BOB SHARE

If you’ve checked the prices of ink at a High Street office supplies or computer shop, you may not believe that such things as cheap ink cartridge exist. Most new printer owners are shocked to discover that replacing their cartridges can cost as much as they originally paid for the printer. Those in the know, however, get their new ink at a discount. To help you get in the know, here are the answers to your key questions about budget ink cartridges.

Why are replacement ink cartridges so costly?

Its true that these items come at a premium price especially when compared to the price of the printer itself. The simple answer is that the printer is a loss leader. The printer companies sell them at cost or even a loss knowing they can make the money up later through selling cartridges. Another factor is that the cartridge supplied with the printer is generally smaller than the standard unit which means it runs out quicker.

What is the difference between the different types of replacement cartridges?

When shopping for cartridges you may find that the products on offer come in different packaging. This is because replacement ink comes in three types - OEM, compatible or refurbished. The OEM (original equipment manufacturer) comes in a box with the logo of the printer company. These are high quality with prices to match.

A compatible replacement cartridge is made by a third party company under license from the OEM. These come in packaging designed by the manufacturer. While not up to the standard of OEMs, these are fine for normal use.

Refurbished cartridges are items that have been recycled. Firms collect or buy up old units, and then clean, repair and refill them. Results are variable. Prices are low but so is reliability.

Can I fill my printer cartridges myself?

Refill kits are available and are popular with people looking for the cheapest option. Cartridges can be filled several times which makes this a real budget alternative. However, your results will depend on the quality of the ink. And be prepared for some messiness.

Wheres the best place to shop for cheap ink cartridges?

If you shop on the High Street, youll be paying top prices. These shops have high rents and big sales forces to pay. Another consideration is that in general shops, printer accessories are just one of many items sold, so they probably wont have a wide range in stock. Plus, the sales staff wont have the insider knowledge to give you all the options available. After all, its not it their best interests to sell you cheap ink cartridges.

Online vendors, on the other hand, deal only in printer related items and have the knowledge and stock to fulfill your every need. And as they dont need to pay high rents or expensive sales teams, they can offer the keenest prices.

Competition is fierce in the online printer market so youre sure to get the best prices available. And the best firms offer free delivery on all orders, usually the next day to a mainland UK address.

Ordering online is simply a matter of visiting the web site and choosing your printer brand and model. Youll then get a list of whats available whether OEM, compatible or refill kits, along with prices. Just make your choice and pay online. Most dealers have a range of special offers such as offering twin packs at considerable savings. For example, you can pick up canon pixma ip2600 ink cartridges online in the form of a pack containing three cartridges and a photo paper pack for less than 30 pounds including taxes and free delivery.

What other tips are there for getting cheap ink cartridges?

If you do a lot of printing, you can make savings by buying your cartridges in bulk. Most firms offer discounts when you buy more than one unit and another benefit is that you can be sure of always having ink on hand. If you need canon pixma mp140 ink CL-41, you can pick up compatible colour cartridges at the price of 14.97 pounds for one or 13.97 pounds for two or more.

For the best deals in cheap ink cartridges for your printer, check out the web sites of reputable online retailers. Here youll find the widest range of cartridges at the lowest prices. Just place your order online for next day delivery.

By: Philip Griffiths

When purchasing a new inkjet printer for the first time, most people are impressed by what they get for the comparative low cost of this fascinating technology.

All goes well until the need to replace the first ink cartridges for this gleaming printer. The time to this first event seems to go very quickly! Many people find out why this happens is because the printer manufacturer has only included small sample ink cartridges with the printer which are only filled with one third the capacity of normal ink cartridges. You may wonder why inkjet printer manufacturers do this? This is soon crystal clear once you look at the cost of buying replacement ink cartridges.

Having bought your printer new direct from the manufacturer, most people first look at purchasing replacement ink cartridges direct from the printer manufacturer such as HP, Dell, Lexmark, or Canon. Which is when it becomes clear that the printer manufacturer makes large amounts of repeat money from their ink cartridges and sales of consumables. Prices can be extremely high for what you get and if you use a large amounts of ink, you start to realise that the total cost of ownership of your printer is not going to be great as you first thought it was going to be, and yes, youre now tied yourself into the technology (Which was perhaps the initial aim of the printer manufacturer).

Of course, buying new original replacement inkjet cartridges from printer manufacturers should ensure fault free use but today you are paying a high premium for this choice and now with the drive for eco-friendly "green" replacements this may not be the best option available to you. So what are your choices ? Well you could stick with original inkjet cartridges from the printer manufacturer but you will need a big "money-bags" bank account for this or you could look at three other sources of cheap inkjet cartridges. Compatible inkjet cartridges are ink cartridges that are manufactured by a third party manufacturers and sold as compatible products to the original inkjet manufacturers brand. Normally, compatibility is fine but on some occasions this may cause some issues. However, if the third party manufacturer is a reputable company this is sorted out very quickly.

Remanufactured Ink Cartridges

The other option is to go for remanufactured ink cartridges. These cartridges are made by the original printer manufacturer (OEM) and having been used, have been reclaimed and refilled by a third party company who replaces all worn parts and refills the cartridge with high premium grade toner and supplies them for resale. The third option is to buy a refill kit and refill your own inkjet cartridge for yourself. While it is possible to do this, Paragon Matrix does not recommend this as it can be very messy.

Discount Inkjet Cartridges

So are discount inkjet cartridges good value? Well over the cost of new original inkjet cartridges, yes they are. However, like everything else, we would not advise just buying at the cheapest price product you can get. There is a fine balance to make. But with the right choice major savings can be achieved. This is why schools and other educational establishments, National Health Service Departments, Doctors and other Government Departments buy remanufactured and sometimes compatible products rather than the original new products from printer manufacturers. It achieves two of their goals. One, purchasing green eco friendly products and two reducing their overall purchasing costs.

Experience Counts

From our own experience, I carefully select the manufacturer of the inkjet cartridges to ensure that the quality of manufacturer or remanufacture give the highest standards and that the supplier guarantees the products that they developed. So at the end of the day its a balance. I recommend you not go for the expensive option of new original inkjet cartridges but perhaps going for a high quality remanufactured or compatible product from a reputable manufacturer.

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