Why we can’t pay top price for your unused OEMs

Posted in: blog by Jack on 31 July 2009

Several times a week we get calls from folks asking if we’ll buy their unopened OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) cartridges.

Usually it’s because they have been keeping a few backup cartridges on-hand. When their printer dies, they have a few unopened and unused original cartridges. They often paid full retail price for these and are looking for a way to recover a portion of their purchase price.

There are several reasons we cannot buy these at or near their full retail price.

• They are often past the pull date printed on the box
• We cannot know how they were stored or what condition the cartridge may be in
• We cannot resell them as new cartridges since we can’t determine their condition
• We have approved and authorized channels through which we purchase OEM cartridges when we need them, which isn’t often.

People shop at CW San Diego expecting to find quality refilled and remanufactured cartridges at a substantial savings. We seldom get customers looking for OEM product.

As a result, the only value an OEM cartridge has for us is the external shell. To use any OEM cartridge, we first have to clean out all the original manufacturer’s ink or toner before filling it with our own. We do purchase empty cartridges from a variety of sources. Those cartridges we need and that are in excellent condition we give store credits for in the amount of $1 (inkjet) or $3 (laser).

If you have unused OEM cartridges that you’re looking to recoup more than that from selling, we suggest you list them on Craigslist or perhaps your business’s internal bulletin board. There may be someone who would jump at the chance to save a couple of dollars for an original cartridge for their printer.

Ink and toner prices increased by OEMs

Posted in: News, OEM, blog by Jack on 14 January 2009

Printer.com, the largest proprietary database of printer ink and toner prices, announced their price indices show most major manufacturers are increasing their retail pricing anywhere from 3% to 6%.

This affects not just one or two manufacturers, but appears to affect all manufacturers. As of September 2008, HP increased the list prices on all Mono and Color LaserJet Print Cartridges by 5%, as well as approximately 5-6% on Inkjet Cartridges. Lexmark and Xerox also raised their pricing on printer supplies in November 2008 with 5% across the board for Lexmark and 3% to 6% for Xerox. Brother, Canon and Oki soon followed suit.

Printer.com’s Director of U.S. Operations Bob Crum, says, “Expect the ink and toner cartridge price increases to remain until several months after the recession has been put to bed. No one likes increasing prices, but ink and toner are often very profitable revenue streams for printer manufacturers, and incremental price increases just make business sense for a lot of organizations looking to increase profit margins in tougher financial conditions.”  (Source-PRWeb)

These increases were all enacted last year, before the severity of the economy was fully appreciated. Expect to see further cost increases this year from the major manufacturers as they attempt to keep their revenues consistent with past years.

Cartridge sales are keeping some of these companies solvent. They have to continue to raise prices to keep their profit margin consistent.