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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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