Discount Inkjet Cartridges: A Money Saver?

Category: Printing

Here's a common question from AskBob readers: “Are discount inkjet cartridges really a good deal?” Some people say they will save you lots of money. Others says they will they ruin your printer, void your warranty, or provide poor print quality. So what's the scoop on those cheap ink cartridges? Read on for my personal experience and advice concerning discounted, refilled or remanufactured inkjet cartridges...

Should You Buy Discount Inkjet Cartridges?

It's hard to ignore the significant price difference between “brand name” ink cartridges supplied by printer manufacturers such as HP, Canon, Epson, Lexmark, and the “no-name” alternatives. Compatible off-brand, refilled or remanufactured inkjet printer cartridges typically cost 15 percent less than OEM (original equipment manufacturer) cartridges at Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy and other physical retail stores that sell computer supplies.

Online, the deals are even more tempting. You may find websites selling discount inkjet cartridges costing 30, 50, or 70 percent less than brand-name goods. Nonetheless, many people shy away from buying refilled or remanufactured ink cartridges, for a variety of reasons.

There is a persistent rumor that using anything other than manufacturer branded OEM cartridges will void a printer's warranty. That is not true, at least in the United States. The 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C.A. 2302) forbids the conditioning of a warranty upon the purchase of any product or service "which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name."

Discount Inkjet Cartridges

In other words, your printer's warranty cannot be voided just because you used an ink cartridge from a third-party seller. That doesn't stop some vendors from trying scare tactics and other dirty tricks, though. More on that later...

Whether an off-brand compatible or remanufactured discount ink cartridge will perform as well as an OEM cartridge depends, of course, on how well it is made. A fly-by-night outfit may use inferior inks that don't produce vibrant, non-fading colors; skimp on cleaning print nozzles and other parts; or skip quality control testing to save money. Shoddy cartridges can leak and ruin the electronics of a printer.

Discount Inkjet Cartridge Suppliers

To find a reliable supplier of discount ink cartridges, try searching for your printer model online along with keywords such as "Epson compatible ink", "HP refilled cartridge" or "Canon remanufactured" inkjet printer cartridges. Look for suppliers who have loyal fans and have been in business for a number of years. Also look for warranties provided by suppliers. One supplier I've used is LD Products, which has been around for over a dozen years, and offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all products.

Here's a personal example: My HP OfficeJet Pro uses a cartridge which retails for $49.99. LD sells a remanufactured replacement cartridge for $8 that works beautifully. Print quality and page yield are the same as the OEM cartridge, and I save $42 (about 85%) on each one! For years, I was buying the expensive HP-labelled cartridges from an office supply store, under the false assumption that generic or remanufactured cartridges might not work in my printer. Of course LD also offers replacement ink cartridges for Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, Lexmark and other popular brands.

If this sounds like a sneaky advertisement for LD Products, well, it's not. I'm just a happy customer passing along a tip, and LD doesn't give me any special treatment or incentives. I've also used 123Inkjets.com and found that their products and prices are generally great as well.

Amazon also sells inkjet cartridges from a variety of third-party sellers such as SPEEDYINKS, Greencycle, E-Z Ink, and others. I have no personal experience with any of those sellers, so I'd advise you to check the ratings and reviews before ordering. And again, look for a long-term track record. A boatload of glowing reviews and five-star ratings appearing all at once can be indicative of a dishonest paid review scheme.

The popular office supply store Office Depot also sells their own brand of laser toner and inkjet printer cartridges, which they say are manufactured using ISO-certified processes, and are made "to meet OEM performance standards." These ink cartridges are guaranteed compatible with the OEM branded cartridges in quality, reliability, and page yield. Office Depot, Staples and other office supply stores sell replacement cartridges for Canon, Dell, Epson, Hewlett Packard, Lexmark and many other printer brands.

Ignore the Scare Tactics

Printer manufacturers, of course, don't like it when people use compatible, refilled, or remanufactured ink cartridges. That's because they make more money selling ink than printers. Witness the $69 price tags on the Canon Pixma MG3620 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer and the HP DeskJet 2752 All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer. If entry-level printers like these do come with ink, it's a small-capacity cartridge.

Some OEMs have tried many ways to discourage consumers from buying discount ink cartridges, and have also tried to sue remanufacturers out of business. Generally, courts have upheld consumers' rights to save money with compatible and remanufactured ink cartridges. In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Lexmark, which was suing a company that sells refilled ink cartridges. That's legal affirmation from the high court that third-party companies have the right to continue selling refilled or remanufactured ink cartridges. So the best OEMs can do today is to try to scare you.

