How to Offset Postage and Paper Increases

That’s not to say we won’t test it again. But so far, I haven’t found the right formula that makes sense.

CS: You’re sourcing your own paper. You say that only 10 percent of the paper you buy — and that’s mostly cover stocks — is sourced through the printer. It’s a big job managing paper internally. Why bring the job in house, and how has it worked for you?
Ciavola: We buy direct from the mills, as well as merchants. For me, there are two considerations. First, you have to be able to buy direct for enough less to justify the internal staff. … Maybe 15 years ago we did some analysis, talked to printers, merchants and directly to mills. Our goal was to find out what we could save on paper by not buying it through our print suppliers. It turned out we could buy it direct for less, enough less that we were able to put a staff in place to manage not only the purchase of paper, but to also manage the inventory.