Walk into The UPS Store at 2107 North Decatur Road in Decatur, Georgia, and a black-and-white letter page costs 15 cents. Do the same at the store on Damonte Ranch Parkway in Reno, Nevada, and it costs 29 cents, nearly double, under the same orange-and-brown sign. Those are the prices each store posts on its own UPS Store location page, and they frame the honest answer for 2027: plan on roughly 15 to 30 cents for a black-and-white page and about 50 to 75 cents for a color one, then check your own store, because no national price list exists.
That gap is the first of several things people assume about printing at The UPS Store that turn out to be wrong, or only half right. We tested six of the most common beliefs against posted store prices, competitor price pages and recent price surveys. Some myths cost you a few cents a page. One can cost you most of the bill.
- Myth 1: There is one UPS price list
- Myth 2: A black-and-white copy is a dime
- Myth 3: UPS is the priciest counter in town
- Myth 4: Only big orders get a bulk rate
- Myth 5: The website is your local store online
- Myth 6: The per-page price is the whole bill
Myth 1: There is one UPS price list
Reality: nearly every UPS Store is a franchise, and the owner sets the copy menu. The company says so in the fine print of every location page:
“Retail locations are independently owned and operated by franchisees… Products, services, pricing and hours of operation may vary by location.”
The UPS Store location page, Decatur, Georgia
That is why you will not find a national per-page rate on theupsstore.com, and why third-party “UPS price lists” disagree with each other. The useful move is to look up your own store. Search “UPS Store” plus your town, open the location page, and click into Copies and Documents. Many stores post a short table; others show only a “View Pricing” button or ask you to call. Two stores post these prices now:
| Job (per page or side) | Decatur, GA | Reno, NV |
|---|---|---|
| Black and white, 8.5 x 11 or 8.5 x 14 | $0.15 | $0.29 |
| Black and white, 11 x 17 | $0.30 | $0.58 |
| Color, 8.5 x 11 or 8.5 x 14 | Not posted | $0.59 |
| Color, 11 x 17 | Not posted | $1.18 |
| Glossy cardstock, 8.5 x 11 | Not posted | $0.25 |
| Matte cardstock, 8.5 x 11 | Not posted | $0.50 |
Notice the pattern inside each store: legal-size pages cost the same as letter, and tabloid (11 x 17) costs exactly double. That doubling holds at most copy counters, so if your file will fit on two letter pages instead of one tabloid sheet, the price is the same and the trimming is easier.
Myth 2: A black-and-white copy is a dime
Reality: 10 cents is the low end, not the norm. An online printer that surveyed UPS Store menus in July 2026 put black and white at about 10 to 17 cents per letter page, and the two stores above post 15 and 29 cents. Plan on 15 to 30 cents and you will rarely be surprised.
The bigger catch is the word “side.” Decatur’s menu reads “per page or per side,” which means a double-sided sheet counts twice: 30 cents, not 15. Printing duplex saves paper and staples, not money. If someone tells you a 40-page packet will cost $6, ask whether that is 40 pages or 40 sheets printed on both sides, which would be $12 at the same rate.
Myth 3: UPS is the priciest counter in town
Reality: for color, it often lands in the middle of the pack. One letter-size color page, chain by chain:
| Where | One color letter page | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Office Depot | From $0.18 | July 2026 price survey by 55printing |
| The UPS Store | $0.50 to $0.75 typical; $0.59 in Reno | Same survey; Reno store page |
| Staples, self-serve | $0.59 to $0.69 | Same survey |
| FedEx Office, self-serve | $0.71 to $0.76 | Same survey |
| Staples, ordered online or at the counter | From $0.82 | Staples.com printing page |
Office Depot’s low starting price is the outlier, and “from” prices usually assume a promotion or a larger order. For black and white, the picture flips somewhat: Staples lists black and white online “from 34 cents,” above both UPS stores in our table. The honest summary is that UPS is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive chain; your specific franchise decides where it falls. If you are printing a lot, two phone calls to compare the UPS Store and the nearest office-supply store take five minutes and can save real money.
Some places also beat every chain. University print centers run by FedEx, for example, post campus rates far below retail; Stony Brook University’s on-campus FedEx Office lists black-and-white letter copies at 5 cents and color at 35 cents. Those rates are negotiated for the campus and are not what a regular FedEx store charges, but if you are a student or staff member, start there. Public libraries often have low-cost printing too.
Myth 4: Only big orders get a bulk rate
Reality: at stores that sell prepaid CopyCards, you can get the bulk rate without placing a bulk order. You buy a card loaded with copies and use it over months. Reno’s posted card prices show how steep the discount gets:
| Reno CopyCard | Card price | Cost per copy | Savings vs. walk-up rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 black and white | $15.00 | 15 cents | 48% off 29 cents |
| 500 black and white | $45.00 | 9 cents | 69% |
| 1,000 black and white | $62.50 | 6.25 cents | 78% |
| 100 color | $32.00 | 32 cents | 46% off 59 cents |
| 500 color | $110.00 | 22 cents | 63% |
| 1,000 color | $190.00 | 19 cents | 68% |
Even the smallest card halves the price. A small business, a tutor printing worksheets or a family handling a long estate or insurance file can pay for a 100-copy card after about 52 walk-up pages. Before you buy, ask three questions: whether the card expires, whether it works on counter jobs or only the self-serve machines, and whether it is good at other UPS Store locations. Because each store is independent, assume it is not unless the clerk says otherwise.
