Gartner: Printer Ink Costs More Than Perfume

from the premium-price-leading-to-competition dept

Tue, Oct 12th 2004 11:39am — Mike Masnick

theodp writes "HP has taken umbrage with a Gartner analyst who pointed out that at $2,145 per liter, printer ink is more expensive per drop than Chanel No.5 or a good bottle of whiskey. HP hit back with a prepared email statement, saying the premium pricing just reflects their investment in R&D." This isn't new, of course. We've had a few stories in the past about how ink costs more than vintage champagne and how filling a swimming pool with ink would cost nearly $6 billion. Still, anyone who claims that they can price things so high because of the sunk costs that went into development is just screaming out for competition.

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17 Comments

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Oliver Wendell Jones, 12 Oct 2004 @ 12:14pm

Yeah, but...
I work in a similar industry, we spend millions of dollars to develop a product that is *very cheap* to manufacture, yet we sell it at a premium price.

We also produce hardware that uses our cheap disposable product and give this away for far less than they cost to manufacture. Why? To entice people to use our premium priced product.

The reason is that everyone else in this field uses the same business model. Everyone would love to not give away the hardware, but like with HP, Lexmark, etc., noone wants to be the first to try and sell a $500 entry-level inkjet printer with $5 ink cartridges.

I'd venture to say that more than 95% of consumers do not consider the total cost of ownership when they purchase most products, they look at the features and the base cost and never once go to look at the cost of the expendable/disposable parts. Those 95% sure bitch when they run out of ink the first time, though...
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- Mikester, 12 Oct 2004 @ 12:50pm
  
  Re: Yeah, but...
  That's why it's often cheaper to just buy a new low-end printer when you run out of ink, instead of new cartridges.
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  - Oliver Wendell Jones, 12 Oct 2004 @ 1:53pm
    
    Re: Yeah, but...
    well, that's a good plan, but most new printers come with "demonstration" cartridges that are less than half full... but you're right, last time I checked it was $10 more to buy a brand new Lexmark printer with ink cartridges than it was to buy just the ink cartridges...
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  - ashley (profile), 19 Dec 2013 @ 1:21pm
    
    Re: Re: Yeah, but...
    I agree its better to buy a new printer instead of buying cartridge. But earlier not now. Because this time i bought it from Greenhaven Supply. It was referred by a friend and was quite affordable. I would not not say it was cheaper but that's ok.
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David Garamond, 13 Oct 2004 @ 3:22am

Not to worry
Not to worry. If something can be sold 10x cheaper, then someone else will sell it. There are many 3rd party ink providers already now.
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Precision Blogger, 13 Oct 2004 @ 6:46am

Chanel #5 and Printer Ink
If you needed to change the world, which would you rather have: A bottle of perfume or a printer with a full ink cartridge? Very few people could do better with the perfume...

- The Precision Blogger
http://precision-blogging.blogspot.com
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dis be me, 28 May 2006 @ 2:16pm

ink vs gas
You think gas prices are outragous???

My printer ink, at about $25.00 for 8ml figures out to about $10,000 per gallon
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Henry Cusic, 26 Jun 2006 @ 5:53pm

My printer
Your right about one thing , I didn"t look at the price of ink
when I Bought my printer. Now I am going to look at the price of the cheapiest ink and then buy a printer
to match. I have toyed with the idea of a ink reiful. DonT know.
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Discount Perfume Online, 24 Jul 2008 @ 8:09am

perfume
Your blog is very much good. I am very much impressed by your blog content, i also come across number of sites for the perfumes for the cheap colognes and discount perfumes online, you can also check these are also very much useful for everyone.
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Discount Perfume Online, 25 Jul 2008 @ 7:32am

perfumes
Your blog is very much good. I am very much impressed by your blog content, i also come across number of sites for the perfumes for the cheap colognes and discount perfumes, you can also check these are also very much useful for everyone.
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perfumes for men, 1 Jan 2009 @ 7:57pm

I have a passion of perfumes, and I also run a small perfumes sales business. I look
around for posts like yours so I can keep myself updated. I consider the scent of perfumes
as an art because every perfumes' scent is unique in its own way just like an artist
paints unique pictures. I even run my own blog for perfumes.
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Perfume Brands, 12 Feb 2009 @ 9:01pm

Perfume Brands
Perfumes are the only commodity that requires complete hard work and patience. Every perfume is made having its own uniqueness. I own a blog and write posts on the history and the making of perfumes
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2009 @ 8:27pm

OMG what's with the perfume spam all of a sudden??
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- Will, 15 Mar 2009 @ 11:25am
  
  Re:
  I think someone said something about perfume and they decided that because of that they should spam it because we, as a community, have interest in perfume.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nước hoa, 23 Apr 2009 @ 8:40pm

perfume
I am interest in perfume.
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sue, 3 Mar 2014 @ 4:39am

yes OEMs ink are expensive
I used to hate so much to buy the cartridges once those run out as the originals are too expensive. But my found my cheapest option was to replace with remanufactured ink cartridges. It's still quite good according to the printing quality and cut down the cost. I think its all about finding the quality seller. Try this site, it may help you too. Goodluck! www.my-printer-ink.com
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Mr. A, 10 May 2014 @ 9:01am

Beauty care
Thanks for this post, nice idea in this blog, I read this post and it is interesting article, thanks! I�ve subscribed to your website post. Our goal at Uh Supply is to offer you an outstanding shopping experience. We carry an extensive selection of high quality beauty, spa, cosmetics and salon products and equipment at competitive prices, with fast shipping and friendly, knowledgeable service. More details >>> Fragrances, fragrance, fragrance
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