Printer Ink

Over the life of an average printer, an owner will probably spend more on printer ink than was spent on the printer itself. In most cases, the expenditures for ink will be much greater than the initial equipment cost. In fact, the market for replacement ink is so lucrative that some of the major printer manufacturers will occasionally give certain printers away for free.

Replacement cartridges for inkjet printers are much less expensive than their laser printer counterparts but their yields are far less. This, along with the inkjet printer’s smaller size, makes it a preferred piece of equipment for personal use and for light, small business use. In the final calculation, however, and due to the laser printer cartridge’s much greater yield, inkjet printers and laser printers cost about the same.

As stated before, printer manufacturers often sell their printers at or below cost and occasionally give them away for free. They make up the difference with replacement ink cartridges and get the process started early by usually including a half-full ink cartridge at purchase. They also attempt to hold onto the ink market by disparaging remanufactured, refilled, and compatible cartridges.

Remanufactured laser cartridges, refilled inkjet cartridges, and new compatible cartridges for both are often substantially less expensive than new OEM (original equipment manufacturer) cartridges. Though there are some ink suppliers who neglect to do the appropriate quality checking, most are trustworthy. With a quality guarantee attached, there’s no reason not to save money by using compatible, refilled, or remans cartridges.