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The printer industry is an interesting market. Like most consumer markets, the presence of compatible or generic products has significantly lowered the profits that many brand name manufacturers receive each quarter. The primary rationale behind increased compatible sales and lower OEM sales falls directly on the price differential. Compatible cartridges can be purchased for at least half the price of the OEM cartridge on a majority of printer models. Although these compatible products might have some issues with reliability, consumers have found that compatible ink and toner cartridges are a great purchase. If you wanted to purchase an HP inkjet cartridge without spending an excessive amount of money, the best option is a compatible cartridge.

Printer manufacturers sell their printers at significantly lower prices in today’s market because they know each ink or printer toner cartridge purchase will immediately net them a profit. Manufacturers typically do not make much of a profit, if any, when they sell a printer. In fact, studies have shown some incredible statistics. The ink that a typical consumer will purchase for their printer is almost always the most expensive liquid per volume that they will ever purchase. By volume, it is more expensive than oil, champagne, perfume, and surprisingly, gold.

With laser printer cartridges, this same astounding statistic does not hold true, but that does not mean that deals cannot be found. A remanufactured toner cartridge offers the same price savings as a compatible cartridge, but some consumers consider these cartridges as higher quality. A remanufactured cartridge uses the casing and internal parts of a brand name toner cartridge. For example, if the manufacturer had an empty Minolta toner cartridge, then they will use the empty cartridge to remanufacture a working cartridge. The toner will be refilled and any worn parts will be replaced with brand new parts. Any used parts that are kept will meet the OEM’s recommended specifications.

It is evident that while a remanufactured cartridge may not be new, it is still a great deal. A majority of the parts in the cartridge are directly from the manufacturer. In fact, some of the new replacement parts could also be from the manufacturer. This makes the cartridge simply a used brand name cartridge. To some consumers, this is not a good deal. To others, it is definitely a possibility to purchase a used toner cartridge if it Is available for at least half the price of the brand name cartridge.

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