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Ink Cartridges

Toner Cartridges

Popular Epson Printer Ink

Compatible Epson T0553 (T055340) Magenta Ink Cartridge	Original Epson T0611-T0614 (T061540) Printer Cartridges 4 Pack (Teddybear)	Compatible Epson T0485 (T048540) Light Cyan Printer Cartridge
Epson S050190 Original High Capacity Black Toner	Epson S050190 Remanufactured Black Toner	Epson S050189 Remanufactured High Capacity Cyan Toner

Compatible Epson Cartridges

It seems that the printer companies are slashing prices and almost competing to give us their printers for less than their competitors. The reason for this is simple; if you have their printer then you will buy their ink. Epson cartridges cost two to three times as much as Epson compatible cartridges. It is important to understand what a compatible cartridge is and what it is not. Yes, a compatible cartridge will work as well with your printer as Epson cartridges. No, a compatible cartridge will not void your warranty. Yes, they will give you the same quality of ink. No, they are not refilled cartridges.

Compatible cartridges are not a specific brand but instead are made by a variety of third party manufacturers. These manufacturers use the same basic design without infringing on Epson’s proprietary design rights. The cartridges will vary slightly by each company but typically will have more ink than Epson Inkjet Cartridges or Epson Toner Cartridges. Epson may infer or exaggerate risks associated with compatible cartridges. While it is true that the quality of products may vary and they will not guarantee the quality of a non-Epson product this does not mean that you risk lower quality or damage to your printer. You may have seen a warning from Epson in the paperwork or on the box that stated they will not repair your printer if it is damaged by a third party ink cartridge. This does not mean that they will or can void your warranty. It means that if you are using a third party cartridge and the cartridge itself causes damage to your printer they will not fix that specific damage. They are counting on you inferring more that they are saying so you will purchase their cartridges. The chance of the cartridge causing damage to the printer is low and the laws that govern warranties will not allow them to require you to purchase only their cartridges to keep your warranty in tact.

In the past few years, Epson has taken steps to prevent the use of compatible cartridges by producing printers that will not work with anything but official Epson cartridges. The way they did this was to redesign the chip in the printer and then tell it to reject any cartridge that did not match exactly which meant that the compatible cartridge manufacturers had to change their chips to be compatible once again. Some companies just stopped producing compatible cartridges but plenty have redesigned their cartridges and they are working. Epson will continue to change their chips but so will the compatible cartridge manufacturers.

Why would they want to require us to use their official Epson cartridges? The motive is as old as humankind is, and of course, it is money. The cost of the ink inside these plastic casings costs mere pennies. The prices of the official Epson cartridges can range from 9 pounds to a couple hundred, for wide format Epson printers. This means the profit margin is completely astronomical, for Epson themselves. However, the room for our own retail mark-up can be restricted to less than 10% on originals because of the extreme price that Epson sell them to their authorised UK distributors. Of course Epson makes a great product both in the printer and in the cartridge but is it really worth the extra money to use the official Epson cartridges when the compatible will probably give you the same quality, lower cost and more ink? For most people this would be a no.