Office Supplies - Best Cost, or Staples contract ?

As the financial clerk for the Agent Ward for our building,
I recently suggested that we take advantage of purchasing
copy paper and other supplies from local stores that offered
them for less than the online Staples(tm) [ formerly Corporate Express ]
cost.

My Bishop said we needed to order from the Staples site because
the Church had setup the agreement with them.

Has anyone seen any policy on this ? I'm of the opinion that church
funds should be conserved, and that the Staples site is an option,
not a mandate. If I can find better deals locally, why not purchase
from them ?

atticusewig wrote:My Bishop said we needed to order from the Staples site because the Church had setup the agreement with them.

Has anyone seen any policy on this?

The only place I've seen a very strong suggestion in this area is to buy actual OEM toner for printers and copiers, and that we would be hard pressed to beat the prices at Staples. See this post from a couple of years ago (it references Corporate Express, since that thread was written right about the time that Staples acquired Corporate Express), but even that position was softened somewhat later in the thread in this post, which still made it clear that we were free to shop elsewhere if we can beat the price for the same item.

And for standard office supplies like paper, I've never seen any statement that says we have to use Staples. Our stake gets paper at a variety of local stores -- we've never worried about using Corporate Express or Staples for standard office supplies.

atticusewig wrote:My Bishop said we needed to order from the Staples site because
the Church had setup the agreement with them.

Has anyone seen any policy on this ?

When the original contract buying with Corporate Express was released to local units, it was accompanied by a letter from the Presiding Bishopric urging local units to purchase through the contract even when local prices were lower because doing so helps reduce costs for Church units who do not have the benefit of large local outlets.

I've never seen anything saying we were required to use Store.lds.org. I'd bet there are wards and stakes that don't even know about the site or the price cuts. As aebrown pointed out, the only thing I've seen is in reference to toner cartridges - using refilled or non-OEM cartridges voids the warranty. However, nothing says you have to order the items through store.lds.org. Do what gets you the best price. However, you'd be hard to beat the price on OEM toner cartridges. I just purchased one today - it was $240 on the Staples page and $164 through store.lds.org.

atticusewig wrote:My Bishop said we needed to order from the Staples site because the Church had setup the agreement with them.

Has anyone seen any policy on this ? I'm of the opinion that church funds should be conserved, and that the Staples site is an option, not a mandate. If I can find better deals locally, why not purchase from them ?

There is no requirement to purchase supplies through the online store or the Staples site that I am aware of or can find. This capability to purchase through the online store and Staples is provided as an alternative to local purchase and when local source prices may not be competitive. The online store paper order has this as the description for the paper product:

All-purpose plain white copier paper. Purchase paper for copiers and other uses through a store in your local area when possible. (500 sheets/ream, 1 Case of ten reams)

Local purchase may be cheaper than purchasing through the online store. Shipping costs add a significant cost to the online purchase for heavy items like a case of paper. It only makes sense to use the source with the better price.

Toner is a bit different due to warranty requirements. Even then the source of toner is not the issue but the EM specifications. Paper obviously does not affect the warranty of the printer or copier.

rpyne wrote:When the original contract buying with Corporate Express was released to local units, it was accompanied by a letter from the Presiding Bishopric urging local units to purchase through the contract even when local prices were lower because doing so helps reduce costs for Church units who do not have the benefit of large local outlets.

I believe that was the case many years ago, but AFAIK, is not longer in effect.

RussellHltn wrote:I believe that was the case many years ago, but AFAIK, is not longer in effect.

It is still true, but it is an encouragement, not a requirement. The Church is able to get lower prices based on volume, and if more units buy through the contract, the prices should continue to come down.

That being the theory, our bishop's actual practice is to price both sources, and then use the less expensive one, unless the contract is only a little more than the local cost, in which case he sometimes authorized the slightly higher cost.

Another factor is that someone can go get the local item today and have it at the building this evening, which is not quite true if it is ordered online. But that is a different "planning ahead" matter.

lajackson wrote:It is still true, but it is an encouragement, not a requirement.

Your source for this claim is....

aebrown wrote:Your source for this claim is....

The Church Purchasing Department. Since they do not work for the bishop, we follow the bishop's direction, with the full blessing of the stake president whose has stewardship for the budget funds the stake receives each year.

lajackson wrote:The Church Purchasing Department. Since they do not work for the bishop, we follow the bishop's direction, with the full blessing of the stake president whose has stewardship for the budget funds the stake receives each year.

Is that policy/guideline/suggestion published somewhere, or is it just something you heard from someone who works there?

aebrown wrote:Is that policy/guideline/suggestion published somewhere, or is it just something you heard from someone who works there?

Which one, specifically? We are speaking about several different things here, all of which have been outlined in the previous posts.

crislapi wrote:...using refilled or non-OEM cartridges voids the warranty.

Just to clear up some misconceptions, manufacturers are not allowed to void a warranty because you used other than OEM consumables in their products. With that said, the reason we use OEM supplies is because we are instructed to.

lajackson wrote:Which one, specifically? We are speaking about several different things here, all of which have been outlined in the previous posts.

There's only one claim you made that I am asking about:

lajackson wrote:

RussellHltn wrote:

rpyne wrote:When the original contract buying with Corporate Express was released to local units, it was accompanied by a letter from the Presiding Bishopric urging local units to purchase through the contract even when local prices were lower because doing so helps reduce costs for Church units who do not have the benefit of large local outlets.

I believe that was the case many years ago, but AFAIK, is not longer in effect.

It is still true, but it is an encouragement, not a requirement.

