Why Do Ink Cartridges Cost So Much?

I always had a question in my mind that “How come, with printer prices falling, ink prices are still so outrageous?”. Today i did little bit of Search ( Google ,Yahoo, Live Search ) over the internet to find the reason.

I found this great article which illustrates the reason very clearly . Here are some other few interesting things that i found. In fact one of my good friend who used to be my classmate while we did Electronics Engineering is working for a company that makes Printers . And he says they make more money by selling Ink for the printers they make than the money they actually make by selling their first line product “Printers”.

Ink jet and toner cartridges are fanning angry sparks in the ink cartridge replacement market–a $21 billion field, according to Lyra Research.

Consumers are annoyed at the price of authorized replacement ink cartridges, and tempted by third-party substitutes that don’t always work flawlessly.

The major vendors, including Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, and Lexmark, are at odds with independent manufacturers of alternative inks. In fact, some big vendors are suing third-party makers of cartridge clones for alleged patent violations. Meanwhile, second-tier ink cartridge makers say they simply offer consumers a choice–at prices that are sometimes 75 percent below what major vendors charge.

The Real Cost

The printer supplies industry has adopted the practice of cell phone and razor blade sellers: Charge low prices for initial equipment, then make money from ongoing fees for additional needed components. Vendors sell consumer printers at cost, or even sometimes at a 20 percent loss, say financial analysts at Bear Sterns who track Epson and HP. But on the flip side, both firms earn a 60 percent gross margin on ink jet and toner cartridges, says Bill Hand, financial analyst with Bear and Stearns.

Those numbers are not exactly true, the vendors say. HP does make money on its printer hardware, according to Pradeep Jotwani, senior vice president of imaging supplies. In a prepared statement, Epson says that it “makes a reasonable profit on both” printer hardware and ink.

Still, consumers grouse about the “give away the razor and sell the blades” business model. Hence, the birth of a market for recyclers to refill used cartridges, or sell cartridge clones at half the price of the brand-name items.

I found a good site in the meantime which provides ink cartridges and toner cartridges. And if you are in UK ( being a UK site ) it has Free UK Delivery . I found lots of brand of ink Cartridges in this site and gained knowledge too.