Are replacement ink cartridges for inkjet printers a complete con????

the full cost to replace my Lexmark ink is 拢18 for black and 拢18 for colour, I usually just use black. The refill place is cheaper but still not cheap at about 拢12 for black. However this time I bought a DIY kit from Asda or 拢5.60, containing bottles of black in, sringe, stoppers etc. to fill the cartridge myself, thinking it would be fiddly I tried it, and it worked perfectly and I only used part of one bottle of ink, leaving me EIGHT refills left, so the equivalent ink in new cartidges would have cost me over 拢160 - a reminder this set cost me less then 拢6. Am I ruining my printer by using this method or are ne cartidiges (and refill shops) just a total con???????Are replacement ink cartridges for inkjet printers a complete con????
You're probably not ruining your printer.





The printer market is very competitive for the price of the printer, so manufacturers cut the price very low, and make money by pricing the ink high. This works for them, because most people don't look at the cost of the ink when they choose a printer.





If your refill ink is low quality, then you may start to clog the printer, and possibly lower-quality prints. Some cartridges (e.g. HP) include the print head, which is intended to be disposable, so re-filling those can be riskier. But others (e.g. Epson) have the print head in the printer, and it is therefore intended to last a long time, so less risky to use refills.Are replacement ink cartridges for inkjet printers a complete con????
I have found that ';compatible ';cartridges just do not do the job properly. It is a false economy, often thye don't work and equally often they are only partly full.


I use genuine cartridges only, but get them from http://www.ebuyer.com They are much cheaper because they are the starting point in the supply chain to the UK shops
It's true that cartridge ink is usually overpriced - I've even heard of a set of replacement cartridges costing more than the original printer! If I remember correctly, the printer was sold with the included cartridges only half full.





On the other hand, cheaper ink may fade quicker or something like that, and using it probably invalidates your printer warranty.
Your method is perfectly okay. Just you can't refill it more that 5-6 times.


And the ink is not that good.
I refill my own too.. Much cheaper..