I'm looking for an authority for your claim that "it is still true" -- an authority that is currently published. I hope it doesn't seem that I am trying to be difficult. I'm just trying to sort out whether there is a current policy, guideline, or even encouragement from an official source, as opposed to something from far in the past or that is hearsay.

aebrown wrote:I'm looking for an authority for your claim that "it is still true" -- an authority that is currently published. . . . I'm just trying to sort out whether there is a current policy, guideline, or even encouragement from an official source, as opposed to something from far in the past or that is hearsay.

Ok, then. I have some of each.

At one time I had the original letter from the PBO. As far as I know, there has been no followup letter. And AFAIK, there has not been a change in their position. So that supplies the "far in the past" official part.

In February, an employee in the Church Purchasing Department told me what I said in post #7, that "The Church is able to get lower prices based on volume, and if more units buy through the contract, the prices should continue to come down." (That is my quote from the post, not a quote of the employee.) This is standard purchasing procedure in all areas of industry. So that supplies the hearsay part.

Which is why I also said, "It is still true, but it is an encouragement, not a requirement."

What is still true is that the Purchasing Department urges local units to purchase through the contract even when local prices were lower. That helps them fill their mandate to reduce overall costs to the Church.

And that it is an encouragement, not a requirement is what I added to make clear that it is still an option on the part of the local unit to wisely spend their budget money.

As far as "an authority that is currently published", you probably can't get the letter anymore. But it was never a requirement anyway, and even back then stake presidents told bishops to be wise in the use of budget funds and recommended the policy I mentioned earlier in #7 and #9.

For more hearsay on that, we still receive that direction from the area seventy to the stake president to the bishops.

Many things that are true are very old. Many things that are true were never requirements. And priesthood direction has always trumped Church department policy. Still, they send their letters and memos.

Mikerowaved wrote:Just to clear up some misconceptions, manufacturers are not allowed to void a warranty because you used other than OEM consumables in their products. With that said, the reason we use OEM supplies is because we are instructed to.

I wasn't aware of this requirement to use oem supplies. Where can I find this directive?

We have been using remanufactored toner cartridges and, formerly, inkjet cartridges. Heck, we have some liquid in a can that we periodically squirt on our stamp pad when we endorse donation checks.
Alan

funaddict wrote:I wasn't aware of this requirement to use oem supplies. Where can I find this directive?

We have been using remanufactored toner cartridges.

Read the attachment to this post, which was created by LDS Copier Administration.

You get them locally whenever possible to cut costs. In store.lds.org, when looking for paper it says "White office paper for units that are not able to purchase it locally."..

reinaldo1979 wrote:In store.lds.org, when looking for paper it says "White office paper for units that are not able to purchase it locally."..

As quoted previously in post 5.

reinaldo1979 wrote:You get them locally whenever possible to cut costs. In store.lds.org, when looking for paper it says "White office paper for units that are not able to purchase it locally."..

It would be prudent to read this whole thread before making generalizations. You are correct about purchasing paper, but there are additional considerations when purchasing toner and other copier/printer consumables.

For Copier Issues: Supplies are ordered and paid for by stakes or wards. To order, contact the church-contracted vendors using 800-537-7192 and follow the voice menu prompts.

For Printer Toner: We did a comparsion of purchasing sites for a new high capacity toner cartridge for a Clerk's Xerox Phaser 3250 (part 106R01374) and found that you could get a 32% savings from store.lds.org using the Staples link. It is nice that it directly bills your unit budget and delivers to the Bishops home by default in usually less than two days.

I'm curious... I'm coming back as a ward clerk after a 7 or 8 year hiatus. At the time, we were supposed to use Corporate Express for whatever we could. I know that Corporate Express is gone now. Do we have access to the StaplesLink system for ordering on the Church's corporate contract (maybe that's what you're referencing with the "Staples link" on the store.lds.org site above?)

What about for in-store purchases -- is there a discount available with the corporate contract for that as well?

qualheim wrote:I'm curious... I'm coming back as a ward clerk after a 7 or 8 year hiatus. At the time, we were supposed to use Corporate Express for whatever we could. I know that Corporate Express is gone now. Do we have access to the StaplesLink system for ordering on the Church's corporate contract (maybe that's what you're referencing with the "Staples link" on the store.lds.org site above?)

Yes, http://www.store.lds.org

or through the menu system in leader resources:[INDENT]Leader resources/Resources/Purchase Materials
[/INDENT]then when on the Store page, near bottom right choose[INDENT][INDENT] Administrative materials
[/INDENT][/INDENT]then sign in with YOUR lds account, (because your clerk calling authorizes you to order admin. materials) then find this box in the middle of the page:



Office Supplies and Other Materials Available from Staples

Units in the United States and Canada can order the following kinds of materials through Staples:

• Activity, athletic, and banquet supplies
• Copy, computer, and office supplies
• Audiovisual supplies
• Missionary pass-along supplies

CLICK THE LINK OR CALL THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER ON THE RIGHT TO PLACE YOUR ORDER.

Items you order this way go to your bishops house, and are billed to your ward, and shipping is FAST in our case. I don't know how to do it walking through their store.

walkerja wrote:For Copier Issues: Supplies are ordered and paid for by stakes or wards. To order, contact the church-contracted vendors using 800-537-7192 and follow the voice menu prompts.

Just saw your PDF after my post....very detailed. Thanks for posting it!

qualheim wrote:What about for in-store purchases -- is there a discount available with the corporate contract for that as well?

No. The only way to get the discount is to order online.

ordering from staples even on paper is dirt cheep and they don't charge shiping but you have to use the lds account if you don't the cost is real high i speak from experance

here's the link from the church with the info

https://www.lds.org/help/support/order- ... s?lang=eng