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Why do we not see a standardisation of bloomin’ printer ink cartridges ?

Hi Folks,

Yes and no is my answer to would you agree…

There is definately an overwhelming number of cartridges, however, this is seemingly being pushed by the technlogy changes in part. For instance, HP have their ink delivery system in the actual cartridge (as do Lexmark) which means that each time they develop a new delivery technology they need to create the adjustments to the cartridge itself. Having said that, it seems to me that in many cases the adjustments could be made to fit with existing cartridges. This is where part of the problem comes in though – if they made those advancements to the cartridges then printers of 5 years ago could share the same printing technology as new printers. Whilst this would not give them the same printing quality (technology in the actual printer makes a huge difference) it would account for some improvement.

That said though, such improvements would likely require a change in the control methods issued by the printer. What this means is that they could cause a much lower print quality on your older printer by putting newer technology into the cartridges.

By ensuring that new cartridges are needed for each type of printer they can negate that ever becoming an issue. This way people have an issue with finding the right cartridge, but the other way people would be accusing the companies of forcing you to upgrade your printer by reducing the quality that your older printer prints at.

Now other companies such as Epson and Canon have their print delivery system mainly inside the printer. However, the cartridges are still responsible for delivery of the ink to the print head. In this instance, if they could not alter the ink cartridges they would have more issues as their print head technology would be limited by the need to conform to a set shape and connection system. That or they would have to fit adaptors to cater for the fixed shape and connection of the cartridges. This would increase costs.

With printer manufacturer’s they make very little profit from the actual printers, their money is made more with consumables (inks and paper etc). However, there are other reasons behind recommending the manufacturer inks.

Epson are well known for producing some of the highest quality consumer inks in the world. There are higher quality inks available for commercial uses and amateur printers – at a price. The inks that you buy in ‘compatible’ cartridges and refill kits are much lower quality. In fact, these cheaper inks are generally lower quality than the manufacturer inks in virtually all cases.

This is seemingly un-noticable with regards to viewing a printed page normally – however if you put a photo printed with compatible cartridges next to one printed with Epson, Canon or HP photo inks the difference is amazing. (I am sure plenty of people will comment that it isn’t – but denial is a wonderful thing).

Also, the inks produced in compatible cartridges rarely include the specialist compounds used by the origianl manufacturers (for instance Epson ink includes and advanced cleaning complex to keep the print head in pristine condition).

I would love to see more standardisation – but standardisation kills innovation and I would prefer to know that the printer technology is advancing to give me clearer and more vivid reproductions rather than becomming stagnant and same-ole same-ole.

Of course this is all just matter of opinion, but is formed from knowledge gained from working inside the industry and using the equipment outside of the industry.

A point raised below about printers with ink costing less than replacement cartridges raising a common consern amongst consumers. In the UK many will have noticed that Lexmark particularly charge about half the price of two replacement ink cartridges for the printer brand new. As with virtually all printers these come with ink cartridges included.

That said, printer manufacturers supply reduced levels on in within the cartridges. So for instance, some HP printers use cartridges with 15ml of ink, but the cartridges that come with the printer have 6ml of ink. (HP actually sell these cartridges as well – you will notice many HP models you can choose between two amounts of ink for your cartridge). Lexmark, Epson et al are no different. So whilst it is cheaper to buy the printer set new it does become a slightly false economy as often there is less than half the amount of ink you would have if you purchased the cartridges.

As for the price of ink cartridges – shop carefully because some stores always add on more than others. The difference in price between stores can be huge – I saw a store offering a particular set of Lexmark cartridges for £65 (colour and black) whilst a store only a 2 or 3 minute walk away were selling the same pair of cartridges for just £50. Shops know that people will expect to pay more for branded cartridges so ramp the prices up.

That said, they ramp them up on cheap cartridges too. There is a particular brand of replacement cartridges in the UK. When they first started out my store was one of the trial stores and were one of the first to stock them. The prices were fantastic – but whilst we were charging £4.99 for black inks and £7.99 for the combined colour inks (at a very healthy 58% profit margin) when the cartridges became available nationwide other stores in the city started stocking them and charging £9.99 for the black and £14.99 – £18.99 for the combined colours. What I’m trying to highlight is that the prices are rarely inflated by the manufacturer but by the store you purchase them in. Just look at Staples – in the UK they are suppose to offer office supplies to business yet have the most extorsionate charges I have seen in a long time.

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