Are Ink Cartridges Still A Scam?
Should exploitation of consumers still be the rule for 2020?
On March 15, 2018, AustinMcConnell showed in his video, “Ink Cartridges Are A Scam” the many ways tech product companies make money through printers and their ink cartridges. This includes:
- Sales-y Tech Support
Tech support are trained to offer 20% solving customer issues and 80% selling products to said customers.
2. Push-selling of Old Products at Full Retail Price
Liquidating products that will soon be replaced by new models by having callers to buy them at full retail price (with the callers not knowing said products will soon be put on sale).
3. Manufacturing-Retail Price Difference of 198.47%
Overpricing of ink cartridges from manufacturing price of $00.23 to retail price of $59.95.
4. Printer Ink is One of the Most Expensive Liquids in the World
Inkjet Printer Ink was described as one of the most expensive liquid in the world ($2,700 per gallon) right after Scorpion Venom ($39,000,000), King Cobra Venom ($153,000 per gallon), Chanel no. 5 ($26,000 per gallon), Insulin ($9,400) and Mercury ($3,400 per gallon).
5. Low-Priced Inkjet Printers, High-Priced Ink Cartridges
According to the video, the inkjet printer and its cartridges are sold through the “Razor and Blades” model. Printers are sold cheaply and the money lost at the low printer price is compensated by overpricing printer ink which are needed to buy again and again to use the printers.
6. Microchip Ink Cartridges: What Printer Companies Do NOT Tell Customers
According to printer companies, the microchip was said to monitor the quality of ink and update firmware to improve performance. However, AustinMcConell states that the same microchips induces false low ink notifications, forcing people to buy more ink and wasting the ones that are not really empty. This was proven in the video when a microchip was resetted and would show high ink levels again.
Austin McConell also informed that the same microchips will disable the printer if it detects a refilled used cartridge. This is to ensure that people are buying the company’s original ink instead of third party ink.
Which is Fact? Which is Fiction?
Was AustinMcConnell right about his claims? Or were there things that we are not well-informed of ? Let’s review.
- Tech Support Are Trained to Sell
Fact. John Ragsdale of Technology Services Industry Association stated that companies must shift from service optimization to generating additional revenue from support channels. SYKES, a company of customer engagement services, had even said, “our thinking must evolve from deflecting issues to maximizing opportunity.”
This is done through offering products of preventive measures, maintenance reminders and software expansions.
2. Companies Sell Products that will soon be on Sale at Full Retail Price
Unconfirmed but possible fact. Companies who do this are not breaking the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines against deceptive pricing if the products are not yet on sale. This method of liquidating old and surplus inventory is on par with exposing and promoting old models to existing customers -the callers.
3. More Than a 100% Manufacturing-Retail Price Difference
Unconfirmed due to confidential company information. This would beg the question, “Why is Ink Cartridge Expensive?” Here are the reasons given:
- Ink Technology is Expensive
In 2010, Thom Brown, HP marketing manager, explained that ink technology is expensive to develop which had cost them $1 billion a year. Better research leads to higher quality. The demand for quality print has led to quality ink that must withstand 300 degrees then vaporized and squirted at 30 miles per hour in a rate of 36,000 drops per second, through a nozzle as small as one third of the width of human hair. Which must dry instantly on paper.
That’s understandable. But people are still going to buy cheaper third party ink with similar or near good quality.
- Ink is expensive. Or is it?
According to Wired, Printer Ink consists of 95% water. The 5% consists of dye, antifreeze (to mix water and dye together), EDTA (to prevent metal ions from the sealing adhesive strip of the cartridge from causing nozzle jamming), ethoxylated acetylenic diols (to give the right surface tension), cyclohexanone (to help the ink stick to slippery glossy paper) and butyl urea (to slow paper shrinkage when ink dries).
Most of the ingredients that make 5% of the ink are priced up to $20 each per kilogram or gallon. For example, Direct Blue 199 Dye costs $1.20-$19.99 per kilogram. Antifreeze costs $9.04 to $23.44. Ethoxylated acetylenic diols costs $5-$25 per kilogram. Majority of EDTA costs $1-$10. Majority of cyclohexanone costs $1-$5. However, butyl urea costs $738 per 500 grams.
But even so, these ingredients only make up 5% of ink in each cartridge.
4. Printer Ink is One of the Most Expensive Liquids in the World
Fact. Printer Ink is the 9th most expensive liquid in the world. It costs $2380 per gallon last 2019. Printer Ink is more expensive than Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid (GHB) and human blood.
5. Ink Cartridges are Expensive Because Printers are Sold Cheap
Fact. According to Consumer Report, ink cartridges are expensive to pay off the actual cost of the printer. IHS Markit, a global information provider, confirmed that the cost to build a printer is higher than most retail prices of consumer printers. For example, IHS estimates that a $70 HP Envy 4520 has the manufacturing cost of $120 -research, development and shipping not included.
6. Microchips Give False Low Ink Notifications and Disables Printers
Fact. But this is due to the theoretical page yield based on standardized page yield tests encrypted on the chips.
The printer counts the number of pages it prints with the cartridge and encrypts the data on the chip. It will then estimate toner level by retrieving the cartridge’s page yield and the number of pages it has printed.
For example, if a black ink cartridge has a page yield of 300 pages and the printer logs into the chip that it has printed 225 pages with the cartridge, the printer will say the cartridge has a low ink level of 25% even if you would only print one line on each page.
Do printers still disable after detecting a refilled used cartridge? After losing to two lawsuits in 2010, HP now distributes ink cartridges with “empty” chips to allow refills. However, people must work around ink level monitoring in their printers to allow them to print. Here are ways to do it.
The Youtuber had asked people to demand printer companies to do better: affordable ink, printers that work and printers that last.
Now That It’s 2020, How Much Has Changed?
Not much at all.
- Print Manufacturer Ink is still expensive
People still buy third-party ink for its cheaper price. Realizing that they cannot compete with low prices, printer companies try to sell convenience through ink subscriptions and ink tank printers. However, their business strategies carry their own set of problems. Instant Ink subscription for example, will deactivate your ink cartridges when you don’t pay on time. One tweet went viral upon sharing that Instant Ink deactivates usable ink cartridges if you cancel in the middle of you subscription. Savings with ink tanks are not higher than using third party ink in the long term.
- Printers still get error messages and other issues
Last September 2018, HP lost a lawsuit where consumers accused HP of installing “Dynamic Security” firmware on HP OfficeJet and OfficeJet Pro printers that give fake error messages when non-HP ink cartridges are used. Due to the firmware, it increased more ink sales for HP than printer sales. The class action settlement costs HP $1.5 million.
Printer errors are still common. It can still give false ink notifications on remanufactured ink cartridges. Fortunately, there are now many sources on how to work around printer issues.
- Printers are having shorter lifespans
In 2008, the average lifespan of printers is 5.3 years. In 2015, it’s 4.2 years. This is because printers are being designed with finer and finer nozzles, that upon increased use, shortens the life of the printhead.
To answer the question, “Are Ink Cartridges Still a Scam?” We would say Printer Manufacturer Ink are still overpriced. What we can do is buy smart, demand better products and support our consumer watchdog organizations to prevent printer manufacturers from obstructing our right to buy more affordable ink from other parties.
