Price at the Pumps

Posted on | March 28, 2007 | 3 Comments

Milk around 75p per litre – Petrol around 90p per litre – Bottled water around £1.00 per litre – Beer around £6 per litre – Blended Whisky around £35 per litre – Printer Ink around £2400 per litre.

I guess there must be expensive scents that cost more than this, but the makers of ink cartridges are surely coining it in! I paid approximately £12 for a 5ml HP ink cartridge, tried to print out a presentation along with notes (with the graphic element covering perhaps 30% of each page) – the black ink ran out after approximately 30 pages – each printed page cost me 40p!

I came across a statement from an HP spokesman back in 2004: “”The premium pricing for HP cartridges and inks reflects the investment in R&D [research and design] and manufacturing processes necessary to achieve this level of quality and innovation. HP invests up to three to four years developing and manufacturing just one new line of ink. HP would encourage customers to consider more than just purchase price when it comes to value for money.”

A BBC article from 2004 worked out that the running cost of an inkject printer, under constant use, could be as much as £1700 over an 18 month period.

I should, of course, state that this is not just about HP but all of the printer ink manufacturers. Does all that R&D really justify charging £2400 per litre for the product?

Technorati Tags: printer ink, prices

Category: education

Comments

3 Responses to “Price at the Pumps”

OllieBray
March 28th, 2007 @ 4:21 pm

Still really enjoying your blog John – great be of photoshop!
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April 9th, 2007 @ 8:17 pm

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May 17th, 2007 @ 11:50 am

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