An article discusses the problems of counterfeit printer products.
This Day Live reported that OEMs and brand owners face big challenges when it comes to counterfeiting as it affects trade, loss of revenue and reputation as well as a loss of customers noting that counterfeiting is profitable to organised crime and damaging to businesses.
Printing supplies are a top target for counterfeiters and cartridges, both ink and toner, are easily sold on line to unsuspecting customers who are looking for cost savings and deals however the cost may be bigger in the long run if the cartridges cause problems with the printer.
The article pointed out that using non OEM supplies may result in poorer performance and Buyers Lab commented that their tests had shown that “original HP ink cartridges surpass non-HP alternatives by producing on average 50 per cent more pages” and that the same test applied to non OEM cartridges “revealed that more than 40 per cent of non-HP ink cartridges failed either being dead on arrival or expiring prematurely”.
Buyers Lab also commented:“Should your printer break as a result of using counterfeit printer ink or toner, you could also have issues with your manufacturer’s warranty becoming not applicable, most OEMs in print supplies said. The short-term gains simply are not worth the potential long-term problems.”
Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP), part of the European Commission, said that counterfeiting of print supplies has a wider impact than just end use and that 2.5 million jobs across “G20 regions have been lost due to the growth of counterfeiting and piracy” and it is also estimated that counterfeiting has a “global impact of $3 billion (€2.75 billion) on the printing supplies industry each year”, according to The Imaging Supplies Coalition.
The technique of these criminals is getting more sophisticated and the Coalition stated: “These sophisticated techniques mean it’s getting harder and harder to catch the culprits behind the sale of these illegal products. This is why printer manufacturers like HP are actively involved in anti-counterfeit measures. It not only helps channel partners and customers ensure that they are selling the correct quality and legitimate products, but also supports our society in trying to eradicate this slice of the counterfeiting industry.”
According to the article identifying counterfeit printing supplies is becoming easier as OEMs become more sophisticated themselves and they advise customers to use their Smart phones to scan the cartridge box for the QR code in the HP cartridges seal which will validate whether or not it is original and on other cartridges consumers are advised to check the brand labels as many have holographic security labels.
Customers can also go on line and look up serial numbers from security labels and an HP Inc spokesperson said:“Customers are, however, advised to buy print products from reputable retailers. Customers should not have any issues if they are buying printer cartridges and toner ink from established and reputable retail outlets and commercial resellers. Fake print products are a real problem, stay alert and stay ahead of the criminals, by following these simple steps to spot, report and avoid counterfeits.”