Compatible Cartridges . . . and Warranty Waffling

Despite an ongoing campaign by the manufacturers of remanufactured, refilled, and compatible printer supplies, there is still a lot of confusion and misinformation (waffling) out there regarding how using these low-cost alternatives can/will affect your printer's warranty. Granted, this post is more of an article than a gblog post, but maybe it can do a bit toward clearing up any misunderstanding:

Using a compatible toner or ink cartridge will not void your printer's warranty, no matter what the salesman (or -woman, or –person, manufacturer, or your next-door neighbor) may assert to the contrary. Got that?

That's not to say that compatibles are identical, but in most cases they're equivalent—and sometimes they're even superior in page yield and print quality – to the OEM (original Equipment Manufacturer). This thorough and comprehensive April '08 post, "Compatible versus Genuine Toner Cartridges," in genietown discusses the differences and similarities between the two; as does this one.

The biggest difference, though, is in cost to the consumer: OEM toner is significantly more expensive than compatibles, because – in addition to the cost of the toner and delivery system it comes in (yes, I know I've dangled a participle!) -- you're also paying for the manufacturer's printer subsidy, its advertising, worldwide brand presence, and cachet.

Have you ever gotten what you thought was a terrific deal on a printer, only to find out later (usually at the least convenient time!) that cartridges cost almost as much as the printer, itself?

In many ways it's not too different from the cellular phone industry's sales strategy , (known as the "razor and blades pricing model"), where the consumer is sold, or given, a feature-laden cell phone at low cost, but is required to sign a multi-year contract with the provider -- usually at an inflated rate with prohibitive penalties for early termination of service.

Compatible cartridge retailers, such as SuppliesExperts.com (the company I work for), sell their toner products for much less. Here are a few examples:

First, let's look at the HP Q2612A printer cartridge (a.k.a. the 12A). HP sells its brand name toner cartridges for $69.99. The same cartridge (the OEM) goes for $59.99 on Amazon.com. Compare that to the SuppliesExperts.com compatible, the Q2612A, which sells for $26.97. That’s a 55% savings. The irony is that – as this post by civbat (about halfway down the page) explains – Hewlett-Packard recycles their toner cartridges as well!

Or, take Samsung's ML-2500 Series of printers. Amazon.com sells the OEM ML-2010D3 cartridge for $74.88, while SuppliesExperts.com sells its compatible cartridge for an astonishing $29.97. The difference here is almost 60%.

And, like HP and Samsung, toner cartridges from SuppliesExperts.com carry a 100% guarantee!

I seem to have strayed a bit from the original topic of this post: "Compatible cartridges and printer warranties." I wrote that "Using a compatible toner or ink cartridge will not void your printer's warranty, no matter what the salesman (or -woman, or –person, manufacturer, or your next-door neighbor) may assert to the contrary."

Why?

In 1975 Congress passed the "Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act," which, in essence, says that a manufacturer cannot require – as a condition of its warranty policy – a consumer to use its own, brand-name, products if a compatible product is available. A discussion of the act as it applies to compatible toner cartridges can be found here, while the official text of the applicable USC Code is here.

So, that's it: the bottom line; the unvarnished truth. Sixty-six words out of 582.