If you own a printer of any sort, you're probably familiar with the fact that ink cartridges can get fairly expensive. That's because liquid ink itself is a pricey liquid – per drop, it will cost you more than fine champagne. It's no surprise, then, that more and more people are starting to consider the budget-friendly world of remanufactured ink cartridges.
If you're not sure about the definition, a remanufactured ink cartridge is simply a cartridge that has been professionally cleaned, repaired and refilled with ink of similar quality. Generally, the cartridge will be tested to make sure it retains the print quality of the original cartridge. Once all that has been done with, the cartridge is finally ready to be sold.
Now, recycled cartridges hold a lot of advantages over OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) ink cartridges. For one thing, there's the price. The types of printers, toners and vendors may vary, but remanufactured cartridges will always be cheaper than their OEM counterparts. Recycling ink cartridges also has a positive environmental impact, as it cuts down on the amount of waste sent to landfills. Finally, recycled cartridges are supposed to be just as reliable as the original ones. Of course, this does depend on the reputation of your seller.
If you're interested in purchasing remanufactured ink cartridges, here are three online stores you should check out:
4inkjets
4injkets are one of the most popular online stores for discount ink cartridges around, and for good reason – they're a complete package. They offer both OEM and remanufactured toner and cartridges, and they sell various products for more than 30 different kinds of printers. Their prices are competitive, and you can always get a discount with a bulk purchase. Their reputation for customer support is decent enough, and they provide a money-back guarantee on the majority of their products. The website is intuitive and secure, and they accept all kinds of payment methods. Buhelo has coupons for 4inkjets.
The one downside to 4inkjets is that they only ship their products to locations in the United States or Canada.
Printer Ink Warehouse
Printer Ink Warehouse is another retailer with an excellent selection of printer cartridges and toner. They do their best to meet the needs of both home and business users, as evidenced by their excellent customer support and detailed walk throughs and instructions for anything related to refilling ink cartridges. They don't offer a lot of discounts to non-corporate customers, but they do have optional purchase orders for large office buyers. All orders are shipped at a flat rate of $4.95, but orders of $45 or more are shipped for free.
TomatoInk
In addition to the standard selection of ink and printer cartridges, TomatoInk also sells secondary supplies and accessories such as printer paper or USB printer cables. One notable exception are the refill kits, which you'll have to buy somewhere else. A lot of products can be purchased at flexible bulk rate discounts, and this works for both small and large orders. The discounts generally range from 3 to 15 percent.
One nice touch that separates TomatoInk from the competition is that they offer some additional benefits to purchasers from schools and the military. These benefits generally include additional store discounts and prioritized customer support.
Author, Freelance writer