Some OEMs include software with their printer utilities that checks the "authenticity" of newly installed ink cartridges. If the software detects a remanufactured cartridge, a warning pops up on your screen telling you that the cartridge is not "genuine" and "may" damage your printer. If this happens, press the "I Like To Save Money and You're Not Scaring Me" button.

But sometimes OEMs take it to the next level. A while back, my HP printer displayed a message saying that all four of my (third-party) inkjet cartridges “appear to be damaged” and I could not print anything. HP had effectively locked my printer with a software update, in an attempt to force me to buy their cartridges. Fortunately, the nice folks at LD Products were willing to replace my cartridges. I have not had a problem since, but HP continues to warn about non-original cartridges and nag me to buy their inkjet supplies.

Personally, I've never had a print quality problem with remanufactured or compatible ink cartridges. (Years ago, I ruined a few shirts while trying to refill my own cartridges, but that's another story.) Using them is a great way to save money and recycle plastic cartridges. Some remanufacturers partner with local charities to collect empty cartridges, paying a bounty on each cartridge to the charities. That's a good way to spread the benefits of recycling around.

Try a Tank?

There’s one other option I should mention when talking about inkjet printing. The cartridge-free “tank printers” such as the $230 Epson EcoTank ET-2850. Epson says you can save up to 90 percent using their low-cost high-capacity replacement ink bottles, compared to the cost of ink cartridges. One set of replacement bottles is equivalent to about 80 individual cartridges. Each ink bottle set includes enough ink to print up to 7500 pages black, or 6000 color.

Epson was the pioneer in this field, but HP, Canon, and Brother also make tank printers. Check out the HP Smart Tank, Canon SuperTank, or Brother INKvestment Tank models.

Have you tried using discount inkjet cartridges, either compatible or remanufactured? I'd like to know your experience with them. Post your comment or question below…

 
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Most recent comments on "Discount Inkjet Cartridges: A Money Saver?"

(See all 41 comments for this article.)

Posted by:

Jonathan
22 Jun 2023

We have a local small business that refills our cartridges.

After our own experiment refilling our own and spilling most of the ink, we have found this is the way to go for us.

Also when we needed a new printer our number one goal was a low ink user. We got a Brother which does not squirt, and waste, ink every time it is powered on, like our old HP did.


Posted by:

Elsie Voorheis
22 Jun 2023

I have used refilled cartridges for years, from Inksell, Inkfarm, and others. Since I've been buying refilled or refilling them myself, I have saved hundreds of dollars.
I have an HP Officejet Pro and have had many other Hps, a Brother and I believe an Epson. You can't beat Hp's quality, if you can get around their schemes to prevent you from using their own ink.
I even refill the off brand cartridges.


Posted by:

Daniel Wiener
22 Jun 2023

I've had the same experience as many others here. One time I foolishly updated the firmware on my printer (never, never do that!) and it locked out the ink cartridges from LD Products. LD Products was extremely cooperative and sent replacements for those cartridges. Apparently they are constantly having to reprogram their ink cartridges to circumvent each firmware update from each printer manufacturer.

Of course anytime I have a printer problem, and try calling the manufacturer for technical support, the first thing they ask is if I'm using their genuine ink cartridge, and if not I should buy it. The second thing they want me to try is to upgrade the firmware. So I have to ignore that advice. LD Product's technical support is often more helpful. But in the end I have to accept the fact that printers eventually wear out, and a new one must be purchased from time to time when the old one is failing.


Posted by:

B
22 Jun 2023

I have used LD replacement cartriges for years in my Brother printer and never had a problem. The savings are incredible. Also, if you call LD, you get through immediately and a knwledgeable, helpful English-speaking person answers.


Posted by:

David Holt
22 Jun 2023

I use an Epson XP-600 and have printed literally hundreds of letter-size full color photos using cartridges and ink from Inkproducts, Inc. in Florida. They also sell (sold) refillable cartridges for this printer, so I have two set of them, one in the printer and a second set filled and ready. The company has always provided quick service and high quality ink; Im a firm believer in their products. I do the the "slap on the wrist" message from the printer when a cart is replaced; i simply tell it to go ahead and use the infidel.
One caution: I will not let the printer update its firmware. I've a friend who had the same printer. After a firmware update his would not accept anything other than genuine Epson ink.


Posted by:

Cameron C. Cook
22 Jun 2023

I have used LD Products in my Epson ink jet printer for several years and an LD Products laser replacement for my Canon laser printer. Both have worked flawlessly for me.


