We find ourselves in a continuing cost-of-living crisis but the great news on printer ink is that there are plenty of ways to print more pages for less. In fact, you can make the kind of savings you’d be hard pressed to find on many other products.
The question of whether printer ink is expensive isn’t clear cut. It depends on whether you are buying the most cost effective cartridges for the kind of printing you do. What is clear is that buying blind often means paying far more than you should. Here are 7 tips to get the best value for money. Follow them and you are sure to be printing for less:
7 ways to save on printer ink
1) Look at cost per page, not the retail price
As strange as it sounds, if you’re looking to save money on printing, the cost of the ink you’re buying isn’t necessarily the first thing to consider. Let’s explain.
Any reputable ink retailer should tell you the likely cost per page printed.
Many of the best-selling ink cartridges come in standard and high-capacity (XL) versions. The only difference is that high-capacity cartridges contain more ink and will print more pages than standard cartridges. Yes, they will usually cost more but the savings you can make per page printed can be huge.
Here on the Stinkyink website we have comparison tables on all our product pages, like the original Canon ink example below.
The high-capacity cartridge is shown on the right. While it costs £8.66 more, the cost per page printed is over 50% less. The high-capacity version can also print a combined 640 pages more. That’s a small additional outlay for a lot more printing.
The only caveat here is that if you are a very infrequent printer the standard cartridge may be a better bet because all printer ink eventually dries out. Stinkyink guarantees all ink for 12 months from the date of purchase, so have a think about how many pages you’re likely to print before buying.
If you want to save even more money, then our own brand compatible cartridges make sense. These always come in the XL size, and as shown in the example below, you can save a great deal more, compared to purchasing either original.
2) Buy compatible ink
Broadly speaking there are two types of ink for your printer. Original ink and compatible ink.
Original ink, sometimes called OEM ink (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or genuine ink is manufactured by the company that made your printer, for example Canon, Epson or HP.
Compatible ink is manufactured by a third-party company. It sometimes carries the branding of the company that sells it. So here at Stinkyink we sell our own brand of compatible ink, manufactured by a trusted supplier.
Do a bit of research and you’ll find that compatible ink is almost always cheaper. In some cases the compatible inks could be 5, 6 or even 7 times cheaper. But why?
Typically, printers themselves are relatively cheap to buy. The manufacturers may sell them at very low profit margins in the knowledge that over the lifetime of a printer, if customers buy their original ink, they can make long term profits. So, most of their profit is in selling ink, not printers.
So, what’s the catch with cheaper compatible ink?
Some people assume that compatible ink won't work with their printer or may even break it, but there is no evidence for this.
One possible drawback with compatible ink is that in some cases printer manufacturers can run ‘firmware updates’ which can stop compatible ink working in your printer. However, these can be blocked and there are workarounds. Compatible ink may also fade faster over time compared to original ink but unless you are printing high-quality images, compatible cartridges are often the best option for everyday printing.
Decide for yourself by trying compatible ink. All compatible ink sold by us here at Stinkyink comes with a 12-month guarantee.
3) Buy multi-pack ink
As any visitor to a supermarket knows it often pays to buy in bulk. Many printer inks are sold in multi-packs which may for example include a black and various colour inks.
If a single colour ink runs out it might be tempting to just buy that cartridge but that may be a false economy. Compare the cost of individual colour inks vs buying them in a multi-pack. A full set may be a lot cheaper than buying the individual cartridges separately.
Don’t worry if you only need to use one or two of the cartridges initially. Many multi-packs come with the cartridges individually packaged so you can easily store them until they are needed.
Search for a multi-pack on the Stinkyink website then scroll down to the ‘This pack contains’ section. Click on each cartridge to find the cost of the individuals then compare it to the cost of them in multipack form.
4) Buy ink online
There are two reasons for the rise of internet shopping. Convenience and cost.
Generally, buying online is of course cheaper simply because online retailers tend to have lower overheads compared to High Street retailers. If you compare the cost of an ink product in your local supermarket it’s likely to be more expensive than buying online, and the options will be far more limited (e.g. you probably won’t be able to buy cheaper compatible ink).
Need your ink fast? If you order online at Stinkyink we dispatch same day for orders placed by 4pm on any weekday, and postage is free. You’ll have your ink in one or two days in most cases or you can also choose special delivery options in the checkout.
5) Use you printer’s draft mode
We’ve talked about how to save money by shopping savvy, but you can also reduce costs with the way you print.
Many people don’t realise that their printer may have a draft mode. In this mode the printer will use less ink, printing the page faster. If the quality of your prints isn’t paramount, you’ll be surprised just how much money you can save by switching to draft mode. Think of it like turning your heating down by a degree or two!
6) Don’t leave your printer dormant
Turning your printer off and not using it for months at a time isn’t a great idea if you want to save money on printing in the longer run.
If you turn a printer on after a longer period, it will probably need to run a printhead cleaning cycle to clear out the printheads. That uses ink! Also, because printer ink has a shelf life, leaving an ink cartridge for over a year unused can lead to it drying out, wasting your hard-earned cash. So, aim to use your printer at least once a month, even if that’s just printing a page or two.
You can also turn your printer on and off again, so it does a warm up run along the cartridge belt to keep the printer healthier.
7) Store your ink correctly
Another simple tip is to ensure that you keep your ink, as well as your printer in an appropriate place. If possible, avoid keeping your printer and ink in direct sunlight or near to a heat source such as a radiator.
Printer ink performs best when it’s stored in dry places with a relatively stable temperature.
Conclusion
The good news is that there are plenty of ways to make big savings on the cost of printing. There are thousands of printer ink products on the market and a little time comparing them can save you a surprising amount of money. Here at Stinkyink we offer a price-match guarantee on all original ink and have one of the best value compatible ranges in the UK. There are also some simple ways to ensure the ink you buy prints more pages. Apply some of these tips and you’ll make inflation beating savings on essential printing costs.
