The Attempt to Stop Remanufactured Cartridges. This time I will discuss about The Attempt to Stop Remanufactured Cartridges / The Try to Stop Refurbished Cartridges.
When printing companies sell a printer, they're very pleased. Not just because they've sold one of their products, but because it also means they've just earned themselves a repeat customer. This isn't necessarily that they think you're going to come back and buy more printers. Rather, what they are relying upon is that you will come in and purchase ink cartridges over and over again as yours run out. They make additional money off of every black, yellow, magenta, or cyan ink cartridge you buy. But these days paying full price for ink can seem a bit exhausting, so people have turned to other sources of ink - remanufactured ink cartridges.
Problem is printer manufacturers don't like that. They never have. For many years now, they've been trying to get rid of remanufactured cartridges from the marketplace to keep them from eating into their profits. Naturally, we can see that their tactics overall have failed because remanufactured cartridges still exist in the marketplace. Initially, these printer companies have attempted to use lawsuits in order to stop the selling of remanufactured cartridges, citing design patent infringement. However, thousands of remanufactured cartridges are still available for sale (if not all of them), which means these lawsuits have either failed or simply not gotten very far.
A lot of demand? Remove the supply.
A simple enough plan for a printer manufacturer is to figure out a way to just remove those empty cartridges from circulation. But how can they do that? People will always have empty cartridges, so doesn't that mean that remanufacturers will have a ready supply of cartridges to fix and sell? Not necessarily. There are a lot of different directions that an empty cartridge to go in once someone has removed it for a different one. That includes the recycle bin.
In order to stop empties from making their way into the hands of remanufacturer businesses, some companies have turned to recycling as their weapon of choice. Recycling gives companies an edge two different ways.
A company that has a recycling program or who has partnered with a retail business in order to have their cartridges recycled gets looked at in a positive light by the consumer. People see the company and think, "They're trying to be green by recycling their old cartridges." For some companies, yes, they are looking to be green because they've discovered ways it can save them money and it endears them to consumers. They can use the materials from the old cartridges to make new ones or as materials to help make printers or other parts.
Second, by recycling cartridges, it keeps the empties out of the hands of third party remanufacturers. The cartridges that the company collects, either directly or from partners they have made deals with, get crushed, melted, and transformed into something else entirely. There is no cartridge to go back into circulation. A remanufacturer cannot use the empty to refill and sell at a lower price to consumers.
Another Problem
In addition to recycling taking the empties out of the loop, the simple fact that people buy less cartridges overall than they previously did compounds the situation. People are looking for ways to print less, print smarter, and spend less money when they finally need new ink cartridges. Some remanufacturers do offer return envelopes and containers for people to send back their cartridges, but this isn't always the case, which means cartridges can end up in the garbage or recycling bin.
If fewer people are buying OEM cartridges and those that do have them recycled, more and more cartridges leave the circuit. This means that remanufactured cartridges will become fewer in number and not as many people may be able to find a viable, cheap option.
Though it is true that you aren't likely to see a sudden disappearance of remanufactured ink cartridges anytime soon. Many businesses, both online and offline, are still doing fine. There are millions if ink cartridges floating around out there - both new and remanufactured, that can be used again, provided they get into the right hands. Still, the big picture can give you something to think about the next time you find yourself with an empty ink cartridge. Should you send it to a remanufacturer and buy from them? Or recycle and just buy a brand new one?
