Don’t stock up on inkjet cartridges

I see it time and time again – people who think they are saving time by stocking up on replacement inkjet cartridges. You know, long before their current inkjet cartridges run out. The idea is that when their current inkjet cartridges run out, they already have the next set on hand, ready to go.

Big mistake

This is a big mistake. Why? Because so many things can go wrong with an inkjet printer.

For starters, if you don’t print on a frequent basis, your existing inkjet cartridges will dry out. When they do, there’s also a good chance that your print nozzle will clog and, unless you know (or want to learn) how take apart your printer to fix it, this spells trouble.

Most people think the solution to this problem is to discard the never-fully-used inkjet cartridges and replace them with the spare set they already have on hand. But guess what? The new inkjet cartridges won’t work either because the true problem is with the print nozzle (or somewhere else).

Cheap price, cheap printer

It’s a sad fact, but you get what you pay for with an inkjet printer. Sure, you get a low-cost, color printer which prints great-looking documents and photos. But, you also get a printer that is next to impossible to fix when something goes wrong. Don’t believe me? Try calling any computer repair shop in your local town and ask how much they charge to fix an inkjet printer. You’ll discover that they either don’t repair inkjet printers at all or that the price of the repair will cost more than the price of a new inkjet printer.

Which is exactly why you shouldn’t stock up on replacement inkjet cartridges. I mean, what good is it having three sets of replacement inkjet cartridges when your printer no longer works? And good luck returning those now-obsolete cartridges to the store or trying to sell them to someone else.

What should you do?

If you insist on sticking with your inkjet printer, mainly because you have a need (not a want) to print in color, then just wait until you get your first “ink low” notification or when you start to see streaks in your printed pages. Then head to Amazon.com and search for your printer name or the inkjet cartridge model # if you know it. Place your order and, in a few days, you’ll have your ink replacements.

Better yet, stop using an inkjet printer altogether. Most of my clients I talk to only think they want or need an inkjet printer when they would be much better off with a laser printer. The cost of ownership is much lower with a laser printer and you don’t have to worry about ink drying out.

The only sacrifice you’ll be making is not being able to print in color. Yes, color laser printers exist but they are much more expensive to manage (although the price has come down significantly in recent years).

I have yet to hear a single complaint from any of my clients who, after repeated problems with inkjet printers, took my advice and switched to a laser printer.

By the way, Amazon has a great selection of Brother laser printers which I highly recommend. In fact, my day-to-day printer that I use right now is a Brother DCPL2540DW laser printer and I love it!