The answer depends and hinges on a cost
comparison between buying new cartridges, have them refilled, or
refilling them yourself.
Typically, most remanufacturers’ cost to
refill your cartridges is 20-50% less than the MSRP of a new OEM
cartridge (not the street price). The savings are therefore marginal,
especially considering that many ink and toner remanufacturers use a ‘universal’
ink (or generic toner) that may not be optimized for your particular
cartridge or printer. By comparison, we offer over 250 different types
of inkjet cartridge-specific inks and several hundred different
cartridge-specific toner formulations.
Can your local cartridge recharger offer you the
same variety and number of supported printers? It is doubtful, as most
of them serve a geographically restricted area and simply cannot stock
cartridge-specific formulations of ink or toner. You then get a subpar
product, yet pay actually close to the same amount that you would for a
brand new cartridge on sale.
Besides, use of ‘universal’ ink or generic
‘toner’ affects cartridge longevity. Cartridges can only be refilled
once as the "universal" ink or toner put excessive wear on the
internal parts of the cartridge, thus reducing its usable life.
Additionally, print output with the universal toner or ink may not be on
par with the OEM in print quality and color matching.
Another alternative is the mail order recharger,
but he will actually deliver a worse product than your local recharger.
Why? Because remanufactured ink cartridges tend to fair poorly during
shipping. Leakages are common (particularly if the package is subject to
changes in air pressure) and also common is damage from poor packaging
resulting in printhead or other cartridge damage
How have we reached these conclusions? After 24
years of operation in this business, we have acquired an in-depth sense
for all phases of cartridge recharging or refilling. We have researched
and are constantly researching and supplying specialized equipment (and
inks and toners) to optimize cartridge refilling.
Correct and accurate inks and toners are
critical to successful refilling and optimal printout quality. We also
counsel care in choosing suppliers. We all know how easy it is to
mislead (or plainly deceive) the Internet user and peruser. You may
agree that a demonstrable track record and actual experience are worth a
thousand hyperbolic and unverifiable sales claims.
