Toner Cartridges - Price versus quality

Now call me a spend thrift if you like, but I, like many others, do like a bargain when I see one! Be it discounted items in my local supermarket, to bigger savings on new technologies. However, my wise grandpa always said, “You only get what you pay for!” Wise words indeed, and ones that have come back to bite me on more than one occasion, after making unwise purchases which haven’t lasted the distance!

A typical example of this is buying new printer or photocopier toner cartridges.  I bet I'm not the only one who has bought cut price cartridges and then regretted it several prints later because they have been substandard!

In this blog we will therefore be looking at whether price is the only factor when selecting new printer cartridges… Price versus quality.

There are many good suppliers of toner solutions out there, who are in the business of selling high quality, Eco-friendly remanufactured ink and toner cartridges.  I dare say these suppliers have heard just about everything on the subject of buying printer cartridges from their customers, but the one thing that keeps cropping up is price. It normally goes something like this; they give someone a price quote and the prospective customer gets back to them saying, "I can get this same cartridge for £X amount on line, can you match that price?"

• Paragon comment

Funny that!  We often get calls such as this, asking about whether we can match internet prices.  The document solutions market is incredibly competitive and prices from company to company fluctuate considerably. To help make our customer's lives easier, and save time and energy searching the market for the best quote, Paragon offers a simple price match promise. This means we will endeavour to match any quote from our competitors. However, we also need to make customers aware that this price promise refers to the top quality cartridges that we deal in, not those that are offered by less reliable sources!
Other questions you need to ask yourself are…        

• Do you care if there is a warranty on the product?
• Is there an easy to use return policy?  
• Can I get hold of a live person to talk to if there is a problem?
• What am I buying? Is it just the old drill & fill method or is it a core that has been completely disassembled, new parts installed, filled with the highest quality toner and then tested to make sure it works?

Paragon can answer yes to all these points!
Yes, we have full warranties on all our products; yes there is good returns policy; yes we have experienced staff on call for you to talk to; and yes all our cartridges are tried and tested.  However, if you really don't care about any of these points then by all means go ahead and buy the cheapest printer cartridge you can find!

Conclusion

Things to consider before buying:

1. Know what you are spending on your ink and toner cartridges. Then compare that to the price you are looking at on line. Is it worth taking a chance if the cartridge fails?
2. Do you buy your cartridges as you need them?  If so, are you prepared to wait weeks to get a replacement for a defective toner?
3. Make sure to read the return policy of the company you are thinking of buying from, if you can find it. Reputable businesses have a returns policy that is easy to find. Others aren't consumer friendly. First you have to contact them, tell them what is wrong and wait to get the RMA from them. Once that's done it's up to you to package and post the defective toner. Once received, they state it will take any where from 7 to 10 days to process, and you then have to ask yourself why it would take that long to determine if its a faulty toner or not. If they do indeed determine that the cartridge was defective, they will then send a replacement toner back to you, using the cheapest method they can. If you need a quicker, next day delivery, guess what, it's down to you to pay the extra cost!  To top that, some sites even say that to get a return, you must send the cartridge back in the original box!  How many of us keep the box?

Call them!

Before you buy make sure you try calling them. If you can't find a number don't buy from them!  Imagine trying to return something by no other means than email!  Reputable sites will have all their contact details clearly displayed. They want customers to be able to contact them, whereas less than reputable businesses don't!  They just want to make the sale. By calling and actually talking to someone, you will get a very good impression on how they are going to treat you. Ask the tough questions. Warranty, delivery time to your location, return policy details and how long does it take to get a replacement.

Price is important

So the idea of something being as cheap as chips is long forgotten after poor service. Finding a deal is always great, yet if poor quality and service is going to eat into your precious time in calling/faxing/emailing to get a new cartridge that you saved 15 or 20% on, you have to ask yourself if it's worth it. So remember to weigh the savings against what the benefits will be.

• Paragon Comment

At Paragon Document Solutions we know how important it is to keep your printers running so we send out a replacement right away and deal with the return after the event. What good does it do you if your printer goes down and you have to wait 2 weeks or longer to get up and running again?  It doesn't do your business any good and it certainly wouldn't be good for our customer relations!   So why not give us a call and take all the hassle out of buying your printed & photocopier cartridges.   We can give you the best quality at the most competitive prices!

For more details on our great service, contact us or email us directly via info@paragon-ds.co.uk.