Vintage champagne or printer ink cartridges?

The O Team • 14 February 2023

According to Which?, buying printer ink ‘can be more expensive than vintage Champagne or Chanel No.5 perfume’. So why are they so expensive... and how can you make your money go further?

Do you know how a cartridge is manufactured?

It’s a hefty task for printers and copiers to print off hundreds of prints with ink that provides clarity and longevity – no one wants a faded document. Just think how many drops of ink went into the last document you printed and how many colours were created and used. What’s more, we want our documents to dry immediately and not to smear.

Cartridges and toners have to work very hard to not get clogged up and to ensure your document comes out exactly how the data went in. That’s a lot of research and development by the ink companies.

Branded cartridges are also the profitable upsell to the often loss-leading printers they are used in. This is the way the companies make their money. So, the branded inks are more expensive than compatible inks (third party ink cartridges and toners).

Which? surveyed around 8,000 printer users to find the best cheap ink cartridges and they were all high-quality compatibles.

Compatibles are always cheaper than branded ink cartridges and toners (originals), saving up to 50% or more in some cases, and also generally contain more ink. With technology advances, compatibles have continued to grow in quality, with the Which? survey finding:

Only 3% experienced cartridges not working in their printer.
Only 1% had any leaks.
Just 2% thought print quality was poorer than expected.

So maybe you don't have to choose between champagne and cartridges if you opt for high quality compatibles! Just give us a call to see how much we could save you >

Oh, and did we mention there is free delivery on all our compatibles too?

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