The Truth Behind A Cheap Ink Cartridge - Are You At Risk?

For most things, the term cheap is a positive aspect.  Anything that saves you money is a welcome change to shelling out hundreds of dollars, especially when it comes to refilling your printer’s ink cartridge.  When did it become so expensive to get something printed onto a sheet of paper?

In many cases you can buy a new printer equipped with brand new ink jets for less than you can buy the refills for.  This is, of course, why so many people search out ways to find cheap ink cartridge replacements and often end up causing permanent damage to their equipment if they don’t know what they are picking out.

One way to find inexpensive replacements for your name brand ink cartridges is to search out discount websites and retailers.  Most of the time these outlets will sell name brand “compatible” products rather than cartridges made by the printer manufacturer.

This can be a good idea or a bad idea depending on how careful you are in picking out a retailer.  Find one that is reputable and has a good history of supplying quality cartridges.  Make a small order at the first time and inspect the cartridge very well before you put it into your computer.  You will also want to be absolutely certain that the retailer can guarantee the refills because using another-than-name-brand ink jet refill will often void any warranty or repair agreement with the manufacturer if damages are caused by the replacement ink jet.

Cheap ink cartridges don’t necessarily have to be off-brand.  You can buy discounted products from the manufacturers in the form of recycled and refurbished cartridges.  The best way to go about this is to check out the website of the printer manufacturer and see if they have a recycling program.  Most major manufacturers like Epson, Canon, HP and others like them will have these programs.

They will take back old cartridges, sometimes paying for them but not enough to make a big difference, then refill them and sell them as refurbished.  Other ink companies will also offer this particular type of product line, but you will want to be just as careful as when you are buying off-brand.  There’s no way to know if this remanufacturer had the appropriate equipment to correctly refill the cartridge.

A cheap ink cartridge may save you money when you buy it, but without the proper precautions it can cost you a new printer in the long run.  If you have a very inexpensive printer that costs less than new name brand cartridge replacements, then you don’t have much to lose by testing out a few discount retailers.  However, if you’ve spent upwards of $500 on a high quality photo printer, you may just want to stick with the name brand ink refills.  You will probably find that the quality is better, but if you do happen to find a substitute that works as well then take it and run.

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