The Rollo Printer - Is it Worth it?

      Back in May, I was looking for different ways to take my sales game to the next level.  I reached out to a number of sellers to get some advice.  I've learned that in order to move up, you should question those that are in the position you want to be.  And I found out one of them used a Rollo printer in order to create shipping labels.  I was skeptical at first, but after thorough research, I pulled the trigger on one and am incredibly happy that I did.

     Before I make any purchase myself, I do a lot of research.  I watched a number of YouTube review videos, review articles, and also looked at the competition.  There was one negative for me and that it wasn't wireless.  Meaning that if you want to print a label you'd have to plug it into your laptop/computer.  The other minor negative was the cost as the unit itself without any labels runs $180. 

     If you don't ship 50+ packages annually this may not be worth it.  As you can use a regular printer to create labels.  And this is what I was using prior to my purchase.  The final straw for me was the amount of ink cartridges I was going through.  Even using off-brand generic cartridges it started to become costly.  I started to use both sides of the paper and shrink the label about 15% in order to save on ink costs.  But that still meant I had to cut the label and then tape it to the package.  

     Fast forward to 6 months down the line and I'm completely satisfied with my purchase, or should I say investment into my side hustle.  The setup took a little as I had to change the printing configuration on my laptop and also the setting on my PayPal account.  But after that it's been smooth sailing and I actually look forward to creating the labels.  I purchased the machine and also 500 labels so it came up to a little over $200 with taxes and all.  I still have about half the amount of labels and haven't had any issues with the printer.  

     The advantages:

• Quick setup - Right out of the box it was almost plug and play except I had to change settings.  The site had a video tutorial which helped!
• Labels print fast - After clicking the print button a label is printed in under 5 seconds.
• Small footprint - This takes up about the size of a regular piece of paper on the desk I have it setup on.
• No ink cartridges - It's a thermal printer so you never need to buy ink for this printer!
• Labels - They're preforated so you can tear them easily and they peel and apply nicely as well.  You can also use the labels to print invoices if you prefer.

     The disadvantages:

• Wired connection - I would've liked having a wireless connection but it wasn't a deal breaker for me.
• The cost - It's pretty pricey for a small printer, but never having to buy ink cartridges will cover the initial investment and then some the longer you use it.

     For me, this was one of the best investments I've made in terms of my side hustle of selling comics.  The time alone pays for itself.  When I was printing my labels, cutting and taping them to the packages, it took me around 5-6 minutes to do that whole process.  Now since I bought the printer I've shipped about 200 packages.  The old way would take me about a minute per package as I'd print about 4-8 labels per each time I'd ship.  That would mean I spent 3+ hours using a printer.  Using the Rollo, it takes about 10 seconds to print the label and affix to the package, cutting the process down to only about 33 minutes!  I know I'm not the best with math but you can't put a price on the amount of time I've saved! 

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