In the printer business, manufacturers are selling their printers in a very attractive price, it costs very little to own a printer. How do printer manufacturers make profit from selling a printer?

Ink Cartridge

Every time you print, ink is consumed. Since the manufacturers produce ink by themselves, they make profit from you when you purchase a new pack of ink. their business model is

Selling printers cheap, while keeping the selling price of ink cartridge sky high.

We as a consumer, do not like this business model, and demand for a cheaper replacement of the genuine ink. As the demand grow, there are third party manufactorers doing business in this area. In the “alternative ink industry“, these products can be found to replace the expensive genuine ink:

• OEM ink cartridges
• Re-manufactured ink cartridges
• Compatible ink cartridges
• Inkjet refills

Warranty Issue

Many printer owners are worried if the use of alternative or compatible  printing ink or cartridges will void their printer’s warranty.

According to 4inkjets.com!(a website for printer ink), the answer is no.

More simply put, this means that your printer warranty cannot be voided just because you choose to use compatible products unless the manufacturer can prove that the compatible product caused direct damage to your printer. In cases such as this, the manufacturer may choose not to repair your printer but your warranty would remain in effect for all other warranty issues.

Buying a replacement ink cartridge

If you want to buy ink cartridges at a reasonable price, you may purchase the alternative ink cartridges at:

• 4inkjets.com!
• 123inkjets.com
• All-Ink.com
• InkSmile.com – Smile at our prices!

Description of various type of ink cartridge alternatives

OEM cartridges

Original Equipment Manufacturer’s or OEM’s make products that will bear the manufacturer’s name on them. Companies such as Epson HP and Canon for instance are name brand products that are made by OEM’s. Since these are brand name products, they are of good quality and tend to be higher priced.

Remanufactured cartridges

A remanufactured cartridge is basically one that has been reconditioned as though it was brand new. It is stripped down and its worn parts are replaced then refilled with fresh ink. It is tested to guarantee good print quality then repackages and resold. Think if it in terms of recycling old ink cartridges, this is basically what happens. It is far more cost effective than buying a refill kit and doing it yourself. Despite what you may hear, the use of remanufactured cartridges does not void the warranty on your printer. Legislation is in place to prohibit this.

Compatible or Generic Cartridges

Compatible or generic ink cartridges are basically clones of the more popular name brands available. They are made 100% with new parts to exceed OEM requirements for quality and reliability, but are far cheaper than name brands. They are an alternative to their higher priced cousins. Again, despite what you may hear, the use of compatible or generic cartridges does not void the warranty on your printer. Legislation is in place to prohibit this.

Inkjet Refills

Another cost effective alternative to higher name brand ink cartridges is what is called a refill kit. Refill kits can be found for basically any brand of printer on the market. These kits come equipped with everything you need to refill your printer cartridge on your own. You get all the ink necessary, both colored ink and black ink, a syringe for injecting the ink into the cartridge and an air balance clip to balance the amount of air inside the cartridge. This is by far the cheapest solution for ink replacement but is time consuming and can be a messy operation.
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