The American Consumer Institute (ACI) has urged consumers in
The study found that ink is currently priced higher per millilitre than the world’s finest champagne, petrol and most luxury fragrances.
“When purchasing an inkjet printer, consumers should consider the full cost of printing, the cost of the ink used to print as well as the cost of the printer itself,” explained Dr. Larry F. Darby, coauthor of the report. “Free or low cost printers are ‘fools gold’ when they lock consumers into using high cost ink for the life of the printer.”
The lack of standardised printer ink unit pricing means that consumers ‘shop blindly’ when selecting printer ink. The report suggests that consumers would be well served by more detailed labeling, which would allow them to compare each printer’s cost-of-ink per printed page. The paper concludes that competition in the inkjet printer and ink sectors would be much more intense if consumers were made aware of the cost implications of their printer choices.
About the ACI survey
The survey was conducted by TeleNomic Research with an unrestricted grant from Kodak. The American Consumer Institute received no funding for the study’s release. A synopsis of the findings, consumer tips to save on printer costs and a copy of the full study are available at available at http://www.aci-citizenresearch.org/Inkjet%20Final.pdf
About ACI
The American Consumer Institute is an independent consumer organidation dedicated to improving the lives of American consumers by providing information on important issues that affect them.
For further information, visit http://www.theamericanconsumer.org/ and
http://www.aci-citizenresearch.org/