Save on Printer Ink Over Time With Compatible Ink Cartridges

A recurrent expense, it’s important for printer users to reduce their printing costs wherever possible. Here we’ll outline the cost of printing, how much compatible ink and toner could save you over time, how to calculate your cost per page and finally give you some other helpful tips to reduce printing costs.

• Cost of Printing: The Price of Ink and Toner
• How Much Can You Save Over Time With Compatible Ink Cartridges?
• Printing Cost Per Page
• Misconceptions Around Compatible Ink and Toner
• Other Ways to Save on Printer Ink and Toner

Consistently low prices on compatible printer ink can help you or your business to properly budget your home or office printing expenses and reduce spending over time.

Cost of Printing: The Price of Ink and Toner

First of all, you need to calculate your own printing costs to see how much you could save with compatible printer ink. More often than not, the compatible alternative is a lower price than the original. But why is this the case?

Cost of Original Ink: Why Is Printer Ink So Expensive?

The Original Equipment Manufacturer (also known as the OEM or original) is the same company that produces the printer (e.g. HP, Canon, Epson).

Original ink and toner is usually more expensive for a few reasons including research and development (R&D) costs, brand premium and marketing and advertising expenses.

Another reason original ink is often a lot more expensive is because that’s where the OEM makes their profits. They produce the printer at a loss, which is then recouped by the sales of the ink and toner, which have much higher profit margins.

All of these factors in combination can lead to frequently high expenses for the consumer if they don’t shop around.

Cost of Compatible Ink Cartridges

Compatible ink and toner cartridges (also known as non-OEM), are produced by a third party that isn’t connected to the OEM. They’ve been designed to be used in the corresponding printer. Most of the time, the compatible alternative is a lower price than the original.

Compatible ink cartridge producers lower prices by removing all the costs associated with creating and selling the original product. With lower R&D costs and advertising spend, one way to find out how much money you could save with compatible ink cartridges could be to compare the price per ml of the OEM and compatible version of the ink/toner cartridge you need.

How Much Can You Save Over Time With Compatible Ink Cartridges?

How much you could save with compatible ink over time depends on a few factors, including if you have an inkjet or laser printer and what capacity cartridges you opt to buy.

How Much Could I Save with Compatible Ink Cartridges?

For this example, we’ll be looking at the Epson 604XL High Capacity Multipack and our Cartridge People Compatible Own Brand alternative.

By purchasing our compatible alternative, you could save £18 compared to the original, which is a cost saving of 25%.*

If we say you’ll need 1 – 2 sets of these high-capacity ink cartridges per year, (depending on print volume), this saving can double to £36 per year. This is a great saving, especially when you consider the fact that this compatible multipack provides 46% more ink for the black ink cartridge and 150% more ink for the colour cartridges in this multipack.

Over the lifespan of an inkjet printer, which can be greatly affected by things like regular maintenance and proper use, you could expect to save approximately £180 (5 years).

*Prices correct as of 01/10/24. Prices subject to change.

How Much Could I Save with Compatible Toner Cartridges?

For this example, we’ll be looking at the Brother TN-423 High Capacity Multipack and our Cartridge People Compatible Own Brand alternative.

With Cartridge People Compatible Own Brand you could save £139, which is 31% cheaper than the OEM alternative.*

Moderate users print between 500 – 1000 pages per month. They’d be expected to need 1 – 2 sets of high capacity toner per year, potentially saving up to £278.

High volume printers (between 2000 – 5000 pages per month), would need between 3 – 6 sets per year, potentially saving up to £834.

Over the lifespan of a laser printer, which should last up to 10 years or more due to robust build quality and lower susceptibility to issues like dried up ink, moderate printers could expect to save approximately £2780, with high volume printers expecting to save up to £8340, a significant saving for you or your business.

*Prices correct as of 02/10/24. Prices subject to change.

From both of these examples, you can see the long-term potential savings both home users and businesses can make if they switch to Cartridge People Compatible Own Brand. In the next section, we’ll look at how you can calculate the cost per page of your printing.

Printing Cost Per Page

The cost per page is how much money each print costs you or your business. When looking at an ink or toner cartridge, you should consider the cost per page as well as the overall cost. This is because things like capacity (high vs standard) and print volume can impact how much each print will cost you. While someone who prints more often will pay the same amount for an ink cartridge as someone who rarely prints at all, over time each print will have cost the infrequent printer more. This is because the cost of the ink is divided by the amount of pages printed. It’s important to look deeper than the total cost of the ink to understand the value of the product.

The printing cost per page will be impacted by the following:

Paper: There’s some variation in price between the different types of paper. For example, copy paper is usually the most affordable paper type for everyday tasks. Photo paper typically has a higher printout cost due to its quality finish. Cardstock is thick and durable and is also usually more expensive than copy paper.

Ink/Toner: Toner cartridges are generally more expensive than ink cartridges, however they can be expected to print more pages and will therefore last longer. The type of printer consumable you use can have a significant impact on the cost per page of your prints.

