George W. Cannata

Printers - My Pet Peeve

The Outrageous Cost of Ink

This is my third article on the subject you can read the others on my web site http://www.caveatemptorus.com

I believe in free enterprise and all that but some things are beyond the pale. Ever since the advent of the inkjet printer I think we’ve been getting ripped off

A set of OEM cartridges for the average printer cost just less than $75.00 a set of refilled units on eBay go for close to $50.00. I think that’s outrageous.

It's often cheaper to buy a new printer than it is to buy a set of cartridges, which I frequently do.

Originally the printer manufacturers practically gave away printers; in fact a lot of them did so through promotions and rebates.

Their strategy was to sell the printers at low prices and make their money on the cartridge replacements, so they inflated the prices of the ink, This had a tendency to back fire, as they created a bootleg industry, that they are now having to compete with.

There are refilled cartridges, refill kits, so called compatible cartridges or imitations, Some of these are legitimate , and of good quality, some are not. Then there are the counterfeits with OEM labels, which some unwitting people are paying full price for. This practice is particularly reprehensible.

All of this might have been avoided had the manufacturers chosen to sell their printers and replacement cartridges at reasonable prices. I firmly believe that had the makers had set reasonable prices for the printers both they and the consumers would have been better off.

The sad part is that it is we the consumers that suffer. We not only have to live with high prices but inferior quality and considerable inconvenience.

When we use anything other than OEM products, we face warranty problems. Some of the refilled cartridges are of such poor quality they not only don’t work, they leak and can damage your printer. Some, but not all of the compatible cartridges are nearly as bad. If you have a problem printing and you're using aftermarket ink the manufacturers won't even give you technical support. I recently had to buy a set of OEMS to prove my printer was defective.

All so called standard cartridges are only partially filled with ink. You have to buy high yield or extended use cartridges to get full ones.

Originally when you bought a new printer you received standard cartridges, which was fine, you at least got decent yields from them.

Now they’ve come with another bit of trickery. This one isn’t new but previously they only used it on promotional printers at rock bottom prices. Now I’m informed by a reliable dealer that all new printers are now coming through with sample cartridges. Sample cartridges don’t have much ink in them so you’re faced with premature replacement.

I recently bought a low-priced printer on eBay. It was from a leading computer manufacturer. The seller did have the cartridge numbers in his ad. He may not even been aware that they were samples. I found out when I unpacked it. So if you’re buying a printer don’t assume that it's equipped with standard cartridges, check to be sure of what you are buying.

You don’t have to be careful only on eBay, regular dealers are selling printers with sample cartridges also. They don’t advertise it. You have to ask them to find out. Again "Let the buyers beware."

There is really no good solution to this problem Refilling is a hassle. It’s not always successful, and it can lead to damage to your printer. I think if you top off your cartridges while thy stills have a lot of ink in them and you’re careful not to over fill them it may work.

Printing in draft mode and black and white when you don’t need color will conserve ink. I used to print a lot of material that I’d read in the den; now I just read it on my monitor.

Shopping for bargain printers that cost less than the cartridge is still viable but the sample cartridge situation has complicated that scheme.

We can’t ask our congressmen to help, they’re going to be too busy fighting off the people hat want us to give the internet to the UN.

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