Who would’ve thought that in 2020, you would walk into the store need to buy a small bottle of hand sanitiser for over R100?
South Africa, as we know, is incredibly prone to price hikes. Every day we hear of price increases in one area or another, and to be fair we’ve become relatively desensitized to them. Unfortunately, this has become part of our living reality. Our new normal though, is that things we never even thought of on a day-to-day basis, becoming the most highly demanded products now. You just have to scroll through your Facebook feed to see a volley of people selling home-made masks and bottled sanitiser (more on that later).
Where petrol prices soared mid-2019, I now pay under R400 for a full tank of petrol. I had to double-check with the petrol attendant and make sure he had gotten it right! This is great… but I have nowhere to travel to right now, so it’s a bit of a moot point. Even if we could travel, right now, you’d barely be able to afford anything. You only need to look at the exchange rate to see that the Rand has not been doing well, to say the least. R20.00 to the Euro is ridiculous!
The Good News, The Bad News
Now, you may be asking yourself “Aren’t these guys an online printer? What does petrol and travel have to do with anything?”. Well, we feel like some perspective is needed for the (slightly) bad news we’re about to drop. Over the last weekend, Printulu has had to up prices on various products. This is not by choice – but our hands are tied.
South Africa has one of the most renowned paper suppliers in the world, and yet most of the paper we use today is still imported from China. We, of course, as your printer, are reliant on this. Our suppliers have mentioned that all input materials will increase by 20% this week. This includes paper. We have tried to avoid a price increase to the best of our ability – at the end of the day, everyone is struggling and we want to help our clients during this tough time. But in this case, it was unavoidable.
As you know, over the past two years we at Printulu have managed to keep our prices incredibly low and highly competitive, saving you both time, and money. As much as we enjoy helping you keep your print spend low, some factors – like a global pandemic – are simply beyond our control. The fact of the matter is, the market environment is changing. This means that market pressure is at an all-time high, as well as material cost. The last time we saw this type of hike, we took the knock and absorbed to extra cost in an effort to keep you, our loyal customers, in the green. This time, however, we are forced to keep up with and adjust to the new market prices.
Why are we telling you this?
We adhere to the value of absolute transparency and that is why we have also sent out newsletters and communication on Facebook regarding this over the past week. Follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on important info and industry tips for your business.
It needs to be said that this isn’t a sign of more bad news to come. We are hoping that with E-commerce now being allowed, things will get better. We are back, at least, without restrictions on who we are allowed to print for. You no longer need any type of permit. Simply place your order, and get your business back on track.
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