Category: Customize & Personalize

When Compared Apples-to-Apples, OnTimeSupplies Has the Sweetest Deals

Posted on by Alyssa Ochs

Today we bring you a true story about a call that our CEO, Miles Young, recently had with one of our valued school customers. If you’ve ever struggled to redeem order reward points or wondered why product prices vary from one company to the next, perhaps you can relate!

I recently received a call from a school administrator who had a corporate account with Office Depot and regularly used its website to order school supplies. She was just moments away from clicking the “checkout” button on Office Depot’s website, but an issue with redeeming the school’s reward points stopped her. You see, one of the reasons that customers keep coming back to retailers like Office Depot is that it feels rewarding to accumulate points that can be redeemed for free gifts, or “chachkies.” However, those chachkies aren’t always something that you really want or need, and the process of actually getting them can take up more time and energy than they’re actually worth.

But I digress. Back to my phone call with the school administrator!

The reason that she called OnTimeSupplies in the first place was because she was looking for a product that she couldn’t find on Office Depot’s website and stumbled onto our site in her search. You can imagine her surprise when she discovered that many of the items on her shopping list were priced significantly lower on OnTimeSupplies when compared to the Office Depot prices. Naturally, she was interested in learning more about our pricing model and how we can offer such competitive rates.

To get started, I asked her to send me a copy of her shopping list so that I could provide her with an “apples-to-apples” quick quote before settling on her standard Office Depot purchase. While we were chatting, I explained to her that OnTimeSupplies has been transforming the way the office supply industry works over 12 years, and that our motto is “Your Time Matters.”

This means that you don’t have to waste your time keeping track of reward points or coupons just to get a good deal or collect a chachkie to collect dust in your office. We offer our very best pricing right off the bat to our customers because we value your time and understand what it means to work within a budget. I also explained to the administrator how OnTimeSupplies utilizes over 35 locations nationwide to keep shipping prices down, how our dedicated employees work remotely to reduce overhead costs, and how our innovative software helps us manage our business with maximum efficiency. All of these components of our unique business model help us afford to offer top-notch customer service with rock-bottom prices.

Not only that, but we deliver in 24-48 business hours, offer over 40,000 products, and have live U.S.-based customer support. We’re here when you need us, but we aren’t going to waste your time by calling to solicit additional business either. Our service speaks for itself, and our customers choose to work with us because of the awesome buying experience we provide.

After sharing a bit about how OnTimeSupplies works, the school administrator emailed me her shopping list, and I turned around an apples-to-apples quote in about 10 minutes. I couldn’t have been more happy to help this customer save at least $314.02 on a single order. I’ve uploaded a sample page of the comparison sheet here so you can see for yourself! Needless to say, the administrator was thrilled to save this much money, and the savings allowed her to buy a lot more for her school than a $29 blender she didn’t need.

I hope that this true story provides you with a real-world example of the value that OnTimeSupplies can provide to your school or business – every order, every day. If you’re curious to see how our pricing compares to your current retailer’s on the items you buy the most, send us your shopping list for a free apples-to-apples quote today!

Save on your discount school supply order with bulk pricing at OnTimeSupplies.com.

So, What Exactly Does “Ergonomic” Mean Anyway?

Posted on by Frankye

so-what-exactly-does-ergonomic-mean-anyway

Ergonomic is a huge buzzword in office supplies, and with the word being used to sell every thing from office chairs to correction tapes, it can be a little hard to take the concept seriously.

Ergonomics is not [just] a marketing ploy, it’s a science — one that’s been around since the 1800s and concerned with designing work spaces and tools to be safe, comfortable and easy to use. Ergonomic designs prevent repetitive use injuries, that buggaboo to office workers every where.

While  ergonomically designed office supplies such as corrections tapes are great, but unless you wield them all day, you should focus on ergonomically designed office furniture and workstations to improve your comfort and safety in the office.

As one who once ended many a work days with lower back pain, I recommend that you first invest in a good office or task chair. You need a chair that provides lumbar support, and holds you back and knees at a 90° angle to the seat.  Your feet should sit flat on the floor. If you’re on the short side, use a footrest.

Desk stands can help your complete the ergonomic design of your workstation. For example, our arms should be at a 90° angle and your wrists straight when you use your keyboard. You can use a keyboard stand and wrist wrests if your keyboard sits too low. Moniter stands, telephone stands and laptop stands can all make your work area more comfortable.

Once you’ve made these changes to your office, you’ll really notice a difference! You should experience fewer headaches and less muscle and joint pain.

Article: Can a Big-Box fix your computer?

Posted on by chase

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting quasi-investigative piece on whether or not a big-box store can adequately fix your computer. They basically take in a bunch of computers with various maladies and provide anecdotal evidence of how well their issues are addressed:

Our first stop was Staples, where a repair for a problematic desktop dragged on for about a week and involved four visits to the store. When we first brought in the machine, which was essentially not running, we were told by one of Staples’ “EasyTechs” that it shouldn’t take long to evaluate. True to her promise, the tech got back to us that night with word they needed to do an operating system restore, and that we needed to bring in the system disk to proceed with the repair.

But after that, things went awry: A different tech said repairs were delayed because they were very busy. And when we came to pick up the supposedly fixed computer, we were told it was now on the fritz again. A day later, we got the final verdict: The computer was hopelessly broken. Although the desktop could now boot up, it still had problems shutting down, and a bad motherboard was the suspected culprit.

The article goes on to list tech tests from Office Depot, Best Buy, and a mail-order company called IResQ. Not exactly hard-hitting, and nothing new to anyone tech-savvy, but overall, a very interesting read.

