To think the price is extortionate

I have a Brother printer and buy my inkjets online from Choice Stationary always been 100% satisfied , I only use originals not refills , my computer engineer told me not to as they can ruin your printer.

The marketing dtrategy of most printer manufacturers is to sell the machines at a loss and make their profit from the printer cartridges. I have a laser printer, admittedly only b/w but a cartridge costs about £ 50 and lasts up to three years.

It's amazing how many business models are based on consumables now. They have decided that is how they will make their money and may even be underselling the original product - or making very little profit.

Our Canon was a laser printer M0nica and when it went wrong we were advised by Canon to buy a part costing £35 to repair it which made no difference at all so it ended up at the tip.
It's worrying isn't it, Gracesgran that something like this (and made of plastic too) can be considered a consumable but yes, they are.

One of the things that annoys me so much is that you can’t buy the colours individually if wanted and that it won’t work in black only without the other colours in situ

I don't need to print very often, but when I do I just go to my local Library and it is 15p to print one page.

I used to work for a Boiler Manufacturer and they made more profit on selling the Spare Parts than the actual Boiler! I think it is the same with most consumables.

I agree with Cherrytree. I have used compatible inks with my Epson printer for years and have always had good results - when I use good paper. Most of what I print is photographs.

Greyduster the clue is in you saying ‘for years’ ... my printer is about a year old and will NOT accept compatibles it just won’t do anything but give me the message ink not found it seems to be a common problem with the latest printers I m sure yours is fine but obviously the makers realised they were losing out on people buying compatibles and made a way of blocking them
It’s got nothing to do with paper or the quality of the print
I have printed out ways to maybe cheat the blockage sent to me further up the page but obviously I ve now just spent £70 so won’t be buying any more for a while to try those tips out

Our local library comes in handy for printing when mine is out of action, but it is 50p for a colour copy, so not cheap. Printer ink is apparently more expensive per ml. than vintage champagne. I know which I would rather have!

Got mine online

I have an Epson printer and get my cartridges from Amazon - the last pack was £27. They deliver in a couple of days, sometimes the next day. I know it's a lot but that's where they get you. The printer itself was quite cheap but then you pay for the ink. I use it a lot for craft work and photos, so to me it is worth having.

This is another ridiculous example that I've come across before where it would be cheaper to buy a new printer!

I get mine online now, half the price of the shops and they aren't compatibles, mind you mine is Kodak so not sure if it is the same. I agree with you that they are too expensive and not being able to print a black and white document because a colour has run out makes no sense to me.

Just looked at amazon Amry and yes I ll get them there there next time £35 ( so half the price I paid) I must just make sure I don’t run out in future

I got fed up of the price of cartridges, even the compatible ones, which didn’t always work. I do quite a lot of printing as involved in a few voluntary organisations. Last printer I bought was Epson eco tank. Instead of cartridges it has little tanks which can be refilled. The printer is much more expensive than others, about £200, but I have it 2 years with a lot of printing and haven’t needed to buy new ink bottles. They only cost about £15 and can be bought individually. You can inspect the ink tanks also, so can see if any are running low. Mine still seem nearly full.
Quality of printing is good too, even for photos.

We've had so many printers over the years and this has always been an issue. My current Canon has 6 cartridges including a grey one and a large black one - as I don't do a huge amount of printing I usually buy them individually from what used to be Staples but have also bought them online. My other gripe is with new technology and updates the older printer drivers are no longer compatible. We have a really good Oki laser which is about 10 years old - currently I'm still able to use it on Windows 7 but one of my pc's has just gone onto Windows 10 and I know we won't be able to update it. My husband had to tip another Oki which was perfectly serviceable simply because it wouldn't work with his OS. Throwaway society

We simply got fed up with printers that didn’t work well and forever buying ink. So three years ago for about £50 bought an HP Printer and also the 100 page print plan. I can honestly say it’s the best thing we ever did. I would say if you can afford it buy a new HP printer and cutout the stress

We use an HP at the moment and the cartridges on Amazon are just over £11 each for colour and black. Our previous printer was a Kodak and the cartridges were also quite reasonable for those. I stopped using compatible a long time ago as always had problems with them.

I also have ditched my printer because of price of ink. I use our local library - 20p a page for colour copy.

i use 999 inks order on line lots cheaper just put in your printer model odd time when fitted came up not ok , just turn off printer take out put back in it then usually works.always shouting at hubby for printing crazy stuff when a quick snap on mobile you can use voucher codes for meals out that ways it saves ink

I order mine online from moreinks.
Very pleased with them. Recommended.

My printer is fine for documents in black and white, but I have never tried to print a photograph. I'd have to upgrade my printer to do that. If I want to print any photos I take the little thingamebob out of the camera to the photography shop and do the there.

Can I tell you Mrsmop a bit of info if you use an iPad or iPhone there is an ap that gives you up to 45 free photos printed per month you just pay postage
I ve used it quite a bit and it’s good quality photos

I have a fabulous Canon printer and get my inks from Prink.co.uk. My last order was for four sets of five inks, which is four of the small ones, plus a double sized black. So 20 inks altogether and it cost me £19.80 - free P&P and next day delivery. Quality is great and I print out hundreds of coloured pages every couple of months. Lasts me for ages. I also print out photos and they are good quality. I'd recommend them to anyone.

BlueBelle, that would be the answer to my prayers! What app is that and what's the catch?? ?