Custom vs Store-Bought Tab Dividers: Break-Even Calculator
Is it cheaper to have tab dividers printed than to keep buying packs? Tabzoola, which prints custom tab dividers in Schaumburg, Illinois, built this calculator to answer it with real prices. Type what you pay for one store-bought set and how many binders you fill, and it shows the quantity where custom printing with your own titles becomes the cheaper set.
$4.50 is only an example — type the per-set price on your last receipt for pre-printed or blank dividers.
Printed with your own section titles, at 100 sets
$3.75 a set · $375.20 for 100
Custom is $0.75 a set cheaper than the $4.50 you pay now — about $75.00 on 100 binders. Custom wins from 100 sets ($3.75 a set).
| Sets | Custom, per set | Order total | vs $4.50 a set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | $8.17 | $204.30 | store-bought saves $3.67 |
| 50 | $4.93 | $246.60 | store-bought saves $0.43 |
| 100 | $3.75 | $375.20 | custom saves $0.75 |
| 250 | $2.61 | $653.00 | custom saves $1.89 |
| 500 | $2.31 | $1,156.00 | custom saves $2.19 |
| 1,000 | $1.88 | $1,882.00 | custom saves $2.62 |
Tabzoola prices: 8-tab paper sets on white 90 lb index with clear Mylar on every tab, collated and 3-hole punched, setup and your printed titles included.
Questions
When are custom tab dividers cheaper than store-bought ones?
When the per-set price of a custom run drops below what you pay for a pack, and that depends on quantity. At Tabzoola an 8-tab set printed with your own titles, collated and 3-hole punched, is $8.17 a set at the 25-set minimum, $3.75 at 100, $2.61 at 250 and $1.88 at 1,000. Put the per-set price from your last receipt into the calculator above and it shows the quantity where custom becomes the cheaper set.
Why do custom tabs get so much cheaper with quantity?
Custom printing has a one-time setup: the press make-ready and the die set for the cut. Tabzoola includes that setup in the price, so it is spread over every set in the order. At 25 sets it is a large part of each set; at 250 it nearly disappears, which is why the per-set price falls steeply and then levels off.
What does a custom set give you that a store pack doesn't?
Your own section titles printed on the tab itself, in the order your binder uses, instead of numbers, blank write-on tabs or slip-in labels. You also choose the tab cut (how many tabs step across the edge), the Mylar color on each tab, letter or legal size, and paper or tear-proof poly. Every set is identical, so the 50th binder matches the first.
Is custom printing worth it for one binder?
No. Tabzoola's minimum is 25 identical sets, so for one or two binders a pack off the shelf, or a free printable tab template, is the better choice. Custom pays when the same binder is made again and again: client binders at a law, estate planning or wealth management firm, training manuals, or employee handbooks.
More on cost: Tabzoola's full price tables, how much custom printed binder tabs cost, and the three ways to buy index tabs, compared.