The high cost of ink cartridges often comes as a bit of a shock to most people who are unaware of the prices. The truth is that when you buy a printer, you are essentially locking yourself into a contract with the manufacturer of that printer. The ongoing ink costs can be high and that is why some people look for ways to buy cheap ink cartridges and avoid the branded varieties altogether. This article tells you the 3 main types of cheap ink cartridge and what the advantages and disadvantages of these are. You will also learn how you can save money on your printing too.

Let's start with the options if you want to bypass the branded ink cartridges altogether. First of all there is refill ink that you can buy and use to top up your empty cartridge. This needs to be purchased online and the prices are considerably lower than buying a normal cartridge. The downsides of doing this are numerous however. First of all the quality of printing takes a nose dive when you refill the cartridge. Secondly there is often very little yield from a refilled cartridge and thirdly refilling the cartridge is one of the messiest jobs in the world! Be prepared to have your clothes ruined and any other items in the house that the ink touches on its way in. Injecting ink into the cartridge often leaves more on your hands and the surrounding floor or sink. Be warned that although the upfront cost may be less, it is really a false economy.

The second way to buy cheap ink cartridges is to avoid the branded ones and choose generic cartridges. These are available online although because the cartridges are patented, it is not really appropriate that duplicate cartridges are made and sold. Nevertheless it is possible to buy these cartridges for your printer. It is often the case however that generic cartridges are not filled to the brim and in fact run out extremely quickly. It also cannot be guaranteed that the quality of the printing will be good. Because of the terms under which generic cartridges are often bought, you may be unlikely to get your money back due to a faulty or poorly printing generic cartridge.

The third and final way people often look for cheaper ink is through recycled cartridges. This costs more than refilling the cartridge yourself and there is a further cost of labour involved too as you have to send the cartridge off to be to refilled. Sometimes this can leave you without ink when you need it, so if you are going to take this route make sure you have a spare that you can use whilst your cartridge is away being refilled. You can find out how to go about this by searching online.

With any of these options, the quality of the ink can never be guaranteed and neither can the yield. Your printer was not designed for any of these options so if you choose to take any of these routes you may find yourself damaging the equipment. It is a risk when you choose to buy any type of cartridge that is not a new, branded variety that your printer was designed to take. You can keep your printing costs down by only printing when absolutely necessary, only printing in draft mode and printing only in black and white too. Replacing black ink is cheaper than replacing coloured ink.

If you are looking for cheap ink cartridges then be aware of the risks. You are often better off using branded varieties such as dell printer cartridges or epson ink cartridges and simply being frugal with the ink and looking to print only occasionally.