Choose the Right Printer Accessories for Your Office Needs

The right printer accessories for an office are the ones matched to real print volume, paper handling, and connectivity needs – not the biggest bundle sitting on a shelf. A small team that prints a handful of invoices a week mostly needs a dependable ink or toner supply, a spare paper tray, and a basic USB or network cable. 

A busier office gets more value from finisher units, extra paper trays, maintenance kits, and networked print servers that keep several people from fighting over one machine. Skipping the accessories that match actual printing habits tends to cost more later, in downtime and wasted supplies, than buying the right ones now.

That answer sounds simple, but most offices get it wrong in one direction or another. Some buy every add-on a sales rep suggests and never use half of it. Others try to run a 40-person office on a home-grade setup and wonder why the printer jams every other day. Getting this right takes a bit of planning, and that planning starts with understanding what these products actually do.

What Counts as a Printer Accessory in an Office Setting

This category covers everything that supports the main machine but isn't the printer itself. That includes ink and toner cartridges, paper trays, cables, print servers, maintenance kits, drum units, and finishing tools like staplers or hole punchers built into larger machines. Some offices also count furniture – stands, carts, and cabinets designed to hold supplies – as part of the same category.

The confusion usually starts because vendors bundle these items differently. One retailer might sell a printer accessory as a standalone part, while another lumps several together in a "starter kit." Knowing the individual pieces helps avoid paying twice for something already included in a bundle.

Why This Category Gets Overlooked

Printers themselves get most of the attention during a purchase decision, and the accessories printer buyers eventually need get treated as an afterthought. That's backwards. A printer without the right supporting parts is closer to a paperweight than a working piece of office equipment, and ongoing supply costs – not the initial purchase – usually make up the bulk of what a printer costs an office over its lifetime. A 2025 study on office printing costs put the average bill at roughly $725 per employee per year, with printing expenses eating up 1% to 3% of total company revenue at many organizations, which makes the accessory side of that budget hard to shrug off.

Core Categories of Accessories Printer Setups Rely On

Breaking the category down into groups makes shopping far less confusing. Most office needs fall into one of the following buckets.

1. Ink and toner supplies. These run out the fastest and drive most of the recurring cost. Laser printers use toner cartridges and drum units; inkjets use ink cartridges that dry out if left unused too long.

2. Paper handling gear. Extra trays, feeders, and finishers matter more once print volume climbs past a few hundred pages a week.

3. Connectivity hardware. USB and Ethernet cables, wireless print adapters, and print servers let multiple desks share one machine without a queue building up.

4. Maintenance kits. Rollers, fusers, and cleaning kits extend the life of a machine that would otherwise need replacing sooner.

5. Furniture and mounts. Stands and carts keep supplies organized and protect the machine from dust, spills, and foot traffic.

A well-stocked supply closet usually covers most of these five groups, even in a small office. Larger operations tend to add a sixth: security accessories such as locking trays for sensitive documents, which matter more in legal, healthcare, and financial settings.

How to Match Accessories to Your Office's Print Volume

The most common mistake in buying a printer accessory is guessing instead of checking actual usage. Print volume, more than office size, should drive the purchase.

Low-Volume Offices

A team printing under 1,000 pages a month rarely needs anything beyond standard cartridges, one spare tray, and a reliable cable or Wi-Fi connection. Spending on finisher units or extra print servers here mostly adds cost without adding value.

Mid-Volume Offices

Once monthly volume climbs into the thousands, a second paper tray and a maintenance kit start paying for themselves. These offices also benefit from a basic print server, since two or three people sharing one machine without it tends to create bottlenecks during busy hours.

High-Volume Offices

Offices running tens of thousands of pages a month need finishing accessories, high-capacity toner or ink, and scheduled maintenance kits as a baseline. At this volume, downtime from a worn roller or an empty tray isn't a minor annoyance – it stalls whole teams, and industry data on IT support tickets suggests up to half of all office help-desk calls are print-related, usually tracing back to a worn part or a mismatched accessory rather than the printer itself failing outright.

Quick reference: matching accessories to print volume

Choosing Between OEM and Compatible Printer Accessories

This question comes up in nearly every office purchasing decision, and there's no single right answer for every situation.

