Remanufactured toner cartridges often go for at least 30% less than their name-brand counterparts. But experts warn not to be tempted by the short-term advantage.

The total cost of ownership for a remanufactured cartridge is double that of an OEM cartridge, according to a recent study conducted by QualityLogic and commissioned by HP.

Despite the initial cost savings, an HP spokesperson said, those cheaper cartridges don’t last as long and produce pages that often need to be reprinted anyway. According to the study of 2,500 business:

• 10% of remanufactured cartridges were dead on arrival or failed prematurely, and
• 15% produced pages of “limited or no use” at least half the time.

Dead cartridges, wasted paper and the time spent on reprints add up to create the high TCO. “SMBs who think they can achieve cost savings by choosing remanufactured cartridges are making a mistake,” said QualityLogic CEO Dave Jollota, “by not factoring in the hidden costs from reprints, replacement cartridges and additional labour costs from having to diagnose and fix printing problems.”

Our note: There are reputable remanufacturers who produce pretty good profits. If you have found one, that’s fine. Managed print services (Link to earlier story), for example, can stand by the quality of the products they supply. But the replacement industry is full of fly-by-night operations. Unless you have the time to fully test and track the page yield of the cartridges you are supplied, stick to the original manufacturer.

Tags: Hewlett-Packard, HP, OEM cartridges, remanufactured cartridges, total cost of ownership