9to6.co.uk?

[AlienSteve]

I'm thinking of ordering ink and cartridges (going to build my own CIS).

I have a wholesale source from China, but there's a huge language barrier and although the prices are very low, there seems to be a $200 minimum order. Or at least the two quotes I've asked for, in both the shipping price was bumped up to make the total come to $200.

So I saw a link on another inkjet board to http://www.9to6.co.uk and although naturally the prices are higher, I don't have the minimum order to contend with and native English speakers.

Anyone here used them? Anyone here ordered to North America?

 

[canonfodder]

AlienSteve,

I don't really have much experience in choosing and testing ink suppliers, but one thing seems worth your strong consideration. If you are going to refill and do a serious attempt at getting good results, you need to pick a supplier of good inks, but perhaps most important is one that will be consistent. This requires dealing with a supplier who always buys ink from one very consistent source, or dealing directly with an ink maker who will keep a very consistent formula and process. These conditions do not always come with the lowest price. Refilling should get you a very good price, but the lowest prices may not be what works well.

I find that the shipping costs from Europe make the sources there somewhat unattractive.

You might check here on the forum for ink recommendations. There are some.

 

[AlienSteve]

Good points. Someone else did point me at PrintOnADime.com and the prices are close enough to 9to6 that PrintOnADime wins out on shipping.

 

[fotofreek]

Steve - Three of the favorite ink sources that have persisted for the two years I've been reading the printer NG posts and participating in this forum.
1) Alotofthings sells Formulabs-Sensient inks that have received lots of positive feedback here. Grandad uses this ink and has made some custom profiles for his i9900 printer.
2) MIS, available at inksupply.com. Reported to be Imagine specialist inks. This is the ink I have used for two years. ( I might have said the same for Formulabs if I had known about it before purchasing the MIS inks.) You can buy imaging specialist ink directly from the manufacturer, but only in very large quantities.
3) Hobbicolors. Unknown manufacturer or source. Good reports from most users.

Neil Slade, in his earlier writings about aftermarket inks, suggested starting with a Computer Friends starter kit (very good blue plugs for sealing the fill hole) and then moving on to MIS inks. At that time the Computer Friends inks were much more expensive. Neil said that both were selling Imaging Specialist inks. Computer Friends inks have become competitively priced. I have used them in my wife's printer, an ip5000, and they are a very decent color match to OEM and haven't caused any harm to the printer.

There is also a person posting to this Forum who is selling inks they clearly identify as Imaging specialist inks. You will see this info at the bottom of their posts in their signature area.

I believe that the smallest container available from Alotofthings is 4 oz. whereas the others come in 2 oz containers if you want to start with a small quantity. Of course, the larger the container,the cheaper per ounce the ink costs and less shipping cost per ounce as well . Depends on how much you print.