Want to Reduce Your Printing Costs? Here’s How

I replaced my Canon printer several months back since it seemed to eat print cartridges and I constantly had to feed it and got an Epson WF-3520 printer which is less dependent on print cartridges in its dieting habits. Throughout the years the cost of buying a printer has come down in price.  You can get a decent quality printer at your local store and pay about $70.00 for it.  However when you go to replace print cartridges you will note that their cost is not cheap. There is not a big markup on printers.  After you purchase the printer and need to purchase those cartridges there is a much larger markup.  As you continue to purchase those cartridges the profit to the manufacturer continues. In essence it is not the initial sale but the after- market sale where the profit is higher.

As a general rule of thumb the more expensive the printer the less expense per page it is to print. Epson’s website shows the ink cartridge yield for my WF-3520 printer. Click on link. The information is around the middle of the page.  The Epson WF-2530 printer is a less expensive model and does not has as high an ink cartridge yield. Click on link.   Before I purchased my Epson printer, I got the ink cartridge yields for both my Canon printer and Epson printer. I then got the cartridge costs on Amazon.  With that information I was able to determine the cost per page for both printing in color as well as printing in black. The cost per page was a lot more for my Canon printer.

There are ways you can save money on your printing costs:

1.    When purchasing an inkjet printer see if you can get the ink cartridge yield for it. Use that and the cost of purchasing a new cartridge to determine the cost per page to print.  

2.    Consider purchasing a more expensive printer if you are purchasing an inkjet one. You will pay more initially but your printing cost per page is likely to be less.

3.    Buy cartridges from a 3rd party. They usually but not always work very well and are much less expensive than buying the cartridges made by the printer manufacturer.

4.    Most color printers today have more than 1 cartridge for printing color. Only purchase a printer that has more than 1 cartridge for printing color. Don’t purchase a printer with a single separate cartridge for color printing.

5.    Purchase a laser printer. If you only print in black and do not need a printer to copy, scan or fax you can get a laser printer for as low as about $100. They use toners instead of cartridges and do not need to be replaced as often.

6.    Most printers allow you to print in a “Draft” quality.  If what you are printing is not important, you may wish to print in a “Draft” quality. Just make sure to change it when the print job needs to be printed with a better quality.

7.    Amazon generally has the best prices for replacement cartridges so consider purchasing your replacement cartridges there.

8.    You do not always have to print in color.  My printer has an option to print in black/greyscale which will save printing costs. 

9.    Some manufacturers of which Epson is one, offer both a regular and high capacity print cartridge.  Purchasing the high capacity print cartridge will lower your cost per page of printing.

If you want to know more about more about printing issues or other technology issues, I can be contacted at (917) 572-3468 or email me at mike@computerconciergeny.com .

Feel free to join the conversation and post comments and questions on my Facebook page at Computer Concierge NY LLC . There also are tips there to better use your computer, smartphone, iPad and other technology you may have or are thinking of buying.

One final word. I have not received or been promised payment for mentioning any of the products or websites noted in any way, shape or form.