An article discusses how to save money on cartridges.
noted that although technology moves on, customers continue to complain about the cost of printer cartridges, and that a 2015 Consumer Report survey showed that 50 percent of printer owners “said that they are paying too much for printer cartridges”, while more than a quarter said they have to replace them too often.
According to the article, Epson EcoTank printers could be a solution in that they have refillable tanks and that these last about two years, while the replacement bottles are reasonably priced at $13 each (€12). The printers themselves are more expensive at $300 (€281), but Rich Sulin, Consumer Reports Printer Test Programme Leader, said that the EcoTank printers are “a good deal if you use them long enough”, and that after just one year of use they are less expensive, while after two-and-a-half years they become the cheapest model that’s been tested.
Also mentioned was the HP Inc Instant Ink monthly subscription service that “provides refills” whenever they are needed. Anthony Napolitano, Global Head of Instant Ink at HP, said: “HP ink is automatically ordered and delivered to customers’ doors before they run out. It is just one less thing customers have to think about in their busy lives.”
The fee is based on the number of printed pages per month, and the printer monitors this and contacts HP Inc when the ink is running low. The plan starts at $2.99 (€2.8) per month for 50 pages and $10 (€9) for 300 pages, and the user gets prepaid envelopes for empty cartridge returns to HP Inc for recycling. Using the plan can save 50 percent of ink costs, the site added.
Sulin commented “I’d caution that people may overestimate how much they actually print, and ‘oversubscribe’ for fear of that overage charge”, though the site notes that Instant Ink solves the “problem of wasted ink” and there is a one-month free trial. Consumers are also advised to shop around for third-party cartridges sold by companies other than the OEM – cartridges that are recycled and refilled or remanufactured and resold.
Savings on these can be significant, although a survey in Consumer Reports 2016 revealed that a third of subscribers thought that they didn’t offer the same quality of OEM inks, but if you take a “positive view” this means that two-thirds thought they were just as good. Mike Hemming, European Operations Manager at Cartridge World, also “acknowledge[d] that quality varies among brands”, but defended the Cartridge World products.
He stated: “The prices are low because the suppliers don’t pay for research and development and, unlike printer manufacturers, they don’t need to boost ink prices to make up for the low price of most printers”.