Cartridge World, anyone?

[Nords]

Last year we bought an Epson Stylus CX4600 printer for $99.  As TH has pointed out before, we should have bought a used machine through Craigslist and thrown it away when the cartridges ran out.  It's a great machine but the ink is apparently made from atomized gold and the individual cartridges (for the four colors) cost about $28 EACH. 

I've played with the ink refill syringes but the results have been inconsistent.  I also don't want to clog the print head with the wrong type of ink.

Then we saw an ad for Cartridge World.  If we bring in an empty cartridge, refills are only $8.33.  A Business Week article claims that these guys are going to put HP out of the inkjet cartridge business.  The owner of this store, which may be the only one on Oahu, has only been open for 10 months and is already looking for a bigger place with a drive-through window.  I don't think he's joking...

They're a privately-held franchise company.  I'm waiting for the IPO.  Anyone taken a look at these guys?

 

[Danny]

Last year we bought an Epson Stylus CX4600 printer for $99. As TH has pointed out before, we should have bought a used machine through Craigslist and thrown it away when the cartridges ran out. It's a great machine but the ink is apparently made from atomized gold and the individual cartridges (for the four colors) cost about $28 EACH.

I've played with the ink refill syringes but the results have been inconsistent. I also don't want to clog the print head with the wrong type of ink.

Then we saw an ad for Cartridge World. If we bring in an empty cartridge, refills are only $8.33. A Business Week article claims that these guys are going to put HP out of the inkjet cartridge business. The owner of this store, which may be the only one on Oahu, has only been open for 10 months and is already looking for a bigger place with a drive-through window. I don't think he's joking...

They're a privately-held franchise company. I'm waiting for the IPO. Anyone taken a look at these guys?

Looks like a business that will have competition. My local Office Depot is doing refills now...

 

[vic]

I have been doing my refills for years. Never even bothered with the color ones, just been using the black ink. Got at least 70-100K printouts on my Lexmark 3200. The thing just lasts forever. The refill units from inksell.com are less than $3 a piece with free shipping. I am quite experienced with the refilling now and the cartrdiges last for many refills. I also put the print quality on 'draft' which gives more than enough quality (and faster!) with ink lasting for a much longer time. For some reason I could not get any refill kits at Officemax, Office depot and Walmart any more last time I checked. Couple of years ago they all carried it. I guess it is on comeback then.

Vicky

 

[wabmester]

As you might guess, printer makers don't want you to refill your cartridges.   And now they have legal protection against you doing so:

ACRA v Lexmark

So, I wouldn't count on an ink-refiller IPO unless Lexmark's victory is overturned by the courts.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

I have been doing my refills for years. Never even bothered with the color ones, just been using the black ink. Got at least 70-100K printouts on my Lexmark 3200. The thing just lasts forever. The refill units from inksell.com are less than $3 a piece with free shipping. I am quite experienced with the refilling now and the cartrdiges last for many refills. I also put the print quality on 'draft' which gives more than enough quality (and faster!) with ink lasting for a much longer time. For some reason I could not get any refill kits at Officemax, Office depot and Walmart any more last time I checked. Couple of years ago they all carried it. I guess it is on comeback then.

Vicky

My 3200 died on me a few months back.

However, I still have lots of black and color ink refill bottles, so I may try and track a used one down for a few bucks, just to have a backup printer.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

Wab beat me to the point. The business model is cheap printers and make their money on the ink. It's going to be a battle.

I had bad luck with the ink refills (and, BTW, aftermarket laser toner cartridges); when people ask I tell them that but say I've had a few people swear by them.

My solution is to go laser. I used to have an old B&W laser and a color inkjet. Now I have a color laser printer. Sam's had it for $300 or so. Higher up-front costs and higher cartridge cost, but page-per-page much cheaper thank inkjets.

Another alternative would be to get a B&W laser printer and use a service for photo prints. (Kinko's, Wal-Mart, etc..) Color laser aren't as good photo printers as inkjets, but for me it's passable. But if I want better quality I'll try the camera shop.

Back to the topic, I would be wary of investing in ink refillers because there are too many alternative ways to go cheaper and a real possibility of the manufacturers making life hard on the refillers.