Archive for August, 2011

I was sitting at my front desk shortly after the store opened in 2009. A lady walked in and stood in the middle of the store. She said, “I only came in to tell you I don’t need to shop here. I have a laser printer and my cartridges are only $39!”

I wasn’t sure what to think, let alone say. I’ve been in retail for over 40 years and, really, had never seen something like this before. I decided to engage her in conversation. I found out that her printer was a Samsung (overall good printer). I was able to get the model number from her. I looked up her cartridge at the local big chain office store. Sure enough, it was $39.99 – a really great price for a toner cartridge. Here’s the rub though… it is only a 750 page yield cartridge. 750 pages? Really? That works out to 5.3¢ for every piece of paper she prints – including the ones she rips up or throws away. For a laser that is in the unheard of territory of expensive.

Most laser cartridges will cost you more than $40. However, about the lowest yield cartridge is a 1,500 page cartridge for about $52. If you do the math (and you should always do the math!) that is 3.5¢ per printed page (don’t forget our last blog post – that’s 5% coverage). Even that is expensive by laser standards.

So, what’s the point? Here it is, always do the math before you buy any printer of any kind. There are many good printers out there made by many good manufacturers. If you have already purchased a printer you can look at the cost of XL cartridges versus regular. If you haven’t, then you must do the math.

Look at it this way: you buy a printer (printer 1) for $49.99. There’s another printer (printer 2) you saw for $199.99 – $150 more. Printer one takes a cartridge that cost $39.99 and provides you with a yield of 750 pages. That’s 5.3¢ per page. Printer 2 uses a cartridge that costs $149.99 and provides 8,000 pages. That’s 1.9¢ per page. You are savings 3.4¢ every page you print. If you do the math (Please, stop it! I’ll do the math) you will have paid the $150 difference for printer 2 half way through the first cartridge (4,411 pages x 3.4¢ = $150). Look at it another way (yes, more math) – to print 7,500 pages will take you 10 toners @ 750 pages each, or $399.99.

If you want to know the true cost of your printing, just do the math.

Don’t be afraid to email us at info@SaveOnInkAndToner.com or call us at 413-209-8180. We’re here to help.