Cost of ink

[gean]

Please correct this if wrong, i took the infromation from the net.

"Volume 1 gallon = 3785 cc = 3785 ml = 768 teaspoons = 256 Tablespoons = 231.0 cu in = 128 fl oz = 16 cups = 8 pints = 4 quarts = 3.784 liters"

Based on this if caculated that out of a galon of ink 3785ml there are 140.2 Black BCi-3 canon ink tanks which has 27ml , and 291.6 color cartrige each has 13ml in them. (this is based on the BCI-6, and BCI-6 ink tanks) at the current cost.
The following informaton i got from the bestbuy web sigh BCI-3 ink tank single are $14.99, color cartirges are $12.49 for C,M,Y. Note these are single tank prices. Therefore i came up with the follow figures 140.2 cartirges for black at $14.99 is $2102.60 per gal. Color cartriges is 291.6 at $12.49 is $3642.08. Talk about getting riped off with out being kissed........

I only caculated the price for a four color printer; if you have a six color printer the cost goes up. I not trying to piss anyone off but if my caculation are correct: ink is more valuable that gold!

I have reloaded canon printer ever since the bjc-600. I would buy the 4 color sets for about $45.00 for 4 ounce bottle of each color. The most i ever got was from the 4400, of which i used up 2/3 bolles of black ink before it quit printing., my i850 i used about 4/5 of each color, and one + bottle of black before it quit. (i believe the bottle are 4 ounce, in on bottles stated will get 4 refills for black, and 8 for color) I never waited till cartriges were completele empty before i refilled the cartirges.

I not trying to start a war.......but talk about getting ripped off. Do the printer manfactures think that each and ever one of us are idiots. While i am talking about the manufacturs any one know what happened to epson lawsuit?


Well i think that i have ranted enoght.

 

[Osage]

Thank you Gean for weighing in,

And I agree with you----but your calculations are off some---because not all the ink one buys in that OEM cartridges is usuable ink. In the case of a BCI-6 it looks like the figure is about 75% of the ink is usuable---so multiply your figures by 4/3.---------and in an earlier calculation I came up with $2600/gal for a Canon BCI-3ekk and $4300/gal for the BCI-6 colors.---pretty amazing when you consider that a consumer can buy top quality refill ink for less than $100/gal retail.---do that calculation on some other printers and you can easily find some cartridges weighing in at over $10,000/gal.

In terms of "do the printer manufacters think that each and every one of us are idiots?"---its not an each amd every one question---us few non-idiots are so few as to be unconsequental---with the chips discouging and frightening all but the most determined. But its evident that ink jet printer manufacters are doing gangbuster business assuming (1) Most buyers are total idiots (2) We consumers won't band together and get tough laws outlawing this rip-off.---and on counts 1&2 its consumers taking it in the chops both counts.

In terms of the Epson lawsuit--last I heard the ripped off class gets some one time small credit at the Epson web-site---maybe enough to buy a few OEM cartridges.

In terms of rant-----please rant more--tell your friends and neighbors--or things will get worse---just as they are getting worse now.

 

[mikling]

Yes, I know what you mean but the last time you or someone you know bought some bottled water. Did you stop to think how much that cost? Don't flame me I agree but there are a lot of things out there if you look around.

There's another way to look at it. If everyone refilled, then there would not be enough revenue to offer you a precision piece of equipment for less than one tank of gas! In a way we have to thank the consumers who buy new cartridges because THEY are really the ones subsidizing our hobby in a way.

 

[roytje]

Hello,

One of my visitors came up with the idea to calculate the ink costs per gallon for several cartridges to give my visitors more information (and shock the people who are still using OEM cartridges). You can see the results at http://www.printeradvice.com/refill.html .

For the calculations I used the price lists from the manufacturer sites.

Roy

 

[ocular]

I can buy 1 litre of Formulabs Black Ink for BCI 3 for $59 AUS = $45US
1 Gallon of Formulabs Black Ink ( which is prob the same as the OEM) = $45x3.78 = $170.00
versus OEM cartridge cost of $2600.

 

[mikling]

When you buy an HP cartridge you are also buying a printhead not just ink. Keep that in mind. That will throw your calculations completely out. Yes, you can buy printers with permanent printheads/ semipermanent like Canon and the calculations are better based on those calcs. On that basis a Canon OEM ink cartridge may very well be the worst buy. I haven't done the calculation.

When I used an HP for a little while I realized how terrific a printer they are for the light user. I never experienced any clogging. streaking, or worries about non use. I could go away for weeks come back and it prints fine. Install a new cartridge and the first page auto aligns the heads. I can't say the same for the Epsons I've had and looks like Canon may have some of these burps too. I could not imagine the casual computer user putting up with head cleaning, nozzle checks, head alignment etc. and don't kid yourself, a properly equipped HP will print an excellent photo but expensive one.

There is a price for reliability and HP has this market and they profit from it. Of course If I printed a lot HP drops down to the bottom of the list but again for the casual user it looks perfect.

 

[ghwellsjr]

The casual user gets his photos printed at Walgreens, at least that's what he told me, and I believe him.

I used to be a casual user with an HP printer that was given to me. It hadn't been used for over a year. Both cartridges, black and three-color were totally clogged.

The advantage of the HP is that whatever problems you have with clogs, they go away when you buy new cartridges, which is what I did. But then I read in the manual that you can exchange the black cartridge with a three-color photo cartridge (for a total of six colors), which is what I did. Whenever I wanted to print text, I put in the black cartridge. Whenever I wanted to print photos, I put the photo cartridge in. One of these two cartridges was always out of the printer.

Bad mistake. It didn't take long for clogs to start showing up in both the black and photo cartridges. Now why didn't HP make it very clear that you could use your printer for photos or text but not both?

I learned a lot of other things not to do with HP cartridges involving re-inking and eventually gave up.

I searched the web for help and found Neil Slade's site and got started with Canon printers and re-inking them.

But, in terms of cost, I think I would be way ahead if I had done what my casual friend does and print at Walgreens, but then I wouldn't be having all this fun.

 

[mikling]

One aspect of the HP cartridge as well as all cartridges with built in heads is that when they are removed, they are inserted into a "clip" that reseals the head and prevents them from drying out. If I assume the Hp was given to you then this "clip" was missing from the original printer package as some printers even have a spot inside the printer to store the extra cartridge. Many remanufactured cartridges come with clips and these can also be purchased from various places as well. Had you done this, you would have totally prevented the clogs from heads drying out.

Same reason you don't have an Epson or Canon in the cartridge removal position too long else you are looking for clogged heads from ink drying out. Also same reason why users of those printer should always have an extra set of cartridges so that when the empty one is removed a new one/ refilled one is immediately swapped in.

 

[hpnetserver]

Canon probably spends tens of millions of dollars in its R&D for printers alone every year. They ay have a division with a few hundred heads receiving salaries and benefits every day. They probably spend a 5% or 10% of their revenue in R&D so that every year you get some new printers that are better faster and perhaps more reliable. Obviously they need to factor that cost into the ink they sell. When you calculate Canon's cost of ink you also need to consider the cost of the plastic and the cost of manufacturing the ink cartridge plus labeling, Qc, packaging, distributing and marketing. Every retailers also want to take another share of the profit which is usually pretty high. Fry's floor space is not free. Their customer service is not free. Their generous return policy is not free. In my opinion it is almost impossible to consider the cost of an ink cartridge by calculating only the material cost of ink, which is mostly water by the way. The reason 3rd party ink is so cheap is those 3rd party vendors do not have most of these overhead. Consider ourselves very lucky because 3rd party vendors are available to us.