Printer: It’s important to think about if you’re looking to buy a printer for either your home or business and want to factor this expense into the overall value proposition of switching to compatible cartridges.

Often, compatible cartridges will provide a lower cost per page. Want to calculate your own cost per page based on your ink/toner and paper? Simply follow the steps below.

How to Calculate Your Cost Per Page

1. Find the cost of your ink or toner cartridge(s).
2. Find the page yield of your cartridge(s). This will be provided by the manufacturer. It should be noted however, that these are approximations and not guarantees that the printer will print a certain number of pages, as this can depend on a wide range of factors like page coverage, print type and more.
3. Determine your paper costs. To find out how much you’re paying per page for your paper, simply divide the total cost of the paper by the number of sheets (there’s usually 500 sheets in a ream).
4. Finally, divide the cost of the cartridge by the number of pages it can be expected to print and add in the paper cost (divide the price of the paper by the number of pages you’ve bought).

Cost of Cartridge(s) / Page Yield + Paper Cost = Cost Per Page

Using this formula to work out the cost per page of our compatible cartridges, you’ll be able to see the significant savings you can make on your printing costs by making the switch from OEM.

Misconceptions Around Compatible Ink and Toner

If you’re still concerned about using compatible ink and toner, we’re here to reassure you that our Compatible Own Brand products are a safe and more than worthwhile alternative that could save you a lot of money on your printing expenses in the long run.

Now that we’ve challenged the most common compatible ink and toner myths, you can shop our Compatible Own Brand range, safe in the knowledge that our years of printing expertise won’t let you down.

Other Ways to Save on Printer Ink and Toner

Looking to save even more on your printing expenses? While switching to compatible is going to have a major impact, here’s some additional tips to cut down the cost of printing for your home or office.

Mono Printing: Usually colour ink cartridges cost more than black cartridges. Mono printing reduces the frequency of replacements, as you will only be replacing one colour (black), extending the life of the other colours. The black ink cartridge usually features a higher page yield to account for the fact that you’re likely to be using it more frequently than the colour inks. Printing a text document, for example? The printer may use the colour cartridges to create grey shades and therefore waste some of your colour ink, which is why it’s important to select the mono printing option if you only want to print in black and white.

Draft Mode: Not only faster, draft mode reduces ink consumption, saving you money on replacements. While the printouts won’t be the same quality as the standard print mode, this is a great option for when the importance of the printout is lower (for example, if it’s just for your own use).

Proofing Work: There’s nothing more frustrating than spotting a typo in a freshly printed document. By taking a careful look at your document before you print, you can avoid reprints and save yourself both time and money. Only print important documents once you’re ready to.

Store Ink Cartridges Properly: Find a cool, dry location to store your ink cartridges. They should also be stored upright, (like you would place them in a printer). This causes the ink to settle and the air to rise to the top, allowing the ink to flow freely without air bubbles. Improperly stored ink cartridges can dry out, leading to wasted printer ink.

Frequent Use: It sounds counterintuitive, but leaving your printer unused for long periods of time can have a detrimental effect on your prints and your expenses. Printer ink left for too long can dry out. Additionally, when the printer starts up again it may need to run a printhead cleaning cycle and this process consumes ink. Ideally, you should print monthly at a minimum to avoid this issue and wasting your money. Don’t need to print anything? Why not print a test page to check your printer is working optimally?

Ink Tank Printer: Generally, inkjet printers are less expensive, however you’ll need to replace your cartridges more frequently than you would need to refill an ink tank. This is because they have large, refillable tanks, leading to a much lower cost per page and potential cost savings throughout your printer’s lifespan, making it a better option for high-volume printers.

Multipacks: Buying a multipack of ink/toner could be more cost-effective than buying cartridges individually. So, if you’ve run out of more than one cartridge, it may make more sense to choose a multipack, especially if it means the amount you save by choosing compatible cartridges is increased.

Duplex Printing: This is the process of printing on both sides of the page. Obviously, this reduces your paper usage by half, leading to less frequent replacements. It’s also more environmentally friendly. Printers with this feature will either use manual or automatic duplex printing. The difference between the two is that you’ll need to manually flip the page/s over yourself with manual duplex printing, whereas with auto duplex printing, the printer will do this for you. This is more convenient as it means you don’t have to stay with the printer.

Environmentally Friendly Print Choices: Use the following fonts as they are known for using less ink and are therefore better for both your spending and the environment:

• Garamond
• Century Gothic
• Courier
• Verdana
• Times New Roman
• Calibri

You’ll also be able to fit more on the page, using less paper. These fonts are great options for reducing ink costs over time, especially if you tend to print in high volumes.

In Summary

Now you’ve seen how much you could save over time with compatible ink and toner, and been reassured you’ll be able to produce prints of the same great quality as the original, one question remains. Why not make the switch to Cartridge People Compatible Own Brand today and see how much you could save?

For more information on how compatible cartridges compare to OEM, check out our guide to original ink cartridges vs compatible.