Article: There are still Typewriter Repairmen

Posted on by chase

Just for a neat little just-for-fun article over at The Ledger.  It details the lives and times of some of the remaining typewriter repairmen, who apparently still do quite well for themselves:

Jerry Hatfield, 53, owner of Typewriter Service Center, agrees that business has changed over the past decade but says he won’t be leaving the field he enjoys working in anytime soon.

“We don’t get as many calls, but I still make a good living at it,” he said with confidence.

Overall, a really interesting article. Be sure to take a look; some of the information may surprise you.

The Snackbot: King of All Office Supplies

Posted on by chase

Man, I need to get me one of these. GadgetReview is showcasing the newest in must-have office supplies: The Snackbot.

This may well be the king of all office supplies.  No, it’s not one of those sweet executive ball-clacker deals (even though they are sweet).  Nor is it a dartboard or a Blackberry or anything like that.  No, the unquestioned king of all office supplies has to be Snackbot.

Snackbot is a big talking yellow and white robot that delivers snacks directly to your desk on command.  There’s a downside, though…there’s only ONE SNACKBOT, and he’s currently being held at Carnegie Mellon University, where it’s basically under construction as a way to find how an autonomous robot can operate within the busy, highly complex operations of a modern office.  Apparently there’s a lot of programming involved for a robot that can successfully make snack runs throughout a typical office building.

Hopefully, one day, Snackbots will be as ubiquitous as the coffee maker in most offices, but until then, you know Carnegie Mellon will be getting loads of snacks out of this.

Blurb: Stylish and Green Back-to-School Supplies

Posted on by chase

Examiner.com has a simple list of back-to-school suggestions for the planet-conscious. The typical players are there, including recycled items bought new, all-cotton lunch bags, and so on. One of the things that jumped out at me though was the idea of re-use. Instead of buying the same junk over and over again (I’m looking at you, big-box store-brand pencils that break after two days), stick with high-quality, reliable office supplies and simply take care of them. They’ll take care of you right back, season after season.

‘Office-in-a-box’ gives UK entrepreneurs their own business space for just £10

Posted on by chase

Here’s an interesting article I found over at the Daily Mail: a company in the UK, WH Smith, is offering business owners or budding entrepreneurs a little slice of the office life (complete with coffee) for a reduced rate:

Budding entrepreneurs used to turn to WH Smith for pens and pencils – now they can pick up a whole ‘office-in-a-box’.

Just £10 will buy them office space for half a day, with internet access and coffee thrown in.

The voucher scheme also offers a number of costlier options which include a personal assistant and meeting rooms.

At roughly $16 US at the time of this writing, I feel like this is a scheme that could easily catch on in the US. Even working from home, I have found times when it would be beneficial to have an office space just for working, without the home-based distractions I can see every time I look over my shoulder.

This could also be the jump-start many people need to test out new office-based ideas before jumping in whole-hog and renting out space. Overall, a really neat innovation that I hope catches on stateside.

Secret to Cheap School Supplies: wait.

Posted on by chase

Over at user-generated content site The Examiner, they have posited an interesting conundrum: what happens when you buy TOO MANY school supplies?

The theory goes like this: you have a general list of things you think your child may need, and you buy enough of them for everyone before the first day of class.

Maybe you see a good deal at your local big-box store and, fearing the worst, snatch it up while you can. Now you feel you’re geared up for school, and this happens:

Picture yourself running out buying four notebooks here, five folders there, not to mention the six 2” ring binders that you had to get because you couldn’t resist the sale sign. All, only to find that after the first day of school, Mrs. Douglass only allows 1” ring binders. Mr. Pryor requires a 3” ring binder for science class and science labs. Now, Mrs. Rogers is simple. She only wants loose-leaf paper in a 3 Prong, 2 Pocket, $0.49 folder. What a waste.

Sure, it makes sense to buy pens, notebooks, and other simple items ahead of time. But don’t get caught up in all the back-to-school craziness, sending your kid off to their first day weighed down with a hundred and one awesome supplies that will end up going to waste while you scramble to buy the “right” ones.

Instead, try this: kit your kid out with a simple loadout: notebook, pens, pencils, simple folders. This will give them the ability to store any materials they are given, while writing down what supplies they still need. Then, find a reliable web distributor of office supplies who just so happens to offer next-day shipping, and boom. Your shopping is done, you have exactly what you need, no fuss, no muss.

Back to School Season: Gloomy Predictions

Posted on by chase

According to “Malled!”, a blog focusing on South Florida retail, there are some depressing numbers out there about this year’s back-to-school shopping season.

Today, a survey came out from America’s Research Group that mirrors that gloomy retail prediction. It found that 34.4 percent of parents plan to spend less this year compared to last because they have “less money” (41.8%), “higher debt” (40.5%) and fear losing their jobs (8.2%).

“Back-to-school spending will be a minor blip on the radar screen for retailers this year,” consumer trend expert C. Britt Beemer, CEO and Founder of ARG, said in a statement. He predicted that back-to-school spending will drop 8.5 to 12 percent compared to a year ago, when back-to-school sales declined more than 5 percent.

The worst part about the economy still being in trouble around this time is that a lot of big-box retailers are going to try to use back-to-school shopping as a way to gouge innocent consumers. Since retailers know your kids need supplies, they’re going to do everything they can to increase their profits on those supplies and make back some of their long-last cash from earlier in the recession.

So what can we do? The same thing I always suggest: get your supplies cheap and fast from a reputable, reliable online dealer. Skip the big-box ballyhoo and order supplies from someone you trust, at low prices that don’t rise to fit the whims of the market. It’s just good sense.