Shopping for office supplies online saves you money and time, but it’s also a challenge. Huge selection is what people want today, and that’s very true in office supplies, as some websites tout over 30,000 items! Filing supplies are one of those categories that is particularly hard to navigate. There’s different brands, different uses for each product, strange tab designs, a variety of colors and sizes; it can be a bit much. That’s where your office products expert comes forward to help take the confusion and clutter out of buying filing supplies.
The first thing to do is define the function for your filing supply. Is it simply to file away contents and place in a file drawer or your office desk for organization? If so, standard manila file folders are right for you. Do you have a ton of manila file folders and want to put them in a file cabinet and store away? Then, you need hanging file folders to hold all those file folders. These folders come with hangers that slide along storage file cabinet rails and have insert filing tabs so you can label the contents going into each hanging folder.
Are you organizing a lot of documents that require a folder with multiple sections or a big expansion? Then classification folders, or possibly box bottom folders are right for you. Classification folders have everything you need. Metal fasteners for securing your documents, different expansions from 1 to 3 inches, and they also come with different sections inside the folder, from 2 up to 6 sections. Box bottom folders are the big brother of hanging folders, and expand to 3″ to hold more contents than standard hanging folders.
Let’s look at a fun choice next – color. Today most online office products companies have tons of color choices outside of standard green or manila folders. Purple, maroon, teal, lavender and other fashion colors are available. A helpful tip; always use color coding for your filing. That way you can simply look at the color of the folder in your file cabinet, or on your desk, and know right away what project or department that folder is for. Now let’s look at size, and there are basically two choices. Letter size, or 8-1/2″ x 11″ is the standard size used in most copiers and printers today, and is the most popular size. Legal size, or 8-1/2″ x 14″ is used by lawyers, realtors and bankers – those who work with a lot of legal documents.
The tab design, or cut of the folder, is the next feature to define. A folder typically has tabs at the top you label or write the title of your contents on. “Cut” refers to how many different tab positions there are on a folder. So, if you have a box of folders with three different tab positions – one on the right, middle, and on the left – that is a 1/3 cut folder. If you have folders with different tab positions in five locations, that is called a 1/5 cut folder. There are also straight cut folders, or you can order boxes of folders that are all the same tab “cut”. 2/5 cut folders are all folders with the tab on the 2nd tab from the left. Make sure and find the tab right for your filing needs, and remember this is true for both file folders and hanging folders.
To make matters more confusing these tabs can be placed on the top side of a folder, or horizontal side, and on the end of the folder, or vertical side. Tabs on the long horizontal side are called “Top Tab” folders and are by far the most predominately used tabs. Tabs on the short vertical side are called “End Tab” folders, and they are preferred for use with alphanumeric filing systems using letter and number labels to organize customer files. This type of filing is typically called a medical filing system and is preferred by dentist and doctor’s offices. They also usually use classification folders with fasteners from companies like Smead or Universal.
As a perfect transition, let’s talk about brands. Quality is very important, but overall value means more to me today in this tight economy. Value means finding the lowest priced brand that also gives you quality to do the job right. I prefer the Universal file folder brand for the best combination of quality and price. Smead, without a doubt, has the best quality and best selection of styles, sizes and cuts. You can never go wrong with Smead…the brand preferred by both the legal and medical profession. Other brands like Ampad, Esselte Pendaflex and Acco offer good value and selection, and I recommend those as well.
More and more people are searching for recycled alternatives for their office supplies. The great news about filing supplies is most all products today contain some recycled material, even if they are not promoted as being “green”. Most contain 30% recycled material that is post consumer waste! Some companies like Ampad and Pendaflex with their Earthwise brand, have a selection of filing supplies that are 100% recycled. Look for online office supply companies that feature separate product sections for their recycled options. There are literally thousands of office supplies available that take less toll on our environment.
Now comes the advice people always ask for; where should I buy my office products? The individual company is up to you, but from my years of experience I made the decision to never buy office supplies from the mega-corporate chains spending fortunes on advertising. I chose to support a new business model called conscious capitalism, and I’m thrilled there are new office supply companies who embrace this model. It calls on companies to be kind not only to customers, but also the environment, their suppliers, their employees and the community. A key piece of conscious capitalism is giving back to the community and doing good work with charities. It makes me feel good to support these great companies!
Tristan Hill is an expert on Office Supplies. Read tips to save big on File Folders, and visit Zuma Office Supply for great prices and free shipping. And, they practice conscious capitalism.