Interview with Dirck Holscher: The Man Behind the Larry Hunt Newsletters

Editor’s Note: Most of you are probably familiar with the Larry Hunt newsletters, which provide detailed price information about copiers, in addition to a lot of other information. In the March edition, Dirck Holscher, the publisher, wrote a brief article outlining the value of the newsletters. That worried me and I decided to give him a call – an edited version of our conversation follows.

Avis: I read your article about the value of the Larry Hunt newsletters. I totally agree, but why did you feel the need to write this particular article? Are subscriptions slumping?

Holscher: We’re seeing a drop in readership because a lot of people are retiring and shops are closing or consolidating. But we still have plenty of subscribers to make it a viable business. I actually wrote the article several years ago, because I thought it was a topic that needed to be addressed. But I didn’t have room for it at the time so I set it aside. I thought about it again recently because someone sent me a note saying, “I saved x amount of money with your newsletter, and I don’t know what I would do without it.” So I decided to run the article to remind people.

So how does your newsletter save people money?

I think the most valuable thing the newsletter does is help level the playing field. There are a small number of vendors, four or five big ones, and they have lots of information about us, but we have very little information about their pricing trends. So our newsletters provide actionable information to smaller companies about equipment pricing trends, issues with equipment, problems that have been identified with certain types of equipment, and other industry issues.

            For example, years ago it was common practice for vendors to charge 2 clicks for a ledger-sized sheet, even though the cost to the vendor is not much more than with an 8.5 x 11 sheet, definitely not double. At that time the charge was 5 or 6 cents a click, so charging double adds up quickly. Some dealers occasionally offered a promotion of a single click for the larger sheet. Larry Hunt picked up on that and said, “Why doesn’t everybody do that?” And he started noting which vendors were doing it and which were not. Publicizing that information created a paradigm shift, and most dealers came around to charging just a single click. That was a significant help for the printing industry.

My favorite part of the newsletter is when you carefully examine the bid a reader received and discuss what’s good or bad about it. Do you get a lot of those from readers?

Yes. Readers normally send them to me before they buy, because they want an analysis. I analyze every one I get. That’s one of the benefits of being a subscriber. But I only publish representative ones, normally those that show an improvement in pricing. I log every bid I receive, and that helps me identify trends. For example, when a machine has been on the market for a while, the price usually drops. That’s one thing I try to predict – I might say, “This machine has been on the market for x number of years, so the price should be dropping soon…” or something like that. (Click here for a reprinted example of one of Dirck’s price analyses)

What’s the origin of the newsletters, and who is Larry Hunt?

The newsletters began about 30 years ago. They were started by Larry on behalf of NAQP (National Association of Quick Printers). He was a member of that group, and led a user group. After a few years NAQP decided they didn’t want to be in the publishing business, so he took them private. The High-Speed Copy News was the first one; he later started Color Copy News. I started Wide Format News about 10 years ago.

What’s your involvement exactly?

I was a subscriber from the first day, and a participant in his surveys. (Click here to read an article about Holscher’s copier businesses in Eastern Europe.) About 10 years ago, Larry wanted to step back from the newsletters and he contacted me. I had retired from my business by then. I decided to purchase them from him. Other than starting the Wide Format version, not much has changed about them.

But a lot has changed in our industry.

Yes, the industry really has become more capital intensive. That’s not so much because the equipment is more expensive, but because it’s more perishable. Technology is changing more quickly. Twenty years ago you could buy a press and keep it on the floor for 15 years and make money on it. That’s not the case anymore. That’s why the newsletters are still relevant – every 3 or 4 years you’re changing printers.

Subscriptions to the Larry Hunt Newsletters cost $250 annually for a bundle of all three newsletters; less if you only want one or two of them. Visit https://larryhunt.com/ for more information.