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No one wants to pay full price for anything—especially printer cartridges. This is why many consumers turn to third-party printer cartridges or aftermarket inks.
In the most recent annual printer survey by Consumer Reports, 37% of respondents said they had tried third-party printer cartridges, which cost much less than brand-name products. It's easy to see the appeal of third-party inks: according to CR's calculations, some printer inks may cost nearly $700 in five years.
Usually, third-party printer ink uses refurbished or refilled ink cartridges and sells them at discounted prices.
This spring, when the Supreme Court ruled in Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc. that third-party companies can refill toner cartridges originally sold by printer manufacturers, third-party printer inks became news.
Lexmark argued that Impression infringed Lexmark's patents by refilling and reselling such cartridges. Neither company will comment on the lawsuit. Lexmark, HP, Epson and Impression Products did not agree to discuss ink prices with Consumer Reports. Consumer groups praised the Supreme Court’s decision.
"We believe this is a positive step towards competition, innovation and consumer choice," said Jessica Rich, vice president of consumer policy and mobilization at Consumer Reports. "This is a victory for consumers and small businesses." However, according to Consumer Reports testers, although many consumers like third-party printer inks, these products are not always very useful. Before buying third-party ink cartridges, you should know the following:
In CR's printer survey, 63% of respondents who have used after-sales ink cartridges said they are as good as brand-name ink cartridges, while 36% of respondents believe that they are not up to standard.
Our testers found inconsistencies with third-party ink cartridges.
Rich Sulin, the person in charge of the CR printer test project, said that some samples did not have any problems, but other samples of the same product "will issue warning messages from their printers or fail to print test pages." In addition, he said, "Some aftermarket inks are effective at first, but they will soon clog the printer head."
Sulin said to ensure that the supplier provides a money-back guarantee, and he recommends that you use ink or toner as soon as possible after purchase.
Consumer Reports does not rate third-party inks because the market is so fragmented-a large number of manufacturers provide fast-changing product lineups for different printer models, which makes comparisons difficult.
If a third-party ink cartridge causes a malfunction, you will have to pay for it-even if it is still under warranty.
For example, Lexmark states that its warranty does not cover failures caused by "products, consumables, or parts refilled or remanufactured by a third party." HP has a similar policy. In addition, Sulin said, the manufacturer may know whether you have after-sales ink installed: “Some printers will scream at you over the Internet connection,” he said.
Canon and Epson introduced supertank printers to replace expensive replacement ink cartridges with refillable ink cartridges that cost about $12 per bottle of ink. In the long run, Supertank printers can save you money, even if their upfront costs are much higher. HP Instant Ink is an ink subscription service that charges a monthly fee based on the number of pages you print, not the amount of ink you use. According to HP, this plan can cut your ink costs in half.
But even traditional inkjet printers differ greatly in the amount of ink they use. Check Consumer Reports’ printer ratings to find printers that do not consume ink.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to remove the reference to invalid printer warranty when using third-party ink. Only damage caused by third-party ink may not be included.
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