[Trombone-l] OT: Refill 'er up

[Stan Brager]

Two points:

1) unless someone used ink to lube their slide, heal chapped or cracked
lips, etc, this may be shown as being Off Topic (OT).

2) before you rush out to refill your cartridges, consider that many
company's inkjet inks are specially formulated for color quality,
compatibility, stability and long life for their printer. My experience has
been that third party inks do not work as well in the inkjet printers I've
owned. Furthermore, refilled laser cartridges do not have the amount of
toner which can be found in the manufacturers cartridges. Also, re-filled
laser toner cartridges tend to be filled but not refurbished to replace worn
parts.

For me,  I've returned to using the manufacturers' cartridges for greater
satisfaction.

Stan
Stan Brager

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Dinwiddie" <billdin at comcast.net>
To: "List Trombone" <TROMBONE-L at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 6:39 AM
Subject: [Trombone-l] Refill 'er up


> Refill 'er up
> Retailers ready for fierce fight to supply your printer ink
>
> By Eric Benderoff
> Tribune staff reporter
> Published March 24, 2006
>
>
> A new battle is brewing in the technology trenches over a very old
product:
> ink.
>
> What was once seen as a grimy task reserved for frugal technology geeks,
> environmentalists and hobbyists is now about to be legitimized in a huge
> way, as at least two big retailers roll out inkjet refilling stations at
> stores nationwide.
>
> Consumers, who now change printing cartridges more often than lightbulbs,
> would be able to save up to 50 percent off the cost of new cartridges that
> are used to print everything from digital photos to term papers and range
in
> price from $20 to $200.
>
> On Friday Itasca-based OfficeMax Inc. is kicking off a marketing campaign
> for its inkjet refill services across its 900-store chain. They already
are
> available at Chicago-area stores.
>
> Next week, Deerfield-based Walgreen Co. begins a rollout of refill station
s
> at 1,500 of its more than 5,100 stores. One already is operating at the
> Walgreens at 1601 N. Wells St., and by May the service will be available
at
> 100 Chicago-area stores.
>
> The big chains are joining upstarts like Cartridge World, which has spread
> rapidly throughout the Chicago area.
>
> "We want to be the Starbucks of this industry," said Chris Gallagher, who
> with his brother, Todd, owns two Cartridge World franchises and plans to
> open as many as eight within the next three years.
>
> The refill services offer businesses and home users a no-mess opportunity:
> sharply lower prices for a 10-minute wait.
>
> "I'm of the opinion it's just ink," said Sean Lowry, a senior vice
president
> for Pacor Mortgage in Chicago, whose company is hooked on the service. "An
> average cartridge for a good printer or copier is $100. If you're using
six
> or seven machines at the office, that's a lot of money."
>
> The printing business is booming. Thanks to the growth of digital
> photography, desktop publishing and affordable color printers, the
> digital-imaging-supplies business will top $100 billion in 2006, according
> to a report released Monday by Lyra Research in Newton, Mass. By
comparison,
> the hardware market--think printers--will account for $60 billion this
year,
> the research found.
>
> Inkjet cartridges range from basic black for printing simple documents to
> more complex models needed for presentations and photos. Prices exceed
$200
> for some color models.
>
> "It can cost about as much as a new printer to buy a set of new
cartridges,"
> said Walgreens spokesman Tiffani Bruce.
>
> Burt Yarkin, chief executive at Cartridge World's U.S. business, said
that's
> because printermakers follow an age-old business philosophy. "They will
give
> you the razors and charge you for the razor blades," he said.
>
> The biggest challenge for his chain, which has about 20 stores across
> Chicago and 370 in the U.S., is to educate people that most cartridges can
> be refilled.
>
> "Walgreens getting into this business legitimizes what we do," Yarkin
said.
> "It's a good thing for us."
>
> This emerging market also will put additional pressure on companies like
> Hewlett-Packard Co., where about 70 percent of profit in the printer
> business come from supplies.
>
> HP has "seen their supplies business get slowly eaten away," said Peter
> Grant, a research vice president for Gartner Inc. "About 15 to 20 percent
of
> their business is going to these third parties."
>
> But Pradeep Jotwani, HP's senior vice president of imaging and printing
> supplies, dismisses those concerns.
>
> "We've been in this business for 22 years," Jotwani said. "We've had
> competition all along. It's taken various forms at different times. This
is
> just another wave."
>
> Today's printers, he said, are used to produce professional resumes,
> wonderful photos and slick marketing materials.
>
> "It is because we've been able to harness complex technology," Jotwani
said.
> "We designed it that way and we make it reliable to work with our
> cartridges."
>
> For OfficeMax, the move to add refill stations "is not about saying we
don't
> want to sell HP or Lexmark products," said Ryan Vero, executive vice
> president and chief merchandise officer. "There's a customer base out
there
> that wants this service. It's not like we are trying to move them away
from
> a branded cartridge, but we are giving them a choice."
>
> OfficeMax can refill about 90 different inkjet cartridges. Prices start at
> $12.99 to refill a black ink cartridge and $22.99 for a color model, as
much
> as a 40 percent savings over the price of a new cartridge, Vero said.
>
> At Walgreens, customers can drop off an empty cartridge at the photo
> counter, and a technician will refill it in about 10 minutes, Bruce said.
> Prices vary depending on the model, but customers should save about 50
> percent over buying a new cartridge, she said.
>
> The Cartridge World at 2634 N. Clark St. also remanufactures laser toner
> cartridges, a service OfficeMax and Walgreens do not provide. "You can
save
> about 30 percent on those," said franchisee Gallagher.
>
> Customers range from home users and small businesses to major companies,
he
> said.
>
> "Best Buy is a customer," Gallagher said with a laugh, pointing down the
> street toward the big-box retailer that sells new printer cartridges.
"They
> even refer people to us."
>
> If there is a point of contention in this growing business, it is the
> subject of quality.
>
> "We think you can save money, but you take a cut in the quality you are
> getting," Gartner's Grant said. "Many of our clients say they are going
back
> to the [original equipment manufacturer] to get the full value of the
> supplies to go with their printers."
>
> HP's Jotwani is not surprised.
>
> "This is not a commodity, it is high-quality ink," he said. "Our
cartridges
> and our inks work every time and give you great output quality each time.
> Generic inks can't do that."
>
> All three retailers offer customers money-back guarantees on refilled
> printer cartridges.
>
> "If you print a picture of your grandchild, and it's not as good as it was
> before you had the ink replaced," said Todd Gallagher, "you won't come
> back."
>
> - - -
>
> Filling up on lower prices
>
> Retail outlets for refilling inkjet cartridges, such as Cartridge World,
> OfficeMax and Walgreens, have been growing as consumers find they can save
> up to half the cost of new ones.
>
>
>  PRICE COMPARISONS PRINTER INK CARTRIDGE COMPANY CARTRIDGE SAVINGS PRICE
> WORLD PRICE EPSON Stylus C86 Standard capacity black $23.74 $10.99 53.7%
> Stylus CX5200 Cyan $12.34 $6.99 43.4% Stylus C84N Magenta $12.34 $6.99
43.4%
> Stylus CX7800 Yellow $12.34 $6.99 43.4% HEWLETT-PACKARD Deskjet 600 HP 29
> black $29.99 $16.99 43.3% Deskjet 1100c HP 41 tri-color $31.99 $17.99
43.8%
> Deskjet 3320 HP 27 black $17.99 $10.99 38.9% Deskjet 400 HP 25 tri-color
> $29.99 $16.99 43.3% Bill Dinwiddie
>
>
>
>