If you are looking for toner you probably understand just how quickly most businesses, libraries, schools, and other offices go through it, and how expensive it can be to restock. Toner sales are hugely profitable for their sellers, making up for slim profit margins on printers, but this competitiveness has provided the fertile soil to grow an entire aftermarket of remanufactured toner, toner refill kits, discount toner, and (unfortunately) toner scams. While this system can be expensive and even dangerous for those who tread wrongly, if you do your homework and understand some basic rules and tips you can keep your printers printing for far less than you would otherwise. Here are some details to be aware of.
Each company out there makes a huge variety of printer families; often with a number of printers in each family and a variety of cartridges that fit each printer (some color, some with more or less toner inside). Thus, when you are searching for toner for a specific printer on a marketplace like Amazon or eBay, or even on Google or other comparison sites, you should always enter the full long tail search phrase, including the make and model of the printer, and the specific cartridge number if you have it. For instance, instead of searching for Dell toner, which will return a huge number of results, you should instead search for Dell 1320c toner, as this will return a menu of the cartridges appropriate for that printer, making your search shorter and far more relevant as well.
You should also be aware of the different types of marketplaces out there. For instance, sites like Amazon and eBay will tend to have a huge variety of sellers selling individual products, usually one to several toner packs at a time. While this can be convenient if you don’t use a lot of toner and only shop once in a while, it does pose risks as a lot of the bottom barrel LaserJet toner listed is unfortunately low quality made overseas, which will also take a very long time to ship to you. If you want to make sure you are getting quality product from eBay (toner that works when you get it, ships fast, has customer service reps who speak your name, and is of decent printing quality) you will want to stop sorting by price and instead sort by the user review rankings of those who have bought the product. If the company sells junk, they will tend to either have a lot of bad reviews, or will have a storefront with very few reviews (as they will constantly be creating new accounts to sell without the user review penalties eBay and Amazon assign). Buying this low quality junk is a bad idea as it can damage your printer, waste your time and money, and also can be a headache to get a refund from (your purchase is always covered by the marketplace, but if you receive a low quality product your claim may not be recognized—you would need to have not received it or else received a pack that was outright broken.)
To avoid these hassles, consider buying from a large online retailer. Not the actual hardware manufacturer, as the homepages of HP, Samsung, Brother, Lexmark, and Dell toner etc… tend to overcharge you on your product fiercely, under the pretense that their premium prices guarantee quality product. Large well established ink and toner storefronts will often offer the same products, as well as a variety of quality third party remanufactured toner packs, for a fraction of the cost. Not only this, but these third party packs typically come with the very same customer service you would get from the OEM company due to the fierce competition between large toner retailers online. Everyone wants to guard their customer base, and do it with quality selling practices.
While it is true that third party toner packs have a much higher failure rate than the OEM stuff, it is also true that these packs can actually print more pages a pack (for a fraction of the cost) and if your pack is covered by a decent and established company, then what is the worry? These sites are also convenient for those who like to watch for sales, as a good bulk order during a sale period can easily save a grand. Fast shipping speed, combined with quality equipment and customer rewards—it isn’t surprising more and more are going with the big little guys. Run any search for ink and toner online and they are easy to find.
Since the 1970s this scam has been going down continually. It’s called the Toner Phoner scam and it starts innocently enough. A young, professional sounding woman will call your secretary and inquire about what printer or toner your office uses, typically under the guise of a survey taker or even your regular printer supplier or maintenance team. This fishing seeks two pieces of information vital for the scam to work: the name of your supply manager and the specific toner cartridges (which they can easily find with the make and model of your printer) that your company orders continually.
