Questions we get asked

We publish our prices, our minimums, and our terms. This page covers the rest. If your question isn’t here, call us — we answer the phone.

Ordering & pricing

Why do you publish prices when most binder manufacturers quote everything?

Because you need a number before you can quote your own customer. Waiting two days for a per-unit price on a 250-piece binder job costs you the job. Our binder, tab, and folder prices are on the product pages with the quantity breaks shown. Non-standard work — odd sizes, unusual materials, multi-location decoration — still needs a quote, and we’ll say so plainly when it does.

How do quantity breaks work?

Binders and index tab sets are priced at 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1,000. Folders are priced at 100, 250, 500, 1,000, and 2,500. You pay the rate for the tier your order quantity reaches — there is no blending between tiers. Order 240 binders and you pay the 100 rate; order 250 and you pay the 250 rate, which on most items is the cheaper total. We will tell you when bumping to the next tier lowers your invoice.

What if I need fewer than the minimum?

Our minimums are 25 binders, 25 tab sets, and 100 folders. Below those quantities the setup, makeready, and handling cost more than the goods, and we would rather tell you that than quote you a number you won’t like. Call us — for short runs we can sometimes suggest a stock binder with a printed insert, or piggyback your run on scheduled production. We do not run custom binders in quantities of one or two.

Do you have trade or reseller pricing?

Yes. We are a division of Puget Bindery, a trade bindery since 1919, and trade work is most of what we do. Printers, promotional distributors, and agencies get trade terms and blind shipping on request, with your customer’s name on the label and nothing of ours in the carton. Set up a trade account before your first order so pricing and blind-ship instructions are on file when the job drops.

How does invoicing work with the ±10% overrun?

Custom production runs to a tolerance, not an exact count. We manufacture to within plus or minus 10% of your ordered quantity and invoice for what actually ships. If you order 500 binders and we ship 528, you are invoiced for 528 at the 500 rate; if we ship 472, you are invoiced for 472. If you need a guaranteed minimum count, tell us at order entry and we will run to overage on purpose.

Artwork & proofs

What file formats do you accept?

Press-ready PDF is what we want — PDF/X-4, fonts outlined, 1/8” bleed on anything printed or wrapped. For screen printing and foil stamping, send vector art: native Illustrator (.ai) or .eps, one solid spot color, no gradients, no transparency, no drop shadows. For full-color work, 300 dpi CMYK raster placed in a PDF is fine. Full details, including cover templates, are on the artwork specs page.

Who does the setup and layout? Is there a charge?

We do, and there is no charge. Send us usable art — vector for screen and foil, high-resolution for four-color — and we place it on the correct template, position it to the die, and build the proof. If we have to rebuild low-resolution art or redraw a logo from a JPEG, we call you before we do anything that changes the appearance of your design.

How does the proof process work?

You get a free PDF proof, normally within one business day of receiving complete artwork and a purchase order. The proof shows your art on the actual template with fold lines, die lines, ring position, and imprint area marked. Read it carefully — spelling, color breaks, tab sequence, panel orientation. Nothing goes to production until you approve it in writing, and the approved proof is the document we manufacture from.

Do you keep artwork on file for reorders?

Yes, indefinitely. Straight reorders skip setup and usually skip the proof — we confirm the job number and quantity and put it in the schedule. If anything changes, even one tab title or one PMS number, we build a new proof and you approve it again before we run.

Production & shipping

How long does production take?

Ten business days, and the clock starts when you approve the proof — not when you send the file, and not when you send the purchase order. Artwork that arrives Monday and gets approved Thursday ships ten business days from Thursday. Multi-component jobs — binders with matching tabs, or tabs with a printed insert — run on the same ten-day clock unless we tell you otherwise at order entry.

Can you rush a job?

Sometimes, depending on what is already on the floor and whether the material is in house. Call before you commit to a date with your customer — we will tell you honestly whether we can hit it, and what it costs. We would rather decline a rush than miss one. We don’t quote rush turnaround on the website because the honest answer changes week to week.

Do you blind ship?

Yes, on request, for trade accounts. Cartons go out with your customer’s name and address on the label, no Puget Bindery or Binder Makers markings, no packing slip with our name on it, and no inserts. Give us the ship-to information and any packing-slip language you want used when you place the order.

How does freight work?

Freight is quoted and billed separately from the goods — binders are bulky and the cost depends entirely on where they are going. Small orders ship UPS or FedEx Ground from Kent, Washington. Larger runs go LTL on a pallet. If you have your own carrier account or preferred freight terms, give us the account number and we will ship on it.

Products

How do I choose a ring size?

Ring size is the inside diameter of the ring, not the width of the spine — a “1-inch binder” holds a one-inch stack of paper. On round rings, plan on roughly 100 sheets of 20# bond per half inch: 1/2” holds about 100 sheets, 1” about 200, 1-1/2” about 300, 2” about 400, 3” about 600. D-rings hold more than round rings of the same nominal size because the sheets stack flat against a straight edge. Leave room for index tabs and for the binder to close — a book filled to the last sheet will not shut.

What’s the difference between vinyl, turned-edge, entrapment, and poly binders?

Vinyl. Heat-sealed rigid vinyl over board, stock cover colors, decorated with one-color screen print or foil stamp. The workhorse: durable, wipeable, cheap to reorder. Two inside pockets standard. Choose it when the design is a logo and a title, not a photograph.

Turned-edge (casemade). A full-color litho or digital sheet is laminated, wrapped around board, and turned over the edges for a clean finished perimeter with no seal line. The best-looking binder we make — right for full-bleed photography, brand-critical presentation work, and anything that should look like a book rather than an office supply. Gloss or matte laminate.

Entrapment. A full-color printed sheet heat-sealed under clear vinyl over a colored vinyl base. Four-color imagery at a lower cost than turned-edge, with the toughness of a sealed vinyl binder — and the insert can carry variable copy (a different name, region, or version per cover) without a new setup.

Poly. Extruded polypropylene, screen printed in one color. Light, flexible, water-resistant, and the least expensive binder we build. Right for high-volume field manuals, safety data sheets, and anything that lives in a truck. Poly doesn’t take foil, and printed color is limited.

Some products are marked “call to confirm.” What does that mean?

It means the price shown is current and market-accurate but hasn’t cleared our final cost review, so we won’t put it under contract from a web page alone. Right now that applies to entrapment and poly binders. Call or email before you build a quote around those numbers and we’ll confirm the price in writing for your job. Everything not marked is a price you can quote from directly.