The latest wave of tariffs has created a ripple effect across nearly every corner of the imaging and copier industry. Dealers are finding themselves at a crossroads, facing rising costs, disrupted supply chains, and uncertain customer behavior. Dealers must be able to adjust quickly to keep up with changing dynamics.
This blog explores how imaging and copier dealers can not only maintain stability but also find new opportunities for growth, even as tariffs reshape the rules of the game.
Tariffs Are Rewriting the Rules
The scope of the new tariffs is broad. Everything from finished copiers and printers to components like toner cartridges, rollers, imaging drums, and circuit boards are affected. While tariffs are imposed on the importer (usually the manufacturer or distributor) the cost impact quickly trickles down to dealers and ultimately, end customers.
Geopolitical instability and fluctuating trade policies only add to the unpredictability. Dealers now navigate a climate where tariffs can change quickly, forcing them to remain agile and well-informed.
The Immediate Effects on Dealers
The most visible consequence of these tariffs is cost. Price increases from manufacturers are already pushing dealers to make hard choices to either absorb the extra expense or pass it on. Many are doing a bit of both, leading to tighter margins and longer decision cycles for buyers.
Customers are more cautious than ever, scrutinizing every quote and exploring alternatives like refurbished equipment or shorter-term leases. Some buyers even accelerated their purchasing decisions to avoid anticipated tariff-driven hikes, but with the changes now in effect, hesitancy has returned.
Meanwhile, inventory management has taken on new urgency. Dealers who stocked up early are in a stronger position, but that strategy comes with its own challenges: tied-up capital, storage costs, and the risk of being stuck with expensive inventory if the market shifts again.
Strategic Responses for Dealers
Adapting to this new normal requires more than belt-tightening. Here are several key strategies dealers can use to stay strong and competitive.
Smart Inventory Management
Some dealers took a proactive approach by buying ahead of the tariffs. Those who stocked up now have a cushion against rising costs and potential shortages. But this isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. For others, now is the time to rethink supplier relationships, diversify sourcing, and adopt forecasting tools to maintain lean, just-in-time inventories.
Flexibility is key, especially when tariffs might eventually be reduced or lifted. Dealers should aim to maintain enough stock to serve demand without overcommitting to high-cost goods.
Financial Planning and Pricing Adjustments
Dealers are recalibrating their financial forecasts to account for increased costs. Some are adjusting service pricing, reworking lease terms, or renegotiating with suppliers to keep customer-facing prices manageable. Others are revisiting service contract structures and consumable pricing, ensuring they reflect the real cost of delivering service in a tariff-inflated environment.
Tactful communication can go a long way. Customers are more likely to accept pricing changes when they understand why they’re happening and how the dealer is still working to offer value.
Transparent Customer Communication
Dealers who are upfront about tariff-related impacts, especially those that show how they’re mitigating those impacts, are earning customer trust. Whether it’s through detailed quotes, personalized consultations, or advisory emails explaining cost shifts, clarity and empathy go a long way.
Even adding a “tariff surcharge” line item on proposals can be effective, as long as it’s accompanied by a clear explanation. Customers appreciate transparency and will reward honesty with loyalty.
Operational Agility
Dealers are looking inward to streamline operations and offset margin pressures. From route planning for field service technicians to automating administrative tasks, small process improvements can lead to meaningful cost savings.
Turning Challenges into Growth Opportunities
Tariffs may be disruptive, but they also offer a chance for dealers to evolve. Here’s how some dealers are turning adversity into advantage.
Expand Value-Added Services
As hardware sales face tighter margins, value-added services like Managed Print, Document Management, and fleet optimization become even more important. These services offer stable, recurring revenue streams and give dealers a way to deliver value without being tied to volatile hardware pricing.
Customers who are reluctant to invest in new equipment might be eager to maximize the value of their current fleet, and that’s a conversation dealers can lead.
Embrace New Technology and Diversify Offerings
Now is the time for dealers to explore software, cloud solutions, and adjacent technologies that can expand their portfolio. Whether it’s secure print management platforms, cloud-based scanning, or network services, new tools can fill revenue gaps and make dealers more indispensable to their clients.
Refocusing on services that aren’t subject to tariffs, like workflow automation, IT support, or compliance consulting, can also build new business lines with better margins and less volatility.
Maximize Used Equipment and Existing Assets
Used and refurbished equipment is gaining new appeal in this tariff-heavy climate. These machines, already imported and often stored locally, offer a budget-friendly alternative for customers and a new revenue stream for dealers.
A certified refurbished program, combined with service contracts and upgrade kits, can help dealers offer value to cost-conscious clients while monetizing previously idle assets.
Strengthen Market Positioning
Dealers who communicate their resilience, preparedness, and customer-first mindset can turn this challenge into a branding opportunity. Whether through educational content, proactive outreach, or consistent service, showing leadership during uncertain times helps strengthen customer relationships and build long-term loyalty.
How Impression Solutions Can Help Dealers Weather the Tariff Storm
Tariffs have made things more complicated, but dealers aren’t on their own. Impression Solutions has solutions built for today’s challenges.
Domestic Distribution Advantage
ISI operates a centralized distribution hub within the U.S., which gives dealers a reliable domestic supply source that’s less susceptible to tariff-related delays or price hikes. This enables faster order fulfillment, better inventory control, and fewer disruptions.
Competitive Equipment and Supplies Programs
Through strategic relationships with manufacturers and suppliers, ISI provides access to competitively priced equipment, supplies, and accessories. Their buying power helps offset some of the cost increases associated with tariffs, which means dealers can still offer competitive pricing to their customers.
Flexible Inventory and Just-in-Time Fulfillment
Impression Solutions helps dealers implement flexible inventory strategies. Whether it’s pre-staging hardware for large deployments or providing just-in-time shipping, ISI helps dealers stay lean and nimble without sacrificing service.
Partner Support and Business Consulting
Dealers benefit from ISI’s experience in navigating market volatility. Their consultative approach includes sales enablement resources, marketing support, and expert insights on how to respond to economic pressures like tariffs.
Service-Centric Business Model
ISI’s programs are designed to support Managed Print offerings, remote monitoring, automated toner replenishment, and fleet optimization, helping dealers pivot toward value-driven, recurring revenue streams that are less exposed to global trade shocks.
By partnering with Impression Solutions, dealers gain a stable foundation in an unstable environment—plus the tools and insights to thrive, not just survive.
Resilient Dealers Are Redefining Success
Tariffs have created undeniable challenges in the imaging and copier industry, but they’ve also created an opportunity for evolution. Dealers that remain proactive—reassessing inventory strategies, improving operations, exploring new service offerings, and communicating clearly—are finding new ways to stand out and deliver value.
And with support from strong partners like Impression Solutions, those dealers are not only withstanding the storm, they’re charting a smarter path forward.
About ISI
Impression Solutions Inc. is a value-add, full-service distributor of printing and imaging solutions. ISI offers their dealers, resellers and their end users unparalleled service and support as an OEM full line authorized distributor of Kyocera monochrome and color printers, MFPs, Wide Format Printers, printer accessories, printer supplies and customized printing solutions.
Recent launches include Virtual Inventory Services and IS Docs, a turnkey Document Management program for Imaging Dealers to grow their monthly recurring revenues (MRR).
ISI maintains a full inventory of over 2,200 SKUs of printer products ready for same-day shipment from their 35,000 square feet of warehousing space in 5 distribution centers from coast to coast.
