The Cost of Printing Free Domain Books

The core of our home school resources is amazing out of print books.  We adhere to a bulk of the Robinson Curriculum (www.robinsoncurriculum.com) and recommend it to most anyone we run into that home schools.

So a lot of times in the circle of parents that adhere to this same value of out of print books is the discussion of is it cost effective to print or buy books.  I personally print the books because it is cheaper and convenient.  It does take a bit of time, but I love the instant gratification of having a book ready by morning.  In the Robinson Curriculum Official Group on facebook, we had this discussion and a member of it, asked how I got the price so low.  This is when I realized not everyone has the same tools and the cost changes according to what you use.

**Affiliate Links are for your convience.

TOOL!

1. I have the MFC 8710 DW.   This is my second one, I ruined the first with generic toner. We will talk later on that.  I purchased it from staples and it generally runs $400.  My last one was on sale, so I got it for $300.  In my house, this is a tax write off and is owned by my husband's business, so it has to come with all the bells and whistles.
**Brother Printer MFC8710DW Wireless Monochrome Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax




Now I know this is not in everyone's perceived budget.  Having this will make a difference in the long run.  This machine uses the TN-750 cartridge that prints 8,000 pages at a cost of about $95.

Most fellow RC families are using the MONO Laser HL-L2360DW (duplexing is a must, wireless or network is a personal choice)  running approximately $150.  Here is the long term cost, toner is TH-450 that cost approximately $70 and prints 2,600 pages.  << I am getting almost 3 times the toner capacity for $15 more.

2. I have 2 different staples, A long reach stapler and a heavy duty stapler.

The Heavy Duty stapler. Now this one retails about $50 and can staple 200 pages. AWESOME!  I grabbed mine on clearance at wal-mart and it has a 100 page capacity for $15.
**Swingline Heavy Duty Stapler, 160 Sheets, Black/Gray (S7039005)
**Desert Song Steel Heavy Duty Stapler, 240 Sheets High Capacity (SH-50LA)



The Long Reach Stapler.  I grabbed this one from Amazon, for $10 with Prime.  I use this to staple smaller sets together and then glue them as one.
**Sparco Long Reach Stapler, 20 Sheet Capacity, Standard Staples, Putty/Black (SPR01316)


3. A Paper Cutter.  Any scrapbook cutter will due.  I use this, since I mostly print 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 size, I need to cut my cover in half.  These run about $15.  Hit a craft store up with a coupon and you can get one for under $10.
**Swingline Guillotine Paper Trimmer, ClassicCut Lite, 12" Cut Length, 10 Sheet Capacity (9312)
**Fiskars 12 Inch Titanium SureCut Paper Trimmer (01-005454)



Supplies
The majority of the supplies that create the bulk cost of your book is paper and toner.  The rest are almost incidentals.

1. Toner - Having the MFC 8710 is where the true value of printing books comes in. (It has been collectively agreed upon the RC families that Brothers is the most economical machine to print with, I have not tested that theory, but I have been happy enough to buy a second one.)

TN-750 prints 8,000 pages and cost approximately $95.
1,000 pages printed (front and back of a single 500 page ream) is $12


2. Paper -I only buy paper when it is cheap.  Cheap for me is $1.25 per ream.  This is never out of pocket, out of pocket is $45, but thanks to staples, a month later I get a prepaid credit card with $35. so it is $10 for 8 reams.  I buy in bulk and on sale only.  If it convenient to my day, which it never is, I will purchase the rebate offers that can get me a ream for $1 at the store.


My big fancy calculations for the cost of Printing!
Without getting into details, I set a base price of 15 cents per cook for the card stock cover, the staples, the glue, modgepodge covering, and binding tape.  I really need to update those numbers, it could be as much as 50 cents.

Next I calculate the cost per page.  A ream of paper to print (both sides) is $12 in toner and $1.25 for paper.  So each ream is 500 pages, each piece of is printed on front and back in booklet setting, meaning each piece is 4 printed book pages.  A ream of paper yields 2,000 book pages for $13.50


My printing cost is less than 7/10 of a penny, but for simplicity we will call it a penny a page.

Now lets talk about a book I can print versus buy, in this simple argument, we will leave off time, taxes, shipping, and the cost of tools.

The book of Tale of Jolly Robin., I found 1 place to find it at www.thriftbooks.com for $10.61 .
This book is 119 pages, if you print every pdf page, I don't, I am a bit selective and print from the title page to the last printed page.

We will say, 120 pages.  So $0.50 base cost + $1.20 printing = $1.70 for the book and my kids have it by morning.  Not bad.

And this is for a book that I can find in print!  There are those that you can't.


If you are interested in the basic book list that we use, you can find it here along with plenty of information from a user of Robinson Curriculum.

I hope this helps!
~trish