Myth 5: The website is your local store online
Reality: upsstoreprint.com, where the store pages send you to order, is operated by BuildASign, which the site names as the seller of record. The UPS Store name is used under license. Orders are produced and shipped to you rather than printed by your neighborhood franchise.
That makes it a different tool, not a worse one. It sells products, not copies: custom posters listed at $20.99, canvas prints at $75.99, holiday cards at $2.00 each and sandwich-board signs at $247.57, with a holiday promotion in November 2026 taking 20% off and including UPS Ground shipping. That is a fair deal for a poster you can wait a few days for. It is the wrong place for a résumé you need in an hour or 30 copies of a meeting handout. For those, email or bring the file to the counter. Many stores accept PDFs by email or USB, though each franchise sets its own process, so call ahead or check the location page for a store email address.
Myth 6: The per-page price is the whole bill
Reality: on a finished document, the extras can rival the printing. Binding, heavier paper, cutting, lamination and design help are all separate lines, and few UPS Store pages post them. The Reno store, for instance, lists binding as “Contact Us.”
For a sense of scale, here are posted add-on prices from one copy center that does publish them, the Stony Brook campus FedEx Office: coil or spiral binding at $2.99 to $3.99 a book, pouch lamination at $1.25 for a letter page, cutting at 75 cents a cut and file editing at $60 an hour. Retail stores, UPS included, may charge more. Treat these as a floor for budgeting, not a UPS quote.
Example (hypothetical): 25 copies of a 10-page color report, coil bound, at Reno’s walk-up color rate.
- Printing: 250 color pages at $0.59 = $147.50
- Binding: 25 books at an assumed $3.50 = $87.50
- Total before tax: about $235, with binding at 37% of the bill
Cut the binding to a corner staple and the same job drops to roughly $150. Print the inside pages in black and white with only a color cover and it falls further. Design or file-fixing time is the other surprise; send a print-ready PDF with fonts embedded so nobody has to touch your file.
As for 2027, The UPS Store has announced no system-wide change to copy or print pricing as of November 2026, and because franchisees set their own menus, any increase will show up store by store rather than on a single date.
Quick answers for the print counter
Can I print from my phone or email at The UPS Store?
Often, yes. Many locations accept files by email or USB and print them at the counter, but each franchise sets its own process. Check your store’s location page for an email address or call before you send anything sensitive, and send a PDF so the layout does not shift.
How much does UPS charge for color printing on large paper?
Tabloid color pages (11 x 17 inches) typically cost double the letter rate; the Reno, Nevada store posts $1.18. Larger posters are usually ordered as a product, such as the $20.99 custom poster listed on upsstoreprint.com, or quoted by the store’s wide-format printer if it has one.
Is it cheaper to print at UPS than at home?
For a few pages, usually. An inkjet cartridge can cost more than a whole stack of store copies if you print rarely. If you print hundreds of pages a month, a laser printer at home or a prepaid copy card at your store is typically the cheaper path.
Does The UPS Store price match FedEx Office or Staples?
There is no national UPS Store price-match policy we could find, since each franchise sets its own prices. Some owners will match a competitor on a larger job if you ask, so bring a written quote. Staples advertises its own price match guarantee on its printing pages.
Do UPS Store printing prices include tax?
No. Posted per-page prices are before sales tax, and finishing work such as binding, cutting or lamination is billed separately. Ask for the total including tax and finishing before the job runs.
More counter prices from the same strip mall
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- UPS Store notary fees, state by state
- Passport photo prices at UPS, Walgreens and Walmart
- How to calculate shipping cost by weight, size and carrier
- Digital marketing agency pricing for small businesses
- The complete 2027 guide to small business startup costs
The bottom line: the cheapest UPS print job is the one you priced at your own store first. Look up its location page, note the per-side rate, ask about a CopyCard if you print more than about 50 pages a year, and get finishing quoted before the job runs. Do that, and a franchise counter is a reasonable place to print; skip it, and you are paying whatever that particular owner decided.
Pricing method: prices were researched in November 2026 for 2027 planning and may change. Store prices come from official UPS Store location pages for Decatur, GA and Reno, NV; chain comparisons come from Staples.com and a July 2026 price survey published by 55printing; add-on examples come from the Stony Brook University FedEx Office price list. The binding job above is a hypothetical example. This site is not affiliated with The UPS Store, FedEx, Staples or Office Depot. See our disclaimer.
