Why is Printer Ink so Expensive?

You walk out of the office supply store with a smile on your face and a wallet that’s a little heavier than you expected it to be post-purchase. You just grabbed a nice new printer for a steal! But not so fast, there’s a catch. While the printer itself might have seemed like a good buy, the ink is a different story. At the prices they charge for ink you might think it was liquid gold, or that some of it was made with ink leftover from one of Shakespeare’s ink wells. Unfortunately, this ink won’t make you write like the bard, and the price tag is not a comedy of errors. Here’s why.

ink cartridge expensive

The Incredible Shrinking Ink Cartridge

Do you know about shrinkage? It’s happening in industries across the board by companies looking to cut corners. Cereal boxes are the same height but are less thick, chocolate bars are getting smaller, but prices are staying right where they are. Ink is no exception. Take Espon, for example. It’s T032 color cartridge was released in 2002 and held 16 milliliters of ink. The T089 cartridge, released in 2008, is the same dimensions as the T032 but holds only 3.5ml of ink, which is a 78% decrease in volume.

The tragedy doesn’t stop there. Ink companies are gouging consumers even further with their XL cartridges. Bigger is always better right? Wrong. Bigger is actually just a standard ink cartridge filled with a level of ink that would have been standard volume in the early 2000’s, but is now deemed to be XL. Hewlett Packard makes the HP300 with 5ml of ink, and the HP300XL holds 16ml, which equivalent to Epson’s T032 non-XL standard cartridge.

Manipulating colored ink cartridges is also common. Multi-colored single ink cartridges will stop working once one color runs out, meaning the other colors are wasted. Single color ink cartridges are a better (if only slightly) choice for the consumer.

So don’t throw your money into the endless pit of ink cartridges. Call Time Printers today for Quality Event Materials Printing at 410.566.3005 or click here. We’ll make sure that all’s well that ends well, and your materials will be just as you like them.

Time Printers is a Baltimore, MD family full service printing products and services business. We have extensive knowledge of the printing industry and deep seeded community roots. With our quality printing products, quick turn around and outstanding customer service, your business advertising cannot go wrong. Time Printers is constantly challenging ourselves to stay on the cutting edge of the industry’s standards without giving up their personal touch. We offer the newest technology while at the same time adhering to our extensive history and timeless traditions.

Connect with Time Printers today by checking us out on Facebook, TwitterGoogle+ and Pinterest as well.

Source

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/feb/23/printer-ink-cartridges-paying-more-getting-less

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