Ink cartridges are becoming increasingly more expensive as time goes on, to the point where it is tempting to simply buy a new printer that already comes with a starter ink cartridge! According to HP toner information, the fact of the matter is that the companies that manufacture printers don’t make much profit off the printers at all. This HP toner information explains that is why they are so cheap these days. Companies are willing to break even or take a loss of the printers in the hopes that the consumer will spend the lifetime of the printer buying new ink cartridges.

The HP toner cartridge, for example, can easily cost much more than the average cost of a personal printer. In fact, a magazine did some research and found that the HP toner cartridge costs seven times more per milliliter than a 1985 bottle of Dom Perignon.

Luckily, there are third party compatible parts available today to help combat those rising prices. The compatible cartridges are often half the price. However, you should make sure that you research into the company before you place the order because the quality of some compatible cartridges is very poor and others are very comparable to the original OEM versions.

There are also counterfeiters on the market that produce cartridges under the brand name even though they are not affiliated with the brand name in any way. This is illegal and those looking for brand name cartridges in places other than an accredited retailer should be very careful not to get ripped off.

Compatible cartridges do not violate the warranty of the printers, even though printer manufacturers would love to include those clauses in the warranty. But it is simply not fair to the consumer. Some manufacturers do program their printers to reject cartridges that have been manually refilled by the consumer. I recommend not purchasing these printers, as refilling your own cartridges is a great way to save money.

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