These days you can pick up a printer for next to nothing. In fact a full set of ink cartridges can sometimes come to more than the printer itself. So how can the printers, with the complex technology needed in their design and production, cost less to make than a few cartridges filled with simple ink? Well, the truth is, they don’t.
Printers themselves are often sold at a loss to make you buy the real money-maker – the ink. Once you have their product, obviously you will then need the cartridges for it, so rather than spending a lot on one purchase then little on subsequent others, you end up having to spend a large amount time after time. This means that rather than making one large amount of profit then subsequently getting very little, the printer companies can make huge profits time after time after time.
It may seem somewhat unethical, but the same kind of loss leader marketing can be seen everywhere in retail today. The trick is not to be taken in by the printers that are cheap but instead look into the ink cartridges you can get for the cheapest. In the long run this will save you plenty of money.
There is always another option too – compatible cartridges can be bought from numerous internet retailers at a fraction of the cost of the originals. Whilst there are many fakes out there that use a generic ink for each cartridge, most of these will be found at car boot sales and at markets. Reputable online companies will sell you cartridges designed specifically for the printer you own.
So now, if you look in the right place you can find yourself getting not only a bargain on the printer, but also a bargain every single time you need a new cartridge.