Almost everyone has a printer at home. Regardless of whether you frequently or seldom use your printer, the ink cartridge will be run out of ink one day. When the ink cartridge had run out of ink, you have to replace it. In the past, printer users are obligated to buy OEM ink cartridges. Nowadays, you can choose from other options such as refurbished and compatible ink cartridges.
Refurbished ink cartridge is made with recycled materials. Refilled cartridges are recycled from empty cartridge. At the factory, a professional refill the empty cartridge with inks after cleaning it. On average, each ink cartridge can be refilled up to 20 times. Different models of cartridges have different lifespan.
Refilled cartridges can produce the same number of print outs as OEM cartridge. The price difference between the OEM, refurbished and refilled cartridges are slightly different. If budget allowed, you should buy OEM ink cartridge so that you get higher quality print out.
OEM cartridge can be expensive if you are refilling a high end printer. Every ink has an expiration date. You must check the expiration date before buying. If the expiration date is to near, it is encouraged that you don’t buy it. Some sellers sell expired ink cartridges to customers at cheap price. The disadvantage of expired ink cartridge is that it can harm your printer. Although the print quality is fine, it will cause your printer performance to deteriorate and damaged permanently eventually. If you are shopping online, make sure you check the expiration date in the product description.
Trial ink cartridges are also sold in the market. Trial ink cartridge contains lesser inks compare to the full version. Since it has lesser inks, it is cheaper. Trial ink cartridge is mending for testing purpose. Some customers don’t know they are buying trial cartridges because they are not stated in the product descriptions. Deceptive sellers often like to use these practices to cheat buyers so you must be careful.
To make sure you are buying a genuine OEM cartridge, you must make sure it is not too cheap. If the cost of the OEM cartridge is below the market price, there is high chance that it is not genuine. You should always buy from an established online store instead of auction stores. You should search for reviews on the online store and see what previous customers are saying. In this way, you will be able to determine whether the online store is trustworthy and legitimate.