Buying Ink Cartridges Online

Follow these buying guidelines and you will be ensured quality results from your remanufactured ink cartridge.

Remanufactured ink cartridges provide a great cost-effective alternative to buying original equipment manufacturer (OEM) cartridges from the printer producer. Recycled cartridges are disassembled and cleaned, replacement parts added and the ink refilled to produce these cartridges. There are factors to take into consideration when choosing this option, and certain brands and practices will achieve better quality than others.

During the course of remanufacturing printer cartridges, the cartridges are rebuilt by hand meaning they must be checked for any errors following this. Some manufacturers do not test their cartridges due to the costs involved, and for this reason may not be a reliable choice in case of errors in a cartridge. This may not only affect the quality of printout, but also the correct functioning of your printer. It is also extremely important that the components used in the remanufactured cartridge are of high quality: if they are they will provide excellent quality printouts, though the components required will vary according to different printer models.

1. Check The Page Yield

One of the most important considerations when purchasing a remanufactured cartridge is how much you can print before it runs out of ink, otherwise known as the "page yield". The standard test of the yield of a cartridge is by noting how many pages can be printed at 5% page coverage. Some remanufactured cartridge companies may only quote the OEM yield, or will not quote a yield for their cartridge at all, so it is important to be wary when looking at this information.

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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.

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.