Trying to lease a copier can be an overwhelming experience. The number of different quotes coming at your start to sound like noise with seemingly no rhyme or reason, and you wish someone could break the noise down and translate it all into plain English.

At long last, you see a quote with a price of $324 per month that includes everything. It feels extraordinary to have everything wrapped up nicely into a straightforward number. Some of the prices in the other lease plans are cheaper, but they have all these overages and other headaches to deal with.

Relieved that you have an easy to understand quote, you sign the lease.

What Happened From the Copier Rep’s Perspective

The truth is that you signed a lease that was 20-30% more expensive than if you would’ve taken an itemized lease. With an itemized lease, you can see where all of your money is going, even if understanding what each item means can be daunting.

Every big industry uses this tactic: Complicate to Profit.

This tactic works is that you muddy the waters as much as possible, then present your offer as the clarity in all of the madness. From the “designed-for-you” workout routine to “step-by-step” entrepreneurship programs.

In the copier world, you see this tactic being used by them throwing confusing facts and figures at you, and then they come back with a simplified (and padded) number.

How Copier Reps Use This Tactic to Hide Other Unnecessary Expenses

There are a couple of tricks that a copier rep can use to inflate your bill.

One tactic is to include items you don’t need. For instance, a finisher can cost $1,000 to $1,500, including it in that one price.

You can also get more pages than you could ever use in a month. Having an abundance of pages sounds great at first glance, but the problem is you pay for those pages, whether you use them or not. The pages you don’t use don’t roll over into next month; either you use them that month, or they’re gone forever.

How to Avoid Paying the “Mystery Tax”

The best way to avoid paying extra on the things you don’t want is to itemize your quote. Yes, navigating an itemized quote will be daunting, but taking the extra time to understand everything you are about to pay for will save you potentially thousands of dollars over the life of your lease.

To save even more money, shop around with your itemized quotes so you can get the best deal for your company.