Price of ink jet ink - upto $8,000 a gallon

[law guy]

I was reading a blurb on Dell's new $99 laser printer today, (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050621-5022.html) which contained a link to an interesting story that noted that ink jet ink sells for an effective price of upto $8000 a gallon. http://www.ebusinessforum.com/index....out=rich_story.

I had never thought of it that way. In little cartridges bought one at a time, it doesn't seem that expensive. Makes me look at inkjet ink in a whole new way. I suppose this shouldn't dissuade folks thinking about buying an inkjet over laser as the price per page is what matters, but it is interesting to mull over.

[Bibulous]

I bought an HP c6578d for $34.99.

19 ml of ink in one cartridge.
1 gal = 3785.4118 ml
(3785.4118/19)*34.99 = $6971 per gallon

I know you can't buy just any liquid and pour it on a page to make a picture, but this still seems a little pricey.

[stoid]

And you thought gas was expensive! That's like 336,000 dollars a barrel!

[thehuncamunca]

calculated my ink to cost only $4000 a gallon HP56

looks like i'm getting a great deal (or NOT)

[mcarnes]

Inkjet ink worth it's weight in gold, and then some.

Who'd a thunk.

[wiseguy27]

Better to use someone else's printer for "free"?

Jokes apart, isn't photo printing (or color printing) at home a lot more expensive compared to printing at retail outlets (or wholesale outlets)?

Long ago I read about the addition of smart cards in some OEM cartridges to ensure that gray market cartridges would be rejected by the printer - although I understand that the marketing model for printer companies is to make money on the ink/toner, it seems like they're ripping off customers way too much.

[cwerdna]

I'd heard about the insane prices per ounce for inkjets but never did the math myself till now. From the MSRPs, an HP 57 color cartridge for my PSC 1315 all-in-one runs $34.99. It has a whole 17 ml of ink = $7791/gallon. The HP 56 black cartridge is $19.99 for 19 ml so it's "only" $3983/gallon.

[Prelude2Tragedy]

Originally Posted by cwerdna

From the MSRPs, an HP 57 color cartridge for my PSC 1315 all-in-one runs $34.99.

Not to mention with the tri-color tanks you never use up all the ink since each color isn't used up evenly. Just imagine how much ink/money your wasting.


Ill stick to my individual color ink tanks.

[cwerdna]

Originally Posted by Prelude2Tragedy

Not to mention with the tri-color tanks you never use up all the ink since each color isn't used up evenly. Just imagine how much ink/money your wasting.


Ill stick to my individual color ink tanks.

So far, I've printed nothing in color other than the initial alignment page and maybe a test page. I'm only using it as a b/w copier. It's not even hooked to or near any computer.

[Prelude2Tragedy]

Originally Posted by cwerdna

So far, I've printed nothing in color other than the initial alignment page and maybe a test page. I'm only using it as a b/w copier. It's not even hooked to or near any computer.

I print photos and color stuff all the time but i have a free and almost unlimited supply of ink and photo paper. Just a few perks of sales repping for a printer company.

[Mass Hysteria]

I used to buy epsons carts at UK £12 each (7 colours in all) for 17ml,

I found a place that does compatibles for 76p + VAT each!

magenta is 8% lighter but dialled that back in on the printer settings. (They also recommend that you change the carts every six months - ho hum)

spoke to an epson rep –*they don't make money from the printers at all and sometimes make a loss. This is like the disposable razor thing, cheap handles and pricey blades.