ECS has published a new blog on its website offering consumers advice on how to spot fakes and tell them apart from original, compatible and remanufactured cartridges.
A new blog from ECS gives advice on how to spot fake cartridges, also known as counterfeits. Fake cartridges are a big problem in the industry, not only because of the damage they can wreak on consumers’ printers, but also because they have an impact on producers of genuine remanufactured cartridges.
In addition, as ECS warns, “Selling, buying and using counterfeit cartridges is likely to lead to prosecution once you are found out, and believe me, if you have any involvement with fakes, it won’t be long before you are.”
While, as the blog describes, identifying compatible and remanufactured cartridges is straightforward “because the product will most likely be labelled and sold as compatible or remanufactured”, it is more difficult to spot a counterfeit. This is because the differences between fakes and originals are “subtle” and often fake cartridges are labelled as originals.
ECS offers a list of various things to look out for when trying to identify a fake:
- Abnormally low prices
- The distributor is small, unheard of, and often not from this country
- Obvious physical damage to the cartridge shell or worn surfaces
- Screws have been tampered with, or look poorly fitted
- Print quality is poor
- Leaks or explosions while in use, leading to printer damage
- Branded as originals despite all of the above issues
The blog goes on to stress that “compatibles and remanufactured products aren’t to be confused with counterfeits” as both compatible and remanufactured cartridges “match the quality of OEM’s in every aspect, from performance to reliability and yield”.