Printer Consumable pricing finally hits stratospheric levels
Melbourne, VIC 6th March 2019 CEO of Ink and Toner Retailer Inkspot, believes that the genuine Ink and Toner manufacturers, have successfully pushed the prices of genuine (OEM) Inks and Toners to “simply outright obscene” pricing levels and out of many home and business users reach.
Vincent Teubler is CEO of Inkspot, a major online retailer of Ink and Toner in Australia with additional retail stores in every state. Operating since 2007, they have seen the price of Genuine Ink and Toner from companies like HP, Canon, Epson, Brother, OKI, Samsung and Fuji Xerox , continue to increase year on year, to their current levels.
It is a real concern not just for home users but every cost conscious business too. We asked Teubler if there are cheaper alternatives. “Reliable high quality aftermarket (home brand if you will) cartridges are available for practically every printer model nowadays and the home brand or ‘aftermarket’ cartridges can be up to 80% cheaper than their Genuine counterparts.”
According to Teubler, “Officeworks and Inkspot both sell these ‘aftermarket’ Inks and Toners. Customers are demanding more cost effective printer consumables because the price of Genuine cartridges is simply too high. Aftermarkets are the answer and clearly neither Officeworks nor Inkspot would sell these aftermarkets if we weren’t able to source the very highest quality products to meet customers’ expectations”
But is the quality the same for aftermarket? According to Teubler “Go back 10+ years and it was often touch and go if a manufacturer (and practically all cartridges are manufactured in China) could produce consistent quality output and at the volumes we needed. But now there are literally hundreds of quality manufacturers. The trick for us is securing the production line time of the leading manufacturers. They literally manufacture millions of units a month for the US and European markets alone, markets that, like Australia, demand the highest quality products.”
Yet Teubler says that of the nearly 25 Million Ink and Toner cartridges sold in Australia each year, nearly 75% are still Genuine, with aftermarkets making up only the minority. We ask why that is. “A lot of people had quality issues when they first tried aftermarkets years ago. When buying from a reputable retailer, quality is no longer a concern.”
Teubler also believes that many people are fooled into believing that their printers warranty will be voided if they use aftermarket products. “Manufacturers put a line like…’using non genuine cartridges may void the printer warranty.’ Imagine buying a car and being told the warranty on the car will be voided unless you use their brand of petrol. They don’t ask you to because they can’t, and the same is true with printer consumables.”
But then again Teubler says consumers shouldn’t be worried by that anyway. “The price difference between the Genuine and aftermarket alternatives, means you could often times buy yourself a whole new printer for the price difference which in some cases exceeds 4 figures on a single set of cartridges.…let me give you just two quick examples
The Brother HL3170CDW printer can be found online for $218.94
One set of Genuine Cartridges from a leading Office superstore $622.00
Identical aftermarket Cartridges from Inkspot undiscounted $278.00
For the $344 saved you could buy another identical printer plus have $125 left over!!!
The HP Laserjet Enterprise Colour SFP M553N printer can be found online for $864.00
One set of Genuine Cartridges from a leading Office superstore $2025.00 (yep that’s not a misprint)
Identical aftermarket Cartridges from Inkspot undiscounted $625.00
That’s a $1400.00 saving on a single set of toners and enough to get a return flight to Europe!”
Teubler says it is the same story with practically every common printer given that genuine cartridges are now so insanely priced (his words but hard to argue). “There simply is no valid argument for businesses, or indeed home users, to be spending so much on their printer cartridges in 2019.”
Teubler adds that they have even added a comparison site on their web page with the most common inks and toners being sold in Australia and adds, with a wry smile, that they might add a link to a mortgage broker for those still intent on buying Genuine Inks and Toners.
