When an ID Card Printer Is Not Worth Buying

Buying Guide

We sell card printers, and they are the right answer for plenty of organisations. They are the wrong answer for others. Here is the arithmetic worth doing before spending the money.

What you are actually buying

The printer is the smallest part of the commitment.

• The printer. Entry level single sided units start around 850 dollars with the Magicard Pronto100. A workhorse office printer such as the Magicard 300 is 1,539.23, and the Magicard 600 is 1,824.23.
• Ribbons. A full colour ribbon such as the Magicard MC300YMCKO gives 300 prints for 75.70 dollars, about 25 cents a card.
• Cards. A 500 pack of composite CR80 at 126 dollars is about 25 cents a card.
• Cleaning supplies. Cards, rollers and pens, replaced on a schedule rather than when something goes wrong.
• Printhead replacement. A wear part. The Evolis S10084 is 540 dollars and the HID Fargo 86091 is 788.
• A person. Someone has to own the software, the templates, the photo library and the maintenance.

Prices are from our catalogue in September 2026 and change over time.

The volume question

Take your annual badge count, including replacements and reprints. Multiply by consumable cost per card, which on the figures above is about 50 cents. Add the printer spread across the years you expect to keep it. Compare that total against a quote from a service bureau for the same number of cards delivered.

When outsourcing is the better answer

• Low annual volume. A few dozen badges a year will not amortise a printer, and a printer used rarely still needs cleaning and still ages.
• One off events. A conference or a single onboarding wave is a print run, not an ongoing capability.
• No owner. If the printer is nobody's job, it becomes the problem of whoever is nearest when it jams.
• Complex security features. Holographic laminates and specialist encoding can cost more to bring in house than to buy finished.

When in house wins

• Same day badges. New hires, contractors and lost card replacements. Turnaround is a stronger argument for owning a printer than cost is.
• Steady volume. Consistent monthly printing keeps the machine in use and spreads the hardware cost.
• Frequent design changes. Departments, access levels and expiry dates that change through the year.
• Photos already on file. If you hold employee photos, you already hold the hard part.

We have argued the other side of this in the case for bringing printing in house. Both are true depending on the numbers.

A middle option

Some organisations outsource the bulk annual run and keep an inexpensive single sided printer for same day replacements. That gives the unit price of a bureau run and the turnaround of owning hardware, without buying a machine sized for volume you do not have.