This scam only works when companies are large and frantic enough that large supply orders are common and attention to detail is lacking—and it only works when the information above is provided by careless secretaries or other employees caught off guard. Information privacy means more than good passwords and secure client folders. It also includes the hardware your office uses every day. When you have an employee slip up and provide this information the scammers will ship your company a normal looking shipment of the correct ink with the correct name on it. And then at the end of the next month you get a bill for the correct product, which you have received, but which is being sold at hugely inflated prices. If you pay for it, you lose money on a product you didn’t order. If you call them on their bluff they may become belligerent, sending angry letters and calling repeatedly to pressure your company into paying up. The best option: never give them a foothold in the first place. Ask for credentials until they hang up and if the caller id isn’t hidden pass it on to the Better Business Bureau or another authority. Second best option: don’t pay. Fight them down whenever they call. The Fed has made it very clear that product sent without being ordered should be considered a gift, and no payment should be given. And because these scammers often use decent or at least acceptable materials, all the better. The worst thing you can do is give in, as it will cause more shipments to be sent, sometimes (for the unwary) expanding into other office supply products and costing companies a huge amount in inflated prices.
Another similar scam also seeks to rope you into a seller-buyer relationship you didn’t sign up for. In this scam, which goes by a number of names, you receive, by phone or email, a free trial offer on a new type of, say, Dell ink cartridges . Taking initiative you say that your company would love to try out this new material and report the results. There are no visible contracts or agreements set in stone, so when you actually get your ‘free trial’ you don’t notice the fine print that says your trial is only eligible to be free if the box is returned unopened by a certain date or a form is filled out and returned immediately. In the end it is all about creating an artificial breach that the scammer hopes will result in you paying up for something you didn’t buy into. And they won’t mind bullying and threatening to get you to pay up, even though, again, they have no legal legs to stand on.
This is in huge contrast to a reputable ink and toner provider. You may want to avoid buying from the original printer makers, instead turning to large online printer retailers. These sites are highly responsible, often highly entrenched, and have great customer service backing up their product. Also, and it is highly convenient in a market as vast and confusing as that of modern printers and ink packs, these sites will typically have a printer finder, so you can go in and enter Dell 3110cn toner or Dell 5110cn toner and end up with a dropdown menu and comparisons of all the different toner or ink packs that will work with your system and all the different options for manufacturers and types. Typically you can find high volume and low volume cartridges, color and black and white, remanufactured, refilled, and original all on one drop down. Deals on free shipping as well as customer appreciation and reward systems, and discounts for large orders, all help to make these retailers more attractive than ever to business and individuals shopping for toner and ink at prices below those of the big boys. Know your supplier, make sure they know you, and don’t talk to anyone else about your office supplies no matter what they claim to offer.
If you do any kind of color printing, whether it be personal photographs, fliers for an event, or a professional design project, all of your print jobs have one thing in common: the ink or toner that goes on the page. It is easy to overlook the technology you use every day, but I am the curious type. Have you ever wondered how color ink is made?
Colored inks have been made for many centuries, however, it took a long time for people to figure out the most effective mixtures of ingredients. Early inks were predominantly black or off-black and were used for writing. However it did not take long for people to realize that ink had its own pleasing texture that is very different from paint, and color inks came into use.
There are two kinds of color inks: pigment based inks, and dyes. Both use natural coloring from a variety of vegetable, animal and mineral sources. The main difference is that pigment inks have larger particles that settle on the surface of the page, whereas dyes have the color fully dissolved in them and stain it into the fiber of the page itself. Most modern printers use pigment inks, because they are less likely to bleed and result in higher quality images. Toner is essentially a dry form of pigment that is put onto the page with heat in a laser printer.
It is amazing how many millennia of human ingenuity went into devising the things we now take for granted. All of your print jobs rely on discoveries that go back to ancient times. Who knew!
There are many reasons to have a home printer. It makes it easier for your children to do their homework, it saves you trips to the copy shop, and if you work from home it is a must. But with a home printer comes the cost of replacement toner cartridges. Toner cartridges always seem to run out at the worst time and the price always seems to be going up. Is there anything you can do to keep the cost down on toner or ink? I thought it was just the cost of doing business until I discovered toner refills.
Many people do not use toner refills, maybe because they do not know they exist or maybe because they are not sure how to use them. After all, you want to get something that will be easy to use, right? But refilling a toner cartridge is actually very simple. Toner refills come in the form of large bottles, often enough to fill 10 or more home cartridges. You simply pop open your existing cartridge and top it off with the toner from the refill bottle.
