Buying Guide and Tips

One of the fastest growing crimes in the country is identity theft and/or fraud. Identity fraud occurs when someone makes a “credit clone” of you using your private data. This crime is rather easy for perpetrators to commit. They are seldom caught and reversing the damage is not easy.

What type of documents will you be shredding?

There are many different types of shredders, and which shredder best meets your needs. Here are some of the things you should consider:

  1. How sensitive and secure is the material you need to destroy?
  2. What material of paper will you be shredding?
  3. How often are you going to use your shredder?
  4. Would you like one large shredder, or several smaller shredders?
  5. How many sheets do you need to shred at a time?
  6. What size paper will you need to shred?
  7. Will space/mobility be an issue?
How sensitive is the material you need to shred and how secure do you need to be?

Shredders cut paper into smaller, unrecognizable pieces of paper. Different shredders shred paper into different sizes of paper. The more important the document, the more important it is to use a shredder that will shred the documents into very small pieces.

What material of paper will you be shredding?

Paper comes in many different forms. Some paper is thicker and other paper is thinner, some paper is glossy and other sheets of paper are coarse. You will want to be sure your shredder can handle the paper you will be shredding.

How often are you going to use your shredder?

You will need to take into consideration how often you will be using your paper shredder. Some paper shredders are made only for shredding documents a few times per week, where other shredders can be used continuously. Purchasing a shredder that cannot handle the volume of shredding you need can be very frustrating.

Would you like one large shredder, or several smaller shredders?

Some offices will buy one large shredder for all their shredding needs, where other offices will purchase several smaller shredders and place them throughout the office.

How many sheets do you need to shred at a time?

Different shredders can shred different amounts of paper. Smaller shredders can only handle a few sheets of paper, where larger shredders can shred many sheets of paper at a time. Strip cut shredders can always shred more paper at a time than a cross cut shredder.

What size of paper do you need to shred?

Some shredders are designed to shred small letters, where other shredders can shred newspapers and phone books. You will want to take into consideration what you will need to shred now and what you will be shredding in the future.

Is space/mobility an issue?

Shredders can be very large and heavy. If you need to take a shredder from one office to another, you may want to get a lighter shredder or one with mobile casters. If space is an issue, you may want to consider a thinner shredder that can fit into a tight space.