Best places to make copies?

[Nat Rally]

Hey, in the effort of compiling an NYC list of zinester resources, I bring you all this question,

Where should I photocopy my zine in NYC?

It'd be cool if you could all review a place you like: cheapess, decor, friendliness of staff, tricks or hacks you know of at certain places. Or not, even. Just let me know the cheapest places to make copies.

I'd personally really appreciate this and i'm sure other members on the site would too.

[Heath Row]

I'm going to take a stab at a new place this evening, Copy Com at 70A Greenwich Ave. I've never even been there before, but they've been in business since 1982, aren't part of a chain, and seem gritty. Will see how well they copy the new issue of Karma Lapel. Anyone else ever been? Will report back!

[Nat Rally]

Thanks heath, I was fearing that people had forgotten about this topic :)

[Heath Row]

Went to Copy Com last night. It's a pretty dingy place, but they did a good job, it didn't take long, and I'll go at least a couple more times before trying somewhere new. They rent mailboxes, have several computer terminals you can use to go online ($3 for 20 minutes, $7 for an hour), they sell a small assortment of office and mailing supplies, they pack and ship, and they have a couple of copy machines in the back that they use to do small print jobs for customers.

I did 190 copies of a four-page, standard-sized zine. First two pages on color 20-pound stock of their choosing -- "Whatever you have a lot of," I said -- and the last two on standard white. Doing half color and half white, they couldn't collate or staple, and the total came to $69 for the run. Had I done all black and white, they could collate and staple -- for free! (I might do this every few times) -- and the job would have cost $57. Not sure what it would have cost all color, but I assume they'd collate and staple for free. In the end, I ended up paying about eight cents a copy.

They didn't have any boxes to put my job in, so I took the uncollated copies home in a paper bag inside a plastic bag. Collated and stapled myself while watching Bubblegum Crisis on the couch at home so I had something new for tonight's reading.

A low-key copy shop. You can't do your own copies, but their prices seem reasonable, the guy working the counter was helpful, and it took 16 minutes from entrance to exit. I'll do my next couple of projects there to see if things are consistent. For me, their primary appeal is that they're independent, and that they've been in business since 1982. Might be worth supporting!

[The East Village Inky]

I've been using Wholesale Copies since East Village Inky #2, way back in January 1999! They're on 28th and 5th avenue, on the fourth floor of the building on the northeast corner. They also go by the name Virgil Mountain. They are awesome! Once they had a slight machine malfunction that resulted in the center margin shifting just enough so that when the zine was stapled, some of the text on maybe like two pages was trapped on the wrong side of the staple. They redid the whole job free and shipped it to me ASAP, no questions, no complaints. The manager is Jim Glenn and he's a prince of a guy.

It's 3.5 cents a page, provided you have enough copies to meet the discount. (i think it may be 500 pages minimum)

[Heath Row]

Thanks for that. A place to try in the future!