It's very easy to save money on printer ink with very little time, money or effort. These tips should help you do this more effectively.
1. Make sure you know about all of the purchase options. There are plenty of choices now for buying ink - you can get new OEM cartridges, you can buy refurbished toner, or you can even take your used ink cartridges to a local refill location and get refilled. All of these options carries costs and benefits, which should be understood.
2. Know your cartridge's shelf life. Refurbished ink and refilled toner cartridges may not last as long as a new cartridge. Depending on the cost savings, you might have a lower effective cost per page buying the more expensive cartridge.
3. Think twice before buying that ink bundle. Most common for color inkjet printers, sometimes the manufacturer will sell all of the color cartridges and black toner in one package, with minimal savings. If the magenta cartridge is all that you need, you can probably get a cheaper price by just buying the magenta cartridge. Many times when people buy the bundles, a few of the cartridges end up sitting on the shelf until after the printer no longer works.
4. Compare prices before you buy. That's where Inkspector will help you in a big way - there are so many different sources out there for ink at such a variety of price points that it is important to compare ink prices before buying. We usually find that the highest prices are when you order directly from the manufacturer, although sometimes you may be surprised by how much you can save.
5. Pay attention to seller ratings and shipping location. When you decide to buy from Amazon, both the location and the rating of the seller matters. The seller location matters because you want to buy cheap ink from a state/province nearby so that it will be delivered quickly. The five-star rating, and number of ratings, matter because you want to make sure the seller has a good reputation.
6. Don't pay a premium just so you can buy directly from the manufacturer. If you have an HP printer, it might not be in your best interest to shop directly from HP.com. This is a common mistake. Printer ink manufacturers sell ink to customers directly, but they also wholesale ink to other providers, who sell the toner at the cheapest prices. This is the equivalent to buying the white-labeled version of an over the counter drug, instead of purchasing the name brand. Ultimately it is the same product, and the price differential is often significant.
7. Read reviews of retailers before buying. There are several reputable ink toner marketplaces on the internet (we feature many of them on our service). Make sure you have read customer reviews and that you are comfortable with their sites before buying. Some online ink websites may be difficult to navigate - so reading reviews is a great way to confirm that they are trustworthy sources for printer ink.