Printer ink more expensive than vintage Scotch, consumer group warns

It is a humdrum supply stored in office cupboards up and down the country, but one which carries a price tag even heftier than a nip of vintage Scotch.

Which? says consumers are paying over the odds for branded printer ink.

A leading consumer group has highlighted the “extortionate cost” of printer ink and warned that people are being fleeced by relying on expensive branded products.

The investigation by Which? into the everyday stationery essential found that, per millilitre, the cost of ink for prominent printer brands outstripped well known luxury consumer items.

It pointed out that at £2.04 a millilitre, Epson’s ink was more expensive than a 32 year-old Scotch whisky (£1.71), Chanel No 5 perfume (£1.13), and premium champagne (£0.30).

Which? said that the majority of consumers (58 per cent) buy branded ink cartridges over cheaper third party alternatives, despite the fact that they are often just as good.

Its analysis of the market found that just one set of replacement cartridges for the Epson Expression Premium XP-900 costs £96. This means that a customer replacing their ink five times can expect to pay £480, yet a third-party alternative deemed of similar quality was found to cost a mere £70 for five replacement sets - a saving of up to £410.

Its survey of almost 9,000 printer owners revealed that many people are concerned that third-party ink may be incompatible with their printer (43 per cent), print quality would be compromised (30 per cent) or that the third-party ink might damage their printer (30 per cent).

However, in reality, Which? says, those fears are unfounded. Its survey revealed that only one in 10 of those who use third-party ink regularly experienced cartridges not working, just four per cent experienced leakage and only three per cent found print quality lower than expected.

Those surveyed also thought some third-party inks were easier to use than original cartridges from HP and Epson ink, with laser printer owners also much happier with third-party brands than original branded toner.

Harry Rose, the editor of Which? magazine, said that people could save significant amounts of money by turning away from the expensive brand offerings.

He explained: “Printer ink shouldn’t cost the earth and we’ve found that there are lots of unbranded products that are just as good as their branded counterparts and only a fraction of the cost - so you can keep your hard-earned cash for actual luxuries rather than spending it on printing.”

Which? pointed out that compatibility issues were a major concern among consumers. Some HP printers are designed to prevent customers from using third-party ink by using a security mechanism which prevents the printer from recognising the cartridges

The consumer group argued that such a step was “completely wrong,” and that ordinary consumers should be free to decide which cartridge to use.

In the US, a lawsuit resulted in some customers being reimbursed by HP for the costs of replacement cartridges, printers and repairs following a class action settlement.

Under the out-of-court settlement, HP agreed that the security setting in question would not be reactivated in the affected inkjet printers.

HP denies that it did anything wrong, and said that the dynamic security process protected the quality of its customer experience, and reduced counterfeiting of its supplies.

Mr Rose added: “Choosing third-party cartridges should be a personal choice and not dictated by the make of your printer. If you are in the market for a new printer, it might be best to avoid HP if you don’t want to fork out for expensive HP ink cartridges.”

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