When shopping for printer ink cartridges, looking for the best deal is crucial for those on a budget. Ink cartridges aren’t the cheapest of office supplies, but getting it right can ensure your printer runs appropriately. Unfortunately, there is a huge market for counterfeit ink cartridges, and when it comes to buying new ink for your printer, you don’t want to pick one of those up.
There are some dangers to using fake ink in your printer, from bursting cartridges to blockages in the printer nozzles. Believe it or not, it can also cause overheating in the printer, which could end up permanently damaging an expensive item in your office.
What Is A Counterfeit Cartridge?
You’ve probably heard of counterfeit money, but not counterfeit printer ink. Fake cartridges are designed to look exactly like a printer ink cartridge, but it would have been put together for a fraction of the cost of building it. There are a lot of ways that people counterfeit their cartridges, with some people importing them for a very low price and then printing the packaging out and selling it on as a genuine product.
Another way that counterfeiters can fake a cartridge is making their own ink and building the cartridge from scratch. The cost has to be low – which is why counterfeit cartridges are sold – which makes the materials a very low standard and the ink itself will be of a low standard, too.
It isn’t easy to tell the difference between counterfeit cartridges and the real deal, as they always resemble the genuine products on the market. There are some ways that you can spot them, and we’re going to explore them below.
Impossibly Low Prices
Printers are expensive office products, and it’s always shocking to see how pricey the ink cartridges are when you have one. If you spot low priced ink, it’s worth checking the manufacturer’s website before you purchase. If the manufacturer’s website shows the ink cartridges as more expensive, you can probably say it’s a fake.
Fake Packaging
Counterfeit ink often has counterfeit packaging. No security labels, low-quality printing with pixelated colouring and ink traces on the cartridge box can all point to a fake ink cartridge.
Who Sold It?
If the ink cartridge you have bought comes from an unknown brand, you can guess that it may be a fake printer ink cartridge. It’s always better to shop from a known and reputable brand and not a new one that you haven’t heard of.
Customers will still buy counterfeit products if they don’t have the budget for the real deal, but there are also those who purchase counterfeit without knowing. If you think you may have a counterfeit cartridge for your printer ink, don’t use it. There’s no cashback scheme at the moment for counterfeit cartridges, but you can notify the fake to your manufacturer.
If you bought your printer ink from a business online, get in touch with the seller – they may be quite happy to replace it.
