While printing out a review sheet for my organic chemistry midterm, I was notified that my black inkjet cartridge was at 5% capacity. Since I need to print many things for my classes, I decided to take a break from studying to buy replacement cartridges from OfficeMax.
Finding the right ink cartridges was a piece of cake. OfficeMax has a large link near the top of their front page that guides customers to the appropriate printing supplies. Within 5 minutes I was ready for checkout; I had decided to buy color ink refills too, since adding them would qualify me for free shipping and because I’d also need them at some point in the future.
There was one thing that caught my eye, though: the price of the ink cartridges. For a set of black and color ink cartridges, the price was $65.96. If I remember correctly, that’s nearly half the price I paid for the printer in the first place. In other words, for every two sets of refills I purchase, I might as well buy a newer, cheaper, more efficient, printer.
I know this is old news for people, but I just happened to be reminded of the business strategy of printer companies: sell the hardware cheap but keep the supplies expensive. It seems this sort of strategy is pretty profitable; you don’t here much about printer companies filing for Chapter 11. Indeed, other industries are based upon the same business model: the gaming console industry and the cell phone industry.
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