Buying Ink Cartridges Online

Recycling ink cartridges not only helps the environment, but your wallet as well.

Small business paperwork often requires printing hard copies of everything from contracts to memos requires frequent printing. Even with the best printer, the cost of printer ink can quickly add up. This guide will help you begin to recycle your printer cartridges to improve your bottom line and, at the same time, make your company more environmentally friendly.

Start by reviewing your existing cartridge costs, so you can immediately see the benefits of starting to recycle ink. Printer companies set high prices on replacement cartridges by limiting easily available alternatives. The good news for your company is that you can buy recycled ink cartridges online, and can also sell used cartridges whether you intend to recycle or sell them. Ink recycling companies make the process easy by providing prepaid labels and packaging to help you return your printer cartridges. Often, ink recyclers provide free next day shipping, even on recycled toner.

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So you're seeing one or more of these performance issues with your printer output:

• Horizontal white lines
• Inconsistent ink coverage (areas in paper where ink is faded)
• "Ghost" images - image that has already been printed shows up again, but much more faded
• Splotches of ink appear on the printed page

Canon PIXUS Printhead

What can be done to try to remedy these issues?

1. Clean the cartridge print head nozzles using alcohol and a cotton swab. The nozzles could be clogged, which leads to uneven dispension of ink. It's also possible to clean the print head via your printer's software (if there is a "Head Cleaning" or equivalent option).
2. Verify that the paper type in the printer matches the paper type listed in the printer's setup.
3. Check that the print head ribbon is securely attached, as it could have come loose.
4. Disconnect the printer from its electrical outlet, and clean the print head electrical contacts with alcohol to remove any paper dust that may have accumulated.
5. Restart both the PC and the printer, and then make sure that all connections are tightly secured.

If the above tips are not successful in solving your printer problems, then I would look at possibly replacing the ink cartridge altogether, as it may be an issue with the print head itself.

Today I'm going to go a bit into the more numerical side of determining what kind of performance you can get out of a given inkjet cartridge. I'll cover some of the basic terms that you'll encounter when purchasing and comparing inkjet cartridges, and hopefully give you a better idea of what exactly they mean so you can make more educated buying decisions.

Defining Page Yield

The straightforward and short definition of page yield is that it is the number of pages that can be printed out of a given cartridge. However, you may ask - wouldn't this number differ based on the type of printing that was done? For example, if "Draft" printer settings were used throughout the life of a printer cartridge, that cartridge would certainly produce more pages than a ink cartridge used on the "High Quality" setting.

The answer is that page yield is measured using a standard called 5% page coverage. The definition of 5% page coverage is approximately the amount of ink used to print a 8.5 inch x 11 inch page with a light heading and title, and three paragraphs of double spaced text.

Therefore, the amount of printed pages you'll be able to get out of your printer varies on how the average amount you print compares to this 5% page coverage. If you regularly print photos from your printer, your page yield will be significantly lower than the manufacturer's quoted page yield, and vice versa if you usually print on "Draft" settings with only a few lines of text on average.

How Is Page Yield Officially Determined?

If you're really interested in how exactly this figure is obtained, then check out the official International Organization for Standardization writeups for page yield, titled "Method for the determination of ink cartridge yield for colour inkjet printers".

Or you could just take our word for it...

At first, many internet customers are a bit wary of purchasing ink cartridges online, especially non-OEM cartridges like remanufactured or compatible cartridges. Indeed, although the cost savings of buying discount ink online can be substantial, what good is a defective or poorly performing ink cartridge?

For that reason, picking a trusted retailer with a good reputation for selling quality ink and a history of positive customer feedback is essential. Today, I'll talk about some of the factors that I look at when deciding whether or not an online printer retailer is trustworthy enough to buy from.

1. Strong positive customer feedback

Does the site have good feedback on services like BizRate? How easy is the site to navigate? Has the site provided an easy way to contact customer support?

2. A history of successful operation

Is the site accredited by the BBBOnline (Better Business Bureau)? BBBOnline is a program that verfies the information of a business and makes sure it is operating within standards in areas like customer support.

3. Return policy and moneyback guarantee

How long does the return policy extend to? What are the conditions of return? Do I pay shipping for a return? Does the moneyback guarantee have any restrictive terms?

4. Must have HackerSafe seal or equivalent displayed on site

When I buy items online, I need to be sure my credit card information will be kept safe. Is the site protected with an SSL security certificate?

5. Competitive pricing

Of course, I love saving money buying ink. I compare prices using services like InkHunt, a ink pricing comparison site.

Examples Of Retailers That Meet The Above Criteria

123Refills

Well established, trusted supplier with tons of great customer feedback.

4Inkjets

Another supplier with lots of positive feedback and excellent customer support.

The above factors are a great starting checklist when choosing a reliable retailer for ink cartridges. There are more I look for to make sure I get a good deal, and I will be sharing those in a later post.