Making the swap to unbranded- Is it worth it?

No matter who you talk to, one of the main topics of conversations is the constant price rises and how expensive it is becoming to live your day to day life. Everyone is looking for ways to save money, whether it be walking more, eating out less, or wearing more jumpers to keep warm and avoid turning your heating on. Not only have there been price hikes in your day to day life at home, a lot of companies and businesses are also feeling the pinch and looking for ways to keep costs down.

Whether you are a sole trader or a company of hundreds; supplies and expenses are inevitable. Stationery supplies are used by almost every person, household and company on a daily basis. From your humble pen or pencil, to a correction roller or maybe even some laminating pouches, these are the sorts of supplies you wouldn’t think of costing much, since they seem to appear out of nowhere. However, when you get down to the nitty gritty, someone has to pay for them, and we are here to show you that by making a few simple swaps here and there, you have the potential to save hundreds.

Gone are the days when branded products had a huge lead in the market and unbranded/ value products were of a much lesser quality, never standing the trials of use that we needed them to. These days, manufacturing processes of these branded and unbranded products are so similar that the quality of the cheaper products isn’t far behind the branded ones. Obviously we are not trying to downtalk the branded products. These products are popular and have been market leaders for years and it is clear to see why. 

Branded products have their USP’s (unique selling points) which put them above their competition. For example, 3M Post-It Notes boast a stronger adhesive which makes them better for sticking on vertical or unsmooth surfaces. Bic Cristal ballpoint pens offer more than 2km worth of ink. However, for the most part, their unbranded comparisons are a cheaper alternative that deliver a similar quality.

We have put together a sample basket of basic stationery products. This will show you the difference in costs between the branded products and the unbranded alternatives and highlighting the savings you could make-

With such massive savings, you don’t need to do an entire overhaul of your frequently ordered products and change everything to unbranded/ value. By switching 2 or 3 products, you will soon notice the difference. If you would like to look into making the swap and would like us to help find the compatible alternatives for you, please feel free to email your list of products to us at [email protected] - Alternatively you can use our price comparison tool on this link (https://www.officestationery.co.uk/price-audit/). We will go through your product list, highlight areas we think you could save some money and also include our product codes and current prices for you to compare to your current spend.

Please note, the prices quoted in the above example were correct at the time this article was published.