Issue #0628/1 - As a further attempt to restrict the flow of used cartridges to the third party refill and remanufacturing aftermarket, and to dissuade customers from buying third party cartridges by offering discounts, Lexmark has begun shipping Return Program inkjet cartridges.
For more than a decade Lexmark has annoyed and angered the printer industry by offering toner cartridges to laser printer customers on a discounted ‘return to Lexmark’ basis. This month, Lexmark has begun the process of extending that policy to include inkjet printer cartridges as well.
Furthermore, as a ‘we’ll make sure you get the message’ approach, the company is shipping its latest inkjet printer, the Z845 (see "Hollow boasts from Lexmark - new Z845 inkjet printer"), with the Return Program cartridges.
Of course, the two cartridges shipped with the machine are extremely low capacity, following Lexmark’s strategy of shipping as little ink or toner at the time of purchase as possible. This is to force the customer to start the process of ink or toner purchasing just as soon as possible while also allowing the company to charge less for the printer in the first place.
Providing only 175 pages (@5% coverage), the black cartridge, #28, gives the customer far fewer pages than the high yield #34 cartridge, which yields 475 pages – a massive 300 pages difference. Similarly, the #29 tricolour cartridge yields only 150 pages (@5% per colour) whereas the high yield #35 yields 450 pages.
If customers continue their printing with the #28 and #29 cartridges, they will be saving 17% on the cost in comparison to buying the standard #28A and #29A (non Return Program) cartridges.
| Black | TriColour | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #28A |
#28 (return program) |
#34 | #29A |
#29 (return program) |
#35 | |
|
Quoted Yield (pages) |
175 | 175 | 475 | 150 | 150 | 450 |
| Price | £12.73 | £10.51 | £15.16 | £13.31 | £11.11 | £18.20 |
| Cost per Page | 7.27 pence | 6.00 pence | 3.19 pence | 8.87 pence | 7.41 pence | 4.04 pence |
| Saving | 17.5% | 47% | 16.5% | 45% | ||
| Saving | 56% | 54% | ||||
Cost Per Page – Standard Moderate Use vs Return Program vs High Capacity
However, by buying the high yield cartridges, which are non Return Program anyway, the customer will save a further 46% on the overall cost of printing ABOVE the cost of buying the Return Program cartridges.
This means that if users buy #34 and #35 cartridges immediately after purchase of the machine (ignoring all #28 and #29 cartridges), the saving per page is 55% over the cost of buying #28 and #29 non-return cartridges.
Obviously Lexmark hopes that users will be attracted by the Return Program cartridges because of the savings available. One would assume that the company will expand the program to other ink cartridges as well but that may not be the case!
With users eager not to spend too much money at any one time, the ‘ticket shock’ associated with the #34 and #35 cartridges may be enough to push them towards the lower priced #28 and #29 cartridges. If this is the case, the lowest priced Return Program cartridges will become very attractive.
If this is the case, it is a shame the customers will be duped into spending more than they need to on their printing. At least, I suppose, they will be following the middle path rather than buying the excessively costly #28A and #29A cartridges.
~End~