Refills are much cheaper than replacement cartridges. People think this is the kind of thing only a large office would use, but it saves money at home too. They do not take up much space and, as an added advantage, they mean you always have a little more toner on hand if your printer runs out at the worst time.
I recommend looking at this option next time you are at an office store. It is a great way to save money and make your life easier!
Most printers and copiers use one of two substances: toner, which is a dry powder, or ink, which is a liquid. However many people overlook the superior third option, Solid ink. Solid ink is the preferred medium for design professionals and I would argue that it is better for other businesses and household consumers as well. Here is why.
First off think about the reality of working with toner and ink. Anytime you change or refill a cartridge you are in danger of spilling some. Even if you are careful, cartridges often leak a little just from being handled. Toner is dry so it is not as likely to stain, but it is a fine powder so it gets everywhere. Ink is a liquid and when it gets on your hands (or shirt!) you will be seeing those marks for weeks. Not so with solid ink. Solid ink comes in solid sticks. These are heat-activated inside the printer, so unless they are heated up they do not stain. You can literally handle them with your bare hands and have no problems.
Second, think about cost. Early in their history solid ink was a specialty medium that was only used by large design firms. The result is that it has a reputation as being expensive. However, the price has come down and is now competitive with – sometimes much lower than – conventional ink and toner.
If I have a choice between something that is clean, professional and gives high quality results or something that is messy for the same price, I know which one I would choose. How about you?
Deciding on a printer for home use can be a very difficult choice. Many people recommend laser printers, even though they cost more, but I think an Inkjet Printer is a much more economical choice if you know what you are doing. Lasers are winning the popularity war but there are some solid advantages to an inkjet. Plus (most important) you can save some serious money. Here is how.
First off it is important to understand the difference in inkjet and laser printers. Both are great, high tech modern devices and both are capable of very high quality printing. Laser printers use heat to put dry, powdered toner on the page, whereas inkjet printers use tiny nozzles to spray liquid ink on the page. This is why inkjet printers are cheaper: the most important parts of them are simple analog nozzles, without all the complicated expensive electronic components of a laser unit.
This is where a common misconception comes in. A lot of people think a laser unit gives a higher print quality and that is how they justify the higher cost of laser printers. However, out of the box an inkjet gives almost identical results. It is only because of improper maintenance that inkjet will show any printing mistakes over time. To properly care for an inkjet printer, you simply take out the nozzles twice a year and soak them in some warm water. This makes sure the ink does not start to clog and affect printing quality.
It is funny how a simple step like this, that takes only a few minutes a year, can make such a dramatic difference. If you read your manual you can get great results from an inkjet and save a lot of money.
How do you do your toner shopping? If you are like most people you just grab whatever catalog or mailing came from the nearest big box store and place and order. But what if I told you that you could save a metric ton of money by doing online toner shopping? Not a bad deal right?
It is important to understand why this works. The first thing to remember is that real-world stores have a lot of hard costs that web businesses do not. A big ticket office supply store may get a bulk discount for moving so much inventory, and they will pass that savings to you, but they pass their costs to you too. Many online stores get the same bulk discounts on wholesale as the big stores, but they have less cost. They do not have to pay for buildings, parking lots, large numbers of sales staff, or nearly as much advertising. This is to your advantage because they can (and do) charge you a lower price without sacrificing profit margin.
A second thing to understand is consumer psychology. Once you take the time to go to a physical store, you have made an investment. You have spent time, gas, and your own energy to go somewhere. You have other places to go. If you do not find what you want, or do not like the price, you are likely to settle for whatever they have at whatever they charge. It would be too much effort to go elsewhere. Online stores know they do not have this power, because you can easily click away to a competitor. Thus they have an incentive to offer you the best prices they can.
This is why I always recommend online shopping for toner. Try it out and see if you can save some money!
Like many people I am self employed and work out of my home. Unlike many people I keep careful records, which is how I found out that my printing costs have been rising. I looked into it and lucky for me I found a Printing Guide that has shown me how to control my printing costs and keep everything in the affordable range.
