Buying Print in the US
Out of context: Reply #5
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- monNom0
It really depends on who you're dealing with, and what they're doing.
Gang-run offset printing (printing a bunch of jobs on one plate) is always going to be cheaper than a one-off, unless you're doing a large order. If your printer does gang-runs, you are probably limited to CMYK + varnish. Therefore you get a big step up when you want custom colours.
Specialty inks like metallic and flouro may need to be dried prior to doing the next pass, so you've got additional press-time and handling to factor in.
Your London printer might send their stuff to Poland to get it printed, just like some US printers just farm out to China. If you're dealing with a US printer paying NYC rents and doing good work, your can bet it's going to cost you some money.
Now you may be right in general that there's a discrepancy in pricing, but it's probably less to do with printers gouging you and more to do with their costs and the strong US dollar at the moment.