COST OF INK CARTRIDGES DRIVES REFILL IND

[Anonymous]

Cost of inkjet cartridges drives refill market
It is said that nothing is certain but death and taxes.Add “paying too much for inkjet cartridges” to that list.
Small-business owner Amanda Newman runs through a black ink cartridge for her HP printer about once a week. List price for an original equipment replacement is $14.99, but she pays $8 for a refill at Indianapolis’ Carmel Ink and Toner.That’s a savings of nearly $364 a year.”I take in the empty one, and they give me one that’s been refilled,” said Newman, who owns Carmel Consignment. “I don’t see a difference.”Overall, printer ink is a $32 billion market worldwide, said Jim Forrest, a senior analyst for Lyra Research, which studies the desktop printer market.Nearly six of 10 U.S. households have a computer, according to a May 2006 GAO Telecommunications Report. It seems a safe bet that most of those computers come attached to a printer.It’s almost like the monthly cable bill: You’ll complain and whine about it, but you know you’re going to pay.One reason cartridge prices are so high is because so many different cartridges are out there, said Marketing Professor Dan McQuiston of Butler University. And none is compatible with the other.”Absolutely that drives the prices up,” McQuiston said. “That’s probably done by design.”Another issue is dumping — printer manufacturers may be selling their printers at or below cost just to get you locked into their high-priced replacement cartridges.With new inkjet printers costing as little as $49 to $69 already loaded with ink, one may be forgiven for wondering why combo prices for black-and-white and color cartridges cost almost as much.

You can nibble away at those high prices though.
Some office supply stores, such as OfficeMax, will give you a $3 discount on your in-store purchase if you recycle an old inkjet cartridge.Others, such as Office Depot, will give you a ream of copy paper in exchange for your spent cartridge.Walgreens recently rolled out an inkjet refill service at many of its photo labs. About 1,500 of the chain’s more than 5,000 stores now offer the service.Jessica Walker, a photo specialist at the store, said she refills up to 20 cartridges in a shift.

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April 2, 2007 at 10:18 AM