Neither column is automatically the smarter buy. A law firm under a strict service contract might need OEM parts to keep that contract valid. A small startup watching every dollar might do fine with a trusted compatible toner and ink cartridge from a supplier with a track record, rather than the cheapest listing available – a shift reflected in the wider market too, where the global toner cartridge market is projected to grow from roughly $10.5 billion in 2024 to nearly $14.8 billion by 2033 as aftermarket and compatible options pick up a larger share of business spending.

Before switching a whole office over to compatible supplies, a few questions are worth answering first:

1. Does the printer's warranty or a service contract require OEM parts?

2. Has the compatible brand been tested in this specific printer model, or only similar ones?

3. What's the return policy if a cartridge underperforms or leaks?

4. Is the cost difference large enough to offset the risk of an occasional bad batch?

Common Mistakes When Buying Printer Accessories

A handful of avoidable errors show up again and again in office purchasing.

• Buying based on price alone. The cheapest printer supplies aren't always the cheapest option long-term once reject rates and reorders are factored in.

• Ignoring compatibility. Not every cartridge or tray fits every model, even within the same brand's lineup – checking the exact model number first saves a return trip.

• Overbuying finishing accessories. Staplers and hole punchers sound useful until nobody in the office actually uses them.

• Underestimating cable and connectivity needs. Offices that grow past their original setup often discover too late that their print server can't handle the added desks.

• Skipping maintenance kits entirely. Waiting for a part to fail costs more than replacing it on a schedule, both in repair bills and lost work time. Offices without an in-house tech can submit an equipment service request rather than let a small issue turn into a bigger repair.

Signs a Part Is Close to Failing

A few warning signs usually show up before a printer part fails, and catching them early avoids an unplanned outage.

• Streaks, faded print, or uneven color on pages that used to print cleanly

• Paper jams that happen more than once a week on the same machine

• Unusual grinding or clicking noises during a print job

• Slower print speeds than the machine's rated output

• Frequent "replace soon" warnings that get dismissed instead of addressed

Building a Simple Restocking Routine

Once the right printer accessories are in place, keeping them stocked matters just as much as the initial purchase. A basic routine works better than reacting to emergencies.

• Track cartridge and toner usage monthly rather than waiting for a "low ink" warning.

• Keep one spare of each fast-moving part – trays, cartridges, cables – on hand at all times.

• Set a maintenance kit replacement schedule based on the manufacturer's recommended page count, not a fixed calendar date.

• Review the supply list every quarter, since printing needs shift as teams grow or shrink.

Offices that treat this as a routine rather than a fire drill tend to spend less overall, since bulk ordering and planned maintenance almost always beat rush orders and emergency service calls.

Stocking the Right Supplies Without the Guesswork

Matching accessories to actual print habits, rather than buying whatever's bundled or on sale, is what separates a smooth-running office printer setup from one that causes constant headaches. Whether the need is replacement toner and ink cartridges, copy paper, or connectivity gear, working from a checklist based on real print volume keeps both the budget and the IT team's workload in check. 

For more workplace supply guides beyond printers, the JPro Supplies blog covers breakroom, facility, and office setup topics as well. JPro Supplies carries a full range of printer accessories built for offices of every size, with straightforward guidance available for anyone unsure which parts actually fit their setup.

Frequently Asked Questions

What else do I need besides the printer itself to get it working? 

At minimum, an office needs paper, a starter or replacement ink/toner cartridge, and a way to connect the printer to a computer or network – either a cable or a wireless setup. Larger offices usually add a spare tray and a print server on top of that.

What are compatible ink cartridges, and are they worth using? 

Compatible cartridges are made by a third party rather than the original printer manufacturer. They typically cost 40% to 60% less than OEM versions, and quality from established suppliers is often close to identical, though results vary more by brand than with OEM parts. Offices weighing the switch can compare ink and toner cartridge options before deciding which brand fits their printer model.

What should I check before buying office printing supplies? 

Confirm the exact printer model and part number first, since even similar-looking models often use different cartridges or trays. After that, weigh expected print volume, paper size needs, and whether a warranty requires OEM parts.

Does a laser toner or an inkjet cartridge save more money over time? 

It depends mostly on volume. Low-volume printing tends to favor inkjet, especially with compatible cartridges, while offices printing regularly usually save more with laser toner, since the cost per page is generally lower at higher volumes.

Do new printers come with everything needed to start printing right away? 

Most new printers include a starter cartridge, but it's usually a smaller-capacity version meant to get the machine running rather than a full-size replacement. Offices should budget for a proper replacement cartridge soon after setup.