Why I Switched Our Office to Leuchtturm1917 Notebooks (And Why Procurement Should Care)

Back in 2020, when I took over purchasing for our 50-person marketing agency, I didn't think much about notebooks. I mean, it's paper, right? You buy the cheapest bulk pack, people write in them, end of story. That was my first mistake.

By the end of my first quarter, I'd learned something that surprised me: the 'cheapest' option can cost you more than you save. And that's where Leuchtturm1917 notebooks entered the picture.

The Problem Nobody Told Me About

From the outside, it looks like all premium notebooks are basically the same. Hard cover, lined pages, sewn binding—what's the big deal? The reality is, when you're managing supplies for a team of copywriters, designers, and project managers, the details matter. A lot.

In my first year, I made the classic rookie error: chose a vendor based on price per unit alone. Cost me? About $800 in reorders and—more importantly—my reputation with the design team when their 'premium' notebooks bled through on the second page (ugh).

What 'Premium' Actually Means in a Professional Setting

Here's something vendors won't tell you: the first quote is almost never the final price for ongoing relationships. There's usually room to negotiate once you've proven you're a reliable buyer. But that only works if the product itself is worth negotiating for.

What most people don't realize is that paper weight and ink compatibility vary wildly between brands, even at similar price points. For our team—especially the designers who use fountain pens and brush markers—paper quality isn't a nice-to-have. It's a dealbreaker.

People assume a higher price tag automatically means better paper. What they don't see is how many so-called 'premium' notebooks still ghost like crazy with wet ink. I spent two months testing samples from four vendors before I found one that actually delivered: Leuchtturm1917.

Our Switch to Leuchtturm1917: The Process

I didn't just wake up one day and decide to rebrand our entire stationery supply. Here's how it actually happened:

1. The trigger: Our quarterly planning session in March 2021. The creative director pulled me aside and said, "We need better notebooks. The current ones are falling apart after two months."
2. The research: I looked at five brands—Leuchtturm1917, Moleskine, Rhodia, and two cheaper alternatives. I ordered samples for the design team to test (which cost about $120 in total, including shipping).
3. The decision: The designers loved Leuchtturm1917. The numbered pages, table of contents, and paper quality were the standouts. Plus, the variety of sizes (A5, A6, pocket, master) meant our project managers could use different formats without ordering from multiple vendors.
4. The rollout: I started with a pilot—ordered 30 notebooks for the creative department first. Cost: about $450 total, including shipping.

From the outside, this looks like a simple product switch. The reality was more complicated. Changing vendors meant new invoices, new shipping terms, and a new approval process with finance. But the feedback from the team made it worth it.

Why Procurement Should Care About Notebook Quality

Look, I know notebooks aren't the flashiest line item on a P&L statement. But here's the thing: your team spends hours every day interacting with their tools. If those tools frustrate them—if pages tear, ink bleeds, or covers warp—that frustration compounds.

Process gap: We didn't have a formal feedback mechanism for office supplies. Cost us? Hard to quantify exactly, but when I finally surveyed the team (six months into my role), 40% said they'd bought their own notebooks because the company-provided ones were "unusable." That's money leaving the building.

Switching to Leuchtturm1917 saved us from that. The numbered pages alone eliminated the "which page is this?" confusion during client meetings. The table of contents became a genuine productivity tool for our project managers. It sounds small—but small things add up.

Here's what I mean: when you add up the time saved from not hunting for notes, the reduced frustration from better paper, and the elimination of personal notebook purchases, the cost difference between a $5 notebook and a $20 notebook shrinks to almost nothing. Actually, it becomes a net positive.

What I Learned About 'Estimates' vs. Reality

When I planned the switch, I estimated it would take one quarter to fully transition. It took three (thankfully we'd kept a backup supply from our old vendor). The third time we ordered the wrong quantity, I finally created a verification checklist. Should have done it after the first time.

Three things I wish I'd known: Lead times for Leuchtturm1917 can be longer than commodity brands (about 2-3 weeks if not in stock). Bulk pricing exists but requires negotiation (based on my experience, ordering 100+ units gets you a 10-15% discount). The pocket notebooks are surprisingly popular—we nearly ran out before our next order arrived.

In March 2023, we paid $200 extra for rush delivery on a Leuchtturm1917 restock. The alternative was missing a critical client workshop where every team member needed fresh notebooks. That rush fee bought certainty, not just speed.

The Verdict: Is Leuchtturm1917 Worth It for B2B?

If you're running a company where people write—like, actually write—then yes. But here's the honest truth: not everyone needs the 80gsm paper and numbered pages. If your team just jots down phone messages and shopping lists, a standard notebook is fine.

But for creative agencies, consulting firms, law offices, or any team where notes become deliverables, the investment in Leuchtturm1917 pays for itself. Based on our experience (and yes, I tracked the numbers), we saw a 20% reduction in "I can't find my notes" complaints within three months of the switch.

The key lesson: don't let price per unit be the only metric. Consider total cost of ownership—including time, frustration, and the risk of team members going rogue and buying their own supplies. Sometimes the more expensive option is actually the cheaper one in the long run.

Prices as of January 2025: Leuchtturm1917 A5 notebooks start around $25 each for retail (verify current pricing at leuchtturm1917.com). Bulk discounts are available for business buyers—worth asking.

Would I make the same decision again? Absolutely. The switch wasn't perfect (and I've got the invoice headache to prove it), but for our team, Leuchtturm1917 was the right call. Sometimes the 'boring' procurement decisions are the ones that matter most.