The Epson Printing Ink Cartridge Scam

Just a point which seems so obvious that it is unbelievable nothing has yet been done by the various Governmental bodies in the Western world..

As the picture of this colossal scam is so wide-spread and undisputed as all these posts clearly demonstrate, then ;-

Why have the EU and US Offices of Fair Trading and Monopolies Commissions not investigated the matter and taken appropriate action long before now - prosecution and/or revision of trading licence conditions, plus the easing of Import restrictions to let foreign goods compete at a low and realistic price to consumers ?

It looks like Corporate collusion and price fixing may be present on a grand scale and the evidence should not be hard to establish, with all the Chinese and Far Eastern trading details being common knowledge.

Price fixing is an age-old tactic used by major competitive companies to protect their profitability and sales targets by preventing cut-throat competition and price wars.

You will see this all around you in everyday life, from petrol, all kinds of popular goods, consumables and foodstuffs etc. etc. - just about everything, even milk supplies.
But why ink ? A commodity that costs a few cents. It is a very sick joke.
KAS

 

Most people who have a computer at home would also have a printer as the most important peripheral (when I bought my first computer they gave me 'free' a printer in the package). You can imagine the kind of business revolving around "ink".

I used to know somebody who worked for a printer company after service (no names, don't want to discredit anybody). He told me that this company(big player) was selling new printers with used internal parts, and legally it was an accepted practice in the industry. No wonder they sell you a complex device almost for nothing, and recoup their money with the ink.
I wouldn't hesitate to call it a cartel.

 

Cartel is actually a mild word, its downright extortion. The newer all in ones are a joke, they are complex and prone to breakage frequently. I see so many of these in houses lying dead, most service centers do a token job and by the second or third attempt the poor owner has given up and ends up buying a newer contraption only to get back into the same vicious cycle. The printer scam has been going for a long time and all the major manufacturers are equally guilty in this.

 

I upgraded to a Canon Pixma IP6600D a few years ago after wringing my hands over which printer to buy that would reproduce photo prints of good quality. The choice came down to either the Canon or an Epson, and I picked the Canon because the Epson printed on CD's too and I don't need that. The Canon uses six ink colors and each color tank goes for about $15. Fortunately They go empty one at a time, so it isn't a big cash layout all at once, and they go empty depending on what color you are using the most. I think I have found the best way to save money buying ink. Every Christmas, and every year on my birthday, my family used to go out and buy me presents, most of which were nothing that I need. So now when they ask me what I want, I tell them to get me a gift card at Staples or Office Depot. These gift cards usually get me through a year of free ink.

 

Sounds an ingenious way of getting "free" ink for yourself, but your kind donors are still paying the Cartel "keep out those cheap foreign inks at 10 times less" ringed fixed prices extortionate scam on the general public. A matter our caring Government`s chose to not take retributional action against.
KAS

 

OK Kas!

Here's some good ways to save on your ink.

Another way to save on black ink is to print everything in dark/medium grey,
it really does make a difference in the length of your black cartridges life.

Keep up the good fight against those nefarious ink cartels!