Why More People Are Choosing Ink Refills Over New Printer Cartridges

2010-01-05

The excessive cost of replacing ink cartridges is one of the main problems with owning a home printer. Ink is extremely expensive for most printers. This is because printer manufacturers sell the actual printers for next to nothing, and then greatly increase the costs of cartridges to make their money back (and then some). Because of this business model, competition in the ink industry is difficult - often, patent law prevents any companies from making competing printer cartridges for the same model of printer. However, some crafty consumers have found ways around this restriction by buying printer ink refills. These kits allow existing cartridges to be filled again and again with ink, and they're rapidly gaining quite a bit of popularity.

Ink cartridge refill kits are inexpensive, often four or five times less expensive than standard ink cartridges. In some cases, the savings are even greater. For most consumers, this is the biggest incentive to switch to ink refills, especially given the poor state of the economy. While the kits aren't available at most stores, they can be easily ordered online. Additionally, many computer users order the ink in bulk for further savings. Printer ink refills are available for nearly every printer on the market, and they're extremely easy to use. Most kits simply require a quick injection into an easy point on the cartridge. This ease of installation makes ink refills ideal for schools, universities and other organizations and companies that use great deals of ink. When installed properly, ink refills are very safe, and the chances of leakage, spills or printing issues are incredibly low. Printer ink refills work as well as standalone cartridges, and the abilities of the printer aren't diminished.

There's also a big environmentalist push to use ink cartridge refill kits. Ink cartridges contain a number of toxic elements, and when they are thrown away, these toxic elements end up in our landfills. Re-using these materials is even better than recycling, as recycling by definition involves breaking materials down and rebuilding them. Cartridges that use ink refills don't undergo this process, they're simply reused in seconds after new ink has been injected.

There are few negatives to printer ink refills, and the list of positives keeps growing. Consumers that use the kits seem to swear by them, and tout them as a great way to save money while being ecologically conscious. It remains to be seen what type of effect this will have on the home computer printer market, but for computer users, the result is obvious; cheap, safe and fully functional printer ink.