How to Save Money on Replacement Ink Cartridges
With the advances in technology; nearly every office, home, and business has a printer of some type. While they perform a necessary function, they require either ink or toner to do that job. In terms of popularity, the inkjet printer is much more popular than laser in the home office and small office market.
The single largest expense with inkjet printers involves the replacement cartridges. Depending on your printer needs and the frequency that you replace cartridges, the costs of replacement cartridges can quickly add up. In many cases, 12 months worth of replacement cartridges will actually exceed the original cost of the printer. Most people will spend more annually on replacement cartridges than any other office supply expense.
So are there any opportunities to save money on these replacement inkjet cartridges? The answer is yes, as long as you do a bit of homework and understand the market. For starters, ink and toner replacement is a huge business that is highly competitive. Think about this question: where do you think manufacturers make the most money? From the sale of a printer once or the sale of the related ink and toner? If you guessed, ink and toner then you are absolutely correct.
In order to save money in this area, you first have to have a clear understanding of the different types of inkjet cartridges. For the most part, you will be looking at 4 possible types:
New or OEM – These are the most common type of replacements on the market. OEM cartridges are produced by the manufacturer and are the manufacturer recommended replacements. Unfortunately, while these tend to be the best performing replacements, they are also the most expensive. Depending on your printer make and model, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) replacement cartridges can cost anywhere from $30 to $60 per cartridge. Some of the newer printers take a single cartridge per color, so you could be talking about $120 to get your printer printing again. To a certain point, you are paying for the OEM name and reputation.
House Brands – These are cartridges that are produced by either a major primary manufacturer or a replacement manufacturer and marketed under a specific name or chain. For example, a number of the large office supply chains on the US offer a house brand of cartridges that are marketed under their name. House brands tend to cost slightly less than OEM, but seem to perform nearly as well.
Alternative or Compatible Brands – If you have done any shopping in this market, then you have most likely already seen alternative brands and probably didn’t know it. These are new cartridges that are made by third party manufacturers who specialize in this market. Chances are the average person has never heard of any of these makers so they tend to shy away from this product. Alternative brands are generally made to OEM specifications and offer good performance. The consumer saves money here as they are not paying for the OEM name. If you shop for office supplies online, most online vendors will offer or suggest compatible brands that correspond to a specific OEM brand.
Remanufacturered Brands – Like the name implies, these cartridges are old cartridges that have been remanufactured and then refilled with ink. Out of all the possible replacement options, the remanufactured (commonly called remans) are the least expensive. Unfortunately, they also tend to be the lowest quality and offer the poorest performance. They have the highest failure rate in the industry. Reman cartridges are hit and miss in terms of quality. Some will work like a charm, while others won’t print worth a darn. It’s really a roll of the dice.
Where can you save money? It really depends on your personal expectations and needs. Here are a few suggestions:
If you decide that you want to stick with OEM, then you’ll need to do some in depth price comparisons to get the best deal. Remember that this is a highly competitive industry and these vendors want your business. You might be able to get better results trying negotiate a bulk purchase versus one or two at a time.
House brands can save some money, but your best opportunity for savings will come through compatible brands. In some cases, these cartridges can sell for 50% less than their OEM counterpart. The truth is, if you compared print results from both an OEM and compatible cartridge side by side, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. By switching to compatible cartridges, you can save some major amounts of money over the life of your printer.
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