Here's a snapshot of a price comparison that was conducted in January among Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples, along with their online counterparts. Note that some online prices reflect those found for a specific ZIP code, and prices may vary according to your geographic location. The in-store pricing seen below is based on the Boston area.
| Product description | Unit | OfficeDepot Online OfficeDepot | OfficeMax.com OfficeMax | Staples.com Staples |
| Bic Round Stic Ball Pens, medium point | box of 12 | $0.89 $0.89 | $0.87 $0.89 | $0.88 $0.96 |
| Liquid Paper, multifluid | box of 12 | $10.49 $10.49 | $13.99 $13.99 | $12.49 $10.48 |
| Imation formatted 3.5-inch floppy disks, 1.44MB | box of 10 | $4.99 $4.99 | $4.99 $6.99 | $5.25 $4.97 |
| Hewlett-Packard MultiPurpose Paper, 500 sheets/ream, letter size, 20 pounds | case of 10 reams | $35.99 $35.99 | $39.94 $39.98 | $39.98 $35.98 |
| Avery Hi-Liter fluorescent pens colors | pack of 12 | $5.49 $5.49 | $5.47 $5.69 | $5.49 $5.49 |
| Carter's Foam Stamp Pad, black | 1 | $1.79 $1.79 | $1.79 $3.29 | $1.99 $1.79 |
| Avery Durable Slant Ring View Binder, 1.5-inch | 1 | $5.99 $5.99 | $4.99 Not Available | $5.99 $5.15 |
Mie-Yun Lee is the founder and editorial director of BuyerZone.com, an Internet purchasing hub for small businesses. Doreen V. Bentley contributed to this article.
Contact Source
- Infopop Corp., (206) 283-5999, www.infopop.com
This article was originally published in the May 2001 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Superior Suppliers?.
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