and writing.
At that point, the question of whether such a device on the shelf is worth it starts to itch. Below, for each tool, you'll find its cost, where the gain lies, and from what volume it pays for itself. Calculate with your own numbers, as they weigh more heavily than the price tag.
The calculation you only make once
Payback happens in two ways: you save time, or you save material. For time, you only need three numbers.
What does an hour of your own time or your employee's time cost? Choose an amount you're comfortable with, for example, 25 euros.
How many seconds does the device save per action? Time it once with your phone instead of guessing.
How many actions do you perform per week?
A saving of ten seconds per item for one hundred items per week is over 16 minutes. At 25 euros per hour, that's almost 7 euros per week, so a 25 euro purchase pays for itself in four weeks. If you do fifteen items per week, it will take almost half a year. The same device, a completely different answer.
Tool
Price
Where the gain lies
Pricing gun
from € 24.95
Time per item to be priced
Sealing machine
€ 79.95
Time and a neater seal
Perforating pliers
€ 49.95
Work you would otherwise outsource or skip
Tape dispenser
from € 6.00
Seconds per box, less wasted tape
Labeling prices: where the pricing gun wins
A pricing gun is the classic example of a tool that quickly pays for itself, because you use it per item and not per order. Anyone with a stall, shop, or pantry with loose items prices hundreds of pieces at a time with it.
These two options are worth comparing. If you buy the € 24.95 gun and replenish it with nine times White Price Stickers for MX-5500 pricing gun, 5000 pieces at € 9.95, you'll be at € 114.50 for approximately 50,500 stickers. The € 59.95 package comes out to roughly the same amount. If you're sure you'll use those quantities, the large set is the cheapest route; if you're unsure, start small.
The manual heat sealer machine at € 79.95 is the most expensive purchase in this list, and thus the purchase where you need to calculate most precisely. It is interesting if you fill or bundle products yourself and don't want to close the bag with a staple or a sticker: a sealed bag shows that no one has tampered with it along the way.
Don't just calculate in time here, but also in returns and complaints. If one sealed bag a year saves a handful of discussions about 'the bag was open', that counts. Do keep the accompanying consumable in mind: heat-resistant PTFE tape with adhesive, 10 meters costs € 19.95 and is intended for sealers and other high-temperature applications.
If you only seal a few bags a week, sealing is a luxury. Then you'll get further with a good closure and a seal.
Cutting, perforating, and riveting: small tools, quick gains
It gets more expensive for tools you only need occasionally. A T-shaped perforating punch 6 x 10 x 30 mm costs € 49.95 and the 5 mm rivet gun including 100 rivets € 40.00. You don't buy such tools for speed, but because they enable something: finishing labels and cards yourself instead of ordering them ready-made. So compare that with the price of outsourcing, not your hourly rate.
Material savings come from packaging size. Tape rolls, 6 pieces 48x66mm cost € 21.00, so € 3.50 per roll. The box with 36 tape rolls 48x66 mm costs € 108.00, or € 3.00 per roll. That's a 50 cent difference per roll and 18 euros over the entire box, provided you actually use up those 36 rolls and can store them dry. If you also want to make it visible that a box has remained closed, there are VOID security seal stickers, 60 pieces for € 9.95.
When it's better not to buy it
There are three situations in which it's better to postpone the purchase. The first is a peak of a few weeks: if you only reach that volume in November and December, calculate with the annual average and not with the busiest week. The second is lack of space; tools you have to fish out of a cupboard every time won't be used. The third is consumables you don't keep in stock as standard, because a pricing gun without stickers or a sealer without tape is an expensive paperweight.
Want to explore further? The pricing guns and labels and the scissors and knives are grouped together, tape and dispensers can be found in the Tape collection, and the complete range for your packing table is under Packaging & Shipping. If you're unsure which variant suits your quantities, feel free to email your situation to info@verpakkingdeals.nl — we'll calculate it with you.
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