Posted by:

Cameron C. Cook
22 Jun 2023

I have used LD Products in my Epson ink jet printer for several years and an LD Products laser replacement for my Canon laser printer. Both have worked flawlessly for me.


Posted by:

Andrew S Mace
22 Jun 2023

I've been a mostly very happy user of LD cartridges in my Epson Workforce printer for four years. In the past 7-8 months, though, the printer no longer plays well with the LD black ink cartridges. Why, I don't know, but reverting to "genuine" Epson black cartridges solved the problem! So long as I can save on the color carts, I guess I can resign myself to paying for Epson's own black cartridges!


Posted by:

Ernest N. Wilcox Jr. (Oldster)
22 Jun 2023

LD is my go-to when I need a new inkjet cartridge. I am currently using a Canon Pixma MX490 Printer/Scanner/Fax device. I've had it for longer than I want to admit, but it is still working well, and the only time it ever had any Canon inkjet cartridges in it was immediately after I got it. I've had other printer brands (another Canon, a Brother, a Lexmark, and an Epson dot-matrix [my first printer]. I can't remember any of those model numbers. I refilled my own cartridges for the Epson and IIRC the Lexmark, then I found LD products, and I have been getting my cartridges from them ever since. My printers have all lived a long, useful life, and I have never had any trouble with any of the cartridges I got from LD. All my printers have done a good job of outputting crisp, clear, vibrantly colored pages whether they be text, images, or a combination of the two, at least since I started using re-manufactured cartridges from LD. I get nothing from LD for posting this, and I have absolutely no affiliation with them other than being a very satisfied customer.

This has been my very long experience using LD Products' inkjet cartridges.

Ernie


Posted by:

Gary
23 Jun 2023

It seems I'm the only one who had trouble with using ink not from the original manufacturer. I had to throw away my Kodak Printer after using 123 inkjet years ago. I'll pay the price from the original manufacturer and not have to worry about getting a new printer.


Posted by:

James Grant
23 Jun 2023


Aw.

I thought I was the only one happy with LD brand.


Posted by:

Earl
23 Jun 2023

Years ago tried several manufacturers or should I say remanufacturers and had poor results. For the last two and a half years, in my Canon PIXMA MX-490 I have used remans/refils from Swift Ink (Plymouth, MI) and they have always worked perfectly. I always say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". They work well for me.


Posted by:

chris
23 Jun 2023

All it takes is one bad experience. And I had one. So, never again am I going with a on-brand cartridge. Of course, I only buy one cartridge, B&W, per year, so my costs are a lot less than others.


Posted by:

chris
23 Jun 2023

non-brand not on-brand


Posted by:

Dana Lynch
23 Jun 2023

I used to buy ink cartridges from LD Products for years for my Canon mx922. They are cheap but color not like original. So I started refilling my cartridges using ink dye and pigment dye from BCH Technologies. Slightly higher but the color looks like original Canon ink cartridge colors.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Did I mention that I ruined a couple shirts? :-)


Posted by:

Jim
23 Jun 2023

I use "ColorWorld" ink in my Canon printers as well as EZInk. So far, haven't had a problem with either (as far as printing is concerned). I'm satisfied with the color they produce; can't compare the results to OEM cartridges, don't spend the money to buy them...


Posted by:

Bob K
23 Jun 2023

Hi Bob,

You recommended LD Products a while back, and I have been a happy customer since that time.
Disclosure: I use B&W cartridges only.


Posted by:

Bob K
23 Jun 2023

Correction: I use Black cartridges only.
( I photograph in B&W a lot :-)


Posted by:

Karena
10 Jul 2023

I've used 123inkjets.com (I'm pretty sure from a previous recommendation from Bob) - never had any problems. I got rid of my Brother, though, after it refused to SCAN when it had no ink!


Posted by:

Alfred Thomas Priest
25 Jul 2023

Based on your recommendation, I ordered black ink for my Epson XP-7100 printer on June 28th. My order arrived on July 19.

I installed their cartridge on July 22. I printed a 4 page booklet test file and noted several characters with problems. I printed 2 more copies; same problems. I thought I could live with the problems so I started to print 18 copies of the same file. I stopped printing when I saw the first 2 copies; they looked like the printer had run out of ink.

I replaced the LDP cartridge with an Epson black ink cartridge and got 18 normal prints with no problems.

My test is completed, LDP does not work for me! PDF copies of the LDP and Epaon ink prints are available if desired


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