Printer Cartridges

Printer Cartridges: a reader asks…

Hi Coach, I have an HP inkjet printer and it seems like I’m always buying new ink cartridges. They’re costing me more than the printer cost! Do you think I should try a refilling or non-HP brand replacement cartridge?

Short answer: No. But read on. You are seeing the results of our printer and ink marketing engine in full swing. Manufacturers have reduced the price of the printers themselves to the point where they aren’t making any money (sometimes even selling them for less than cost) in order to get people to buy their wares. So how do they make up the lost revenue? They charge you a premium for their ‘certified’ ink cartridges. What’s more, they design the printers so that using a 3rd party ink cartridge or refilling the ink cartridges yourself (or through a service) will not only void the warranty on the printer, but can ruin the printer completely.

The see-saw effect is also now ‘in effect’ in that so many people have complained about ink cartridge costs that the manufacturers have had to reduce the prices on their cartridges, so printer prices have crept up. It’s all a balancing act to keep consumers spending. If the cost of the printer is too high, you’ll buy another brand. If the cost of the ink is too high, you won’t buy that brand again. And frankly, since nobody wants to pay full price for anything in our society, businesses have to play games with pricing and design in order to…stay in business.

Given the situation, I don’t think you should go with a knock-off ink cartridge, nor should you refill an existing cartridge. I’m sure you’ve heard elsewhere that it’s just fine to do, but why take the risk? The cost savings just aren’t worth the risk in my opinion.

But are you returning the used ink cartridges to the manufacturer? They usually provide a return packing label, or you can take your empty cartridges to most office supply stores and they’ll recycle them for you. That’s better than all those cartridges going to a landfill somewhere! And don’t depend on your recycling bin provided by your trash collector – the actual recycling is a small fraction of the recyclables collected. Recycling is expensive, so the best way to keep those costs down is to recycle appropriately. In this case, that means getting the used ink cartridges back to the manufacturer as directly as possible.