Fallacy: Printer Manufacturers are Fleecing Consumers

It’s a common phrase: Printers are sold cheap because the manufacturers will make money from you when you buy the cartridges. But is it true? Not really. Genuine ink and toner is more expensive than copies for the simple reason that it is genuine. What does this mean? Companies that sell copy inks can cut corners to make inferior ink or toner so they can sell it at a discount compared to genuine. The non-genuine manufacturers also do not need to pay for innovation in the printer market. Companies such as Hewlett Packard, Epson, Canon and Lexmark spend millions of dollars a year researching inks, printheads and cartridges. Of course, if printers and inks were so profitable, we would be seeing a lot more companies trying to get in on the supposedly lucrative printer and toner and ink cartridge manufacturing, but that is not the case.