Why Do Ink Cartridges Cost So Much?

PC World article (popup alert)

"Consumers revolt over the cost of inkjet cartridges, even as printer prices plummet.

At $22 per quarter-ounce, a Hewlett-Packard color ink-jet cartridge is more expensive, by weight, than imported Russian caviar...."

Blame it all on King C. Gillette.

He's the one who developed the marketing technique/theory where you sell a good product at or below cost (razor/printer) then sell the cheapo replacement gizmo's at an exhorbitant cost once the customer is hooked (razor blades/printer cartridges).

This gets the potential customer easily and quickly hooked, then assures a very good profit to the company for the life of the product.

Just as a hint - these are the folks I used since about 1995 as the source for my business. High quality.

Carrot Ink.

I have about 8 of their cartridges on hand for my printers right now.

wow, that's brilliant! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

sorry...

i refill the cartridges till the printhead wears out.
the kit is cheap.

I also use refill, and haven't had my printer head replaced. I have this epson printer for around 5 years now, never encounter any problem with using cheap refill. Probably it will last 1 more year, when I will decide to buy new one, not because there is something wrong with the printhead, but because I want photoprinter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I still waiting for Epson to launch A4 size 7 color photoprinter that use pigment ink. For now, they only have A3 7 color photoprinter that use pigment ink.

I'm encouraged by the increasing role that the EU is taking lately in the technology arena. I'm impressed by their objection to non-refillable cartridges which increase land-fill and disposal problems.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif HP
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif Lexmark
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif Canon
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif Epson

o its hurting me i have a lady behind me she is like 70 or even older she is makeing a quilt so she is haveing me scan all her pics and print em on papper that u can iron on cloth its costing me so much

The trick is to do your research before you buy. We're on our second Ink Jet (The first being an Epson that still runs but just isn't as crisp as it once was, the second being another Epson that we got maybe in 2000) and it's got large, cheap cartridges. We don't refill and we've never had good luck with third party carts (Although we may try carrot ink).

i get my ink from a-1 rechargers here in dayton and never a problem.
i was told by them that there are at least 6 formulas for the ink.the cheapie places sell the same stuff for all brands.
nothing but trouble.

For those of you in the UK these guys:

www.e-inkjet.co.uk

offer a professional refil service (via pre-paid mailer envelopes) that is the cheapest I have seen anywhere on the internet.

i have a colorlasterjet /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

i've printed out thousands of pages, and still have over 95% toner coverage.
i think if you use it enough, any laserjet will more than pay for itself.

AND, these companies are starting to put a chip in the ink or toner cartridge that keeps people from making third party replacements.

There will be no inexpensive third party or refil kits for the next generation of ink jets and laser printers.

The printer companies (most notably lexmark I think) are using the DMCA to sue any company that tries to reverse engineer their chip to make their own version. Nothing to do with music, but they saw an opportunity to use that lousy law for something else and ran with it.

If any of them are listening, here is a message from me. I would rather pay more for the printer up front and be assured cheaper ink refills later. If you use the DMCA in this manner I will shun you and your products!

[ QUOTE ]
James S said:
...If any of them are listening, here is a message from me. I would rather pay more for the printer up front and be assured cheaper ink refills later. If you use the DMCA in this manner I will shun you and your products!

[/ QUOTE ]
I feel the same way!
Reminds me of way back when intel tried the CPU s/n identification crap. I bought AMD instead.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif

Lexmark simply put the phrase "Copyright Lexmark Inc." in the chip and the printer checks to make sure that notice is there. The only reason for that phrase and that check are to be able to invoke the DMCA since they are the only ones who can legimately put that in their chip (Lexmark's logic).

If you program the chip so that it would work correctly in the printer without the copyright notice the printer will refuse to run.

[ QUOTE ]
AlphaTea said:
Reminds me of way back when intel tried the CPU s/n identification crap. I bought AMD instead.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

the s/n is *off* by default, btw.

The Gillette principle is definitely at play in the inkjet business. That's why you can get them given away "free" or for ridiculously cheap at stores like Best Buy. They wanna get you hooked!

I've found that laser printers are definitely the way to go. Faster, cheaper, more reliable, crisper more professional print. And mine doubles (triples?) as a fax and copy machine. Toner cartridges are expensive ($59), but seem to last forever (I've only done one replacement so far on a laser I bought back in 1999.)

Spend more upfront to save a lot later.

Dave

Intel s/n comes *off* by default, because so many people opposed it, that they do make it *off* by default. I wonder if everyone keep silent...
I also never use Intel since then, simply because total PC cost is higher, and the speed advantage doesn't justify percentage of increase in cost. And I can't use Nvidia NForce for Intel system /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif