You may have recently purchased a printer on the cheap and thought you were getting a great deal. Then you ran out of ink and went down to the store to get a replacement. Undoubtedly you were shocked at the high cost of the ink cartridges. This has become even more frustrating with the addition of the fact that many printers will give warnings of empty tanks before the ink cartridge is really empty.

Recently these high prices have come to the attention of regulators in the UK and Europe. As a result of a year long investigation the Office of Fair Trade in the UK has asked that all major printer manufacturers tell consumers at the time of their purchase of a new printer what their likely long-term costs are going to be once ink is taken into account. If the manufacturers do not comply then they face a monetary fine by the Office of Fair Trade.

However, if you are tired of paying these high costs for ink cartridges there are options you can choose that will lessen the amount you pay for ink cartridges. One of the easiest options is by purchasing your ink cartridges through online companies. The cost of ink cartridges online is much cheaper than they are in an office supply store. In addition, the internet offers you the option of comparing prices for your ink cartridges so you can be sure you are getting the cheapest price available.

Another option is to consider purchasing remanufactured ink cartridges. These are ink cartridges that are remanufactured from old empty ink cartridges. Even though these are used ink cartridges, priority is given to quality to make sure the customer is getting high quality ink cartridges and that these standards are maintained.

Many of the remanufactured ink cartridges are taken apart and tested. Old parts are replaced with new ones if necessary. Then the whole assembly is put back together and the ink cartridge is refilled with ink. The parts and ink used in remanufactured ink cartridges is of the same quality as the original equipment you get in the store that comes direct from the manufacturer. However, remanufactured ink cartridges are much cheaper and still allow you to keep up maintenance on your printer. These are also available online.

With the above two methods you can purchase ink cartridges that are the same quality as the ones that come direct from the manufacturer, but at the same time you save lots of money. Once you have a printer you are going to need to replace the ink cartridges frequently so you might as well save money in the process.

However, the cheapest option you can choose is to refill your ink cartridges yourself. Again you can look online or in your local office supply store for an ink refill kit. By changing the ink yourself you will be able to do it at a very cheap price when compared to buying new or remanufactured ink cartridges. While this is the cheapest option you still need to expect to pay some money since the refill kits only work for so many refills before you have to purchase a new kit.

So with the above three options you are bound to find something that works better than paying the high price of ink cartridges. So shop around online and find what method works best for you. This way you won’t have to dread going to the store whenever your computer notifies you that your ink cartridges are running low.