The Hidden Dangers (and Costs) of Buying UV Printers Overseas

“I think I just wasted $12,000.”

I was asked recently by a prospective client about buying our Catalyst printers here in the States versus buying printers direct from overseas manufacturers to “save some money”. If you’re shopping for deals overseas there are some things you should consider carefully…

A few years ago, I showed up at a customer site to help integrate one of our printers into an enterprise workflow system. To my surprise, there was a different machine sitting right next to ours, a printer on which the owner had "saved some money" - buying direct from overseas.

Completely rhetorical question - "How's it working?"

The owner said - "You warned me. We can't get to a nozzle check and the support number just rings and rings. I think I just wasted $12,000".

In the UV printer space, if you decide to buy direct AND choose the company/machine correctly AND manage to get past basic setup successfully with a working machine -  there are many other factors to consider in the "cost savings".

Machine availability. Unless you are ordering a full container or paying a gigantic amount for air shipping, you'll probably wait 50-75 days to receive your machine in a shared container. Lost time, lost opportunities and revenue. Then, you'll have to navigate customs bonds, coordinate last mile, and hope the tariffs and fees don't change dramatically between the time the ship leaves ports and arrives in the States.

Setup Process. In most cases, setup will be completely done via Whatsapp or similar chat technology. If you are very comfortable with the technology, you might be able to navigate this. If you're new to it, you better pack a lunch. Or, in this case, a midnight snack - because your setup will likely occur between 9pm and 5am.

Support Hours. To that end, you'll also likely wait until the evening for support on any issue that occurs during your business day, potentially costing you a full day of production, per incident.

Parts Availability. Most overseas direct sales operations do not stock replacement parts in North America – so 2-3 days minimum and a hefty DHL bill for parts and ink.

The software is likely an outdated version of commercially available brands, or possibly a complete unknown. At best, you will have a mediocre software experience.

With mediocre software comes average color management and matching average print quality. If you plan to work with larger clients that maintain strict brand standards, you’ll need to invest in color measurement equipment and color profiling software, profiling media, and spend some time learning how to do it all correctly.

When you explore the “cost savings” of buying direct, be very careful to factor all of the above and weight the potential longer-term outcomes on your business.

At DPI lab, we’ve done all the hard work for you and deliver actual engineered solutions with professional software, color-matched profiles and really, really, excellent support. So you can focus on growing your business.