Hidden Fees
When you think about hidden fees, certain things like credit cards and cell phones come to mind. Usually you skip over the fine print and never realize what the hidden fees are until they hit you. But what not enough people realize is that printer ink is one of the most expensive hidden costs there is. This Boston Globe article notes:
…how many people realize, when they walk out of CompUSA, a nice $99 inkjet model tucked under their arm, that it’s likely they’ve just committed themselves to spending nearly $1,500 on ink cartridges over the next four years? (In fact, only about 3 percent realize it, according to Stanford economist Robert E. Hall.)
Now $1500 might seem a little high, but it’s not too farfetched. If an average manufacturer brand cartridge is $25, then it would be the equivalent of buying 15 cartridges per year. It might be a little high (which is maybe why only 3% of people knew the amount) but it would be easy for someone to spend that much if they printed photos regularly or used their printer for work.
One set of economists argued that it was ok to not be upfront about your pricing because there are always going to be people who just don’t realize it/don’t care or people who examine the prices and know the way to get the best bargain. Another economist, Barry Nalebuff, argues against deceptive pricing and has this to say:
“In the end, you don’t fool the customers with the hidden price,” he says. They know they’ve paid it even if they didn’t know they were going to pay it.” And if they feel ripped off, they won’t come back.”
This could definitely apply to what we have heard about some customers when they go to buy their first set of inkjet cartridges. They get so angry with the company that sold them the printer that they vow to never use them again. Of course, since all printer manufactuers are basically the same, you aren’t going to find a whole lot of savings from switching to any one brand of manufacturer’s ink. This is where refilling your cartridges and buying remanufactured or compatible cartridges can help. You can save yourself from those long-term “hidden fees” and show printer manufacturers that it is not alright to not be upfront about the true cost of owning their machines.
The hidden economy [Boston.com]
 |
June 30th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Well even I am one of those consumers. When it comes to buying an IT product today, you have a plethora of options at your disposal and to add on to that, you have them so well and so attractively priced, that you begin to wonder about your younger days, when investing on a mere PC was a thorough analysis of your monthly budget. Yes, IT has evolved and its new incarnation has more to offer that even you could imagine. But what most people often do not realize is the cost of the gadget’s maintenance. This is actually where the companies will charge you such high rates that you soon realize, you have made a blunder. Hidden costs as they call it, you will actually have to pay dear for anything that you buy, if not by the direct payment of cash, hidden costs that will unveil at a later stage. As for us, we just sit, wait and watch.
July 10th, 2006 at 11:37 am
I can familiarize completely with this. I was short for cash but managed to scrape together enough money to buy a HP DeskJet 3845. I was really pleased with it when I bought it; I had no idea of the ink prices at the time though. My previous printer took 4 cartridges at about £5 each (that’s about $36 in total). This new printer only took 2 cartridges, one color and one black, I hadn’t anticipated the price. The black ink cartridges cost $30 and the color cartridges cost $33. That’s $63 just to replace the cartridges! However to combat this I decided to buy remanufactured cartridges. They are the same price but they are filled twice as much (20ml instead of 10ml). It means that I have 2 cartridges worth of ink for the same price. This is equivalent to $31.50 for a full replacement where it used to cost $36. This way I am spending less money on ink that I previously was. I would recommend remanufactured cartridges over refills as I know from experience refills can get a bit messy. I used a refill before and I ended up wasting all the ink I put into it as the cartridge refused to work. Remanufactured cartridges are risk free as they can be refunded if they don’t work on arrival. I had this once where the printer couldn’t recognize the cartridge. The retailer was happy to replace them with no proof they didn’t work and they didn’t even ask me to return the old ones. Remanufactured cartridges are the way to go.