I cannot give away everything but I want to pass one of the tips I have learned so that you too can save money on your printing costs, whether for home or business.
Something that really startled me was the importance of maintenance. With a car I know I need to change my oil twice a year or I will end up having worse gas mileage and more serious engine issues. Somehow I never thought this extended to printers and copiers but it sure does. Every office machine comes with instructions on what kind of long term maintenance is needed. What happens if you do not follow the instructions? Well, your machine may end up dying sooner than you wanted. More immediately, your machine will begin to waste toner or ink, using more than is needed on each page. This leads to lower print quality, and more reprints, which further wastes toner. The end result is you spend too much buying new toner all the time.
It is amazing what a noticeable difference this makes. Dust off the manual for your printer or copier and check what you can do to maintain it. Run through the maintenance steps and then do a test page. You will see an immediate difference!
If you are looking at getting a new home printer, the cost of a Laser Printer may seem prohibitive. There are a wide range of printer options available out there for home use, some that are very cheap, and you might wonder why you would spend more than you have to. However, like any other major purchase, prices in printers often reflect quality. Paying more up front for a laser printer may have many long term benefits and savings.
First off, consider your alternative. The cheaper option for a home printer is an ink jet. Ink jet printers are fine out of the box, but they require a lot of maintenance to keep working properly. The most common problem is that the jets themselves – the tiny nozzles that squirt the ink onto the page – will start to clog over time. This requires regular cleaning by removing them and soaking them in water. If you have never seen or heard of anyone doing that, then you know exactly how likely it is that you will remember to keep up with it. But ignoring the nozzles means print quality gets poorer and poorer over time, and lots of ink is wasted.
Laser printers do not require this kind of regular maintenance. Just as important, they are more economical on a per-page basis, with higher quality printing, less wasted toner, and less wear and tear over time. The savings on maintenance and per-page cost can mean they cost less over time.
Some people will still skimp and go with the ink jet, but in my experience you always come out ahead by paying for quality.
Your office or home business needs a lot of supplies, from basics like paper and pens to real necessities like toner and ink cartridges and refills. Finding discount toner supplies should be a priority, because a business goes through ink and toner very quickly and they can end up being very expensive. I have been there and I know it is not easy to budget so much money for something that seems so minor. So how can you get discounts? There are some simple ways and I am happy to share them.
The first thing you can do is plan ahead. You are probably familiar with bulk discounts; you may even offer them to your own clients depending on what business you are in. The idea is that by guaranteeing you will make a large purchase, you are offered a discount. Everyone wins. This is just as true with toner as with anything else. You may be asking what you are going to do with five or ten times more toner than you need, but toner can sit for long periods of time and still be good. If you buy several years worth at once, you can get a sizable discount.
A second way is to focus on buying refills. This means your staff will need to manually poor the toner from the refill bottle into the cartridge, but it is way cheaper than buying new cartridges every time one runs low.
Follow these tips and you will see substantial long term savings on your office supply costs!
I always get myself into the weirdest situations. I have spent the last four days doing nothing but looking up color ink info. I had a good reason though – it was a bet!
Let me explain. I have this friend at work – maybe friend is the wrong word here – who thinks he is such a know it all and loves to show off by correcting others. Of course, this gets old pretty quickly so I am always on the look out for a chance to prove him wrong. Unfortunately it is pretty hard because he seems to have soaked up all of wikipedia into his head, which just makes me even madder.
But the other day we were talking about how expensive color ink cartridges are and I said, how can they charge so much for a little bit of dye and water? Well, he took exception to that. He told me ink is not the same thing as dye. Excuuuuuse me. Still, I thought I finally had him. I told him he was wrong, and soon, the best was on!
That is what had me doing research. I tried to find something to prove my point, but it turns out ink can be either a dye or a pigment. (The difference is that a dye stains the page, a pigment sits on it like paint). I tried to say the bet was a wash, and neither of us was right… but the ink that is used in printers is apparently pigment based and not a dye. Our coworkers took a vote and ruled that I had lost the bet. Now I am picking up his dry cleaning for a week! But I know I will get my revenge. He has to slip up someday!