Buying cheap inkjet ink off of Ebay...a good idea or not?

[LoveBWVVBR]

This year I've been buying the inkjet ink for DD's classroom printer. I usually go to Staples or Office Depot and buy their store brand, but even that isn't cheap. I see "compatible" ink on Ebay for like $6 a cartridge. Is buying that a good idea or not? My mom is a teacher also and has me convinced that it's refilled stuff that will make a big mess (I guess she tried refilling ink herself for her classroom). Any experiences with the Ebay cheap inks, good or bad?

 

[msmayor]

No experience with 'ebay' ink, but I will say that the experiment I tried to save money buying off-brand ink for my printer failed. Often the cartridge wouldn't work for the normal usage time as it would clog, or just 'really' wasn't compatible with the printer.

I'm back to buying only brand inks.

 

[manning]

If you are a costco member they will refill

 

[Lewisc]

The really cheap cartridges might leak. 100% of the reviews I've read report third party inks are inferior (color wise) to inks made by the printer mfg. Staples brand included. It really depends on what you're printing. Might make a big difference if you're printing photos but not a big deal if you're printing color charts.

Suggestions on saving money.

Are you printing a lot of b&w? An inexpensive monochrome laser printer might offer substantial savings for part of your printing needs.

Buy a more expensive inkjet printer. The really cheap printers, under $100, will cost you $$$ in ink. The more expensive business class printers will accept high capacity print cartridges. The per page cost for ink will be at lot less, with original cartridges. Examples include HP printers. Some of the brother ink jet printers will have a lower per page cost.

I'm not sure if a color laser printer will save in consumables.

Print a real lot. Search the web. Some places have kits for CIS (continuous ink supply). Its a way to run a tube from a bottle of ink directly to a specially modified cartridge.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

It will void your warranty

 

[Lewisc]

It will void your warranty

NOT TRUE. There can/will be an issue if third party ink is the cause of the damage.

This is from one of the sites which sell third party cartridges

What follows is a partial quote from the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act, which protects your rights and your warranty.
MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT
United States Code Annotated
Title 15 Commerce and Trade
Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties
15 Section 2032

... (c) No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection be waived by the commission if:

1) The warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and

2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest.

More simply put, this means that your printer warranty cannot be voided just because you choose to use compatible products unless the manufacturer can prove that the compatible product caused direct damage to your printer. No company, associate, salesperson, or service technician can deny you service or warranty work that would otherwise be covered under a warranty program simply because you use a compatible product. Your consumer rights are protected by the United States Government.



Car manufactures can't void your warranty if you use aftermarket parts. Same law.

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

If you are a costco member they will refill

Ditto this! It was about $9 to refill and there were no leaks!

 

[sheetz]

I refilled my inkjet cartridge using a refill kit that I bought off Amazon and so far it works great. And it's WAY cheaper than buying generic cartridges.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

We don't have a Costco in this area unfortunately or I'd try this.

 

[DawnM]

I buy generic from Amazon. They work fine.

 

[aprilchem]

Also use generic from Amazon as well -in two different printers over about 5-7 years I've never had an issue. I did have one cartridge leak (as I was putting it in the printer), but the same issue happened with the Canon ink the first time I used it (I think I was doing something wrong).

If you read reviews on Amazon you'll see that there are some generic cartridges that seem to work better than others. I usually go for ones that are 3 stars or better, and stick with the same brand once I know it works.

 

[JamesMom]

Now that I homeschool my two boys, I go through paper and ink like water. I probably have printed 3-4 reams so far this year. My printer uses blue and magenta even when just printing black (grayscale). I started using generic ink I bought from Amazon and haven't noticed a difference except in price. I bought a pack of 20 cartridges for $30 and still have over half left. I rarely print pics though I do some color printing. Walgreens is cheaper and better than what I can do at home for pictures.
To prevent leaking when installing, put as little pressure on the cartridge as possible. Any tiny squeeze will push the ink out. YMMV.

 

[starry_solo]

I went to a b&w laser printer. I can get 1000 pages (or thereabouts) with a $50 toner cartridge. I used to refill at Costco, but those would get jammed a lot (no idea why) and then eventually stop reading the cartridge (I would only refill once)