Why Buy Remanufactured?

Top Ink and Toner Questions

Over the last few months I have been gathering information from friends, family, and customers to find out what questions consumers have about ink and toner. I got some great questions and I would love to share them with you as well as the answers.

Q: Why did my all in one printer cost $80 but ink for it costs $50?

A: Unfortunatly for the consumer, most of the major printer manufacturers have made the choice to use the “Razor and Blades” business model. They sell you the printer at, or even below cost with the hope that you will buy their name brand ink cartridges. By selling the ink and toner to you they are able to make up for the lack of profit on the printer itself.

Q: Does shaking a printer toner cartridge actually give you more prints?

A: Yes, shaking a printer toner cartridge can get you more prints. If you are going to do this make sure you shake the toner side to side (preferably outside). If you shake it up and down there is a good chance you’ll have a toner mess on your hands (and clothes and floor, and desk).

HINT: If you do ever get toner on your clothes, DO NOT try to clean it up with a liquid. A liquid will only set the stain. DO take a dry towel and hit the stain with it to knock off the excess toner. Then wipe it off with a clean dry cloth. When you wash your clothes the stain should come out.

Note: Small spills you can easily clean up, but for major spills call a professional. Toner particles are very small and normal vacuums will only serve to spread the mess. A toner professional will have a toner vacuum and save you a big headache.

Q: Exactly how many times can you shake a toner cartridge before it gives up?

A: Honestly, there is no exact science to how many times you can get a toner to keep going. The reason shaking it works is because toner is made up of very small particles and they settle. Shaking the cartridge loosens the toner so the cartridge can use it.

Q: Can I shake an inkjet to get more use out of it?

A: Shaking an inkjet cartridge is of no use. Ink cartridges have a sponge inside of them and shaking them can actually make the prints look worse by introducing more air into the sponge.

Q: How many times can you remanufacture an ink jet cartridge before it wears out?

A: It depends on the cartridge. Some cartridges are made well and can be remanufactured up to 9 times or more. Other inkjet cartridges are not made as well and some manufacturers have gone out of their way to make sure you can’t remanufacture their cartridges at all.

Q: What is the best way to dispose of my printer?

A: This depends, if it is working I suggest donating it to your favorite charity or Goodwill. If it doesn’t work you can bring it to JetScape and if it’s worth fixing we can fix it and donate it, or you can take it to your county’s Solid Waste disposal.

Q: What is the best way to dispose of empty cartridges?

A: Taking your ink and toner cartridges get to a responsible remanufacturing center is the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of them.

Q: Why don’t I ever get the number of pages it says out of a cartridge?

A: The yield number on cartridges is based on an industry set standard of 5% coverage on a page. 5% is the equivalent of 5 about sentences. Most people print much more than that per page thereby reducing the number of pages they can get out of their cartridge.

If you ever have an issue or questions regarding anything ink, toner, printer, or copier related please don’t hesitate to call me at 239-481-1272 or email me at Amanda@jetscape.com. I’m always available to answer your questions.

10 Ways to Save and Even Make Money by Going GREEN

Everyone knows that saving money is good. What businesses are starting to realize is that consumers are beginning to make decisions based on how “eco-friendly” a business is along with other determining factors such as price. I am going to give you ten simple ways to begin to go GREEN that will save and possibly make your company money.

1. Replace Light Bulbs

Replace as many light bulbs in the office as you can with CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulbs. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) CFLs use 75% less energy than traditional light bulbs. This is a very easy way to reduce the amount of electricity your office uses on a daily basis.

2. Turn Off Machines

Another great way to save energy is to turn off all your office machines at the end of the day. The little bit of effort it takes to switch off the fax, copier, printer, computers, and all the lights may save an inordinate amount of money on the electric bill every month. You’ll start to see your savings right away.

3. Check for Leaks

Another way to save money is to make sure the office doesn’t have leaky faucets, or toilets. The EPA claims that over 1 trillion gallons of water is wasted per year due to small water leaks in homes and businesses. Most of us know the sound of a running toilet or leaking faucet, but some leaks are silent. Test for a silent leak in the toilet by adding food coloring to the tank. If the color of the water in the bowl changes without a flush, you have a silent leak.

4. Cut Paper Usage

Switch to an E-Fax service like Snappy Fax. This gives you the ability to fax from your computer without printing out a copy. This small step will save you more paper than you realize.

5. Duplex

If you absolutely have to print use the duplex feature on your copy machine or printer as much as possible. If this is done effectively you can cut your paper usage in half. With paper being one of the largest expenses in an office, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like to cut that bill in half.

6. Use ALL the Paper

Even following the above 2 guidelines, you’ll still probably have some prints that aren’t necessary. Flip these over and use them for scratch paper or put them in the fax for incoming faxes. Make sure to mark the used side so there is no confusion between new data and old.

7. Upgrade to Laser Printers

Laser printers are by far the most efficient option for printing. There is a larger initial investment; however, the amount of money you save per page will offset the initial investment and save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

8. Buy Refurbished Equipment

You can save the office money on the initial investment and even on upgrades by buying refurbished or remanufactured equipment. Make sure that you are dealing with a reputable company that offers a guarantee or warranty, and you will get a product just as good as new for half the price.

9. Use Compatible Ink

Not only does this save the company money, but most remanufacturers will buy back the empty cartridges that you already have. This can turn trash into treasure and actually make the company money. Compatible or remanufactured cartridges also have more ink in them than the original so using them reduces your cost per page.

10. Recycle

This really goes without saying; everyone knows they should recycle. Many of the things you recycle can make you money. Any metal, even the soda cans around the office can make you money at the right recycling plant.

It is becoming more and more necessary to be cognizant of the environment in our everyday lives. I have always found it best to stay ahead of the curve, and these small steps should help get your business there. I hope these ten tips give you and your office  a head start on the way to being greener and more profitable.

Office Feng Shui

I recently ‘inter-met” (met via internet) a really cool guy in the copier business. His name is Nathan Dube and he has a pretty neat blog called Adventures in Office Imaging. They have some neat stuff over there (like a printer that prints on soda cans). Nathan was gracious enough to give me this guest post about the benefits of Feng Shui. Let me know what you think!

Feng Shui The Chinese art or practice of positioning objects, especially graves, buildings, and furniture, based on a belief in patterns of yin and yang and the flow of chi that have positive and negative effects. Definition from answers.com

Ok, set aside the mystical aspect of this concept and your left with a principle that is most useful in managed print services. How so? Well one of the most important aspects of managing an offices printers and or copiers is the location of a centralized printer as well as the location of smaller desktop laser printers or MFPs. If Chuck from accounting is printing on a machine that has a higher CPC and is doing a thousand prints a month while Susie from sales is using a machine with a lower CPC and does one hundred prints a month then you can see where the principle of said ancient Taoist art comes into play. Such a situation needs some business grade Feng Shui.

Arranging, adding or removing your printers and copiers in a way that is going to maximize productivity and keep your document output costs down is a huge part of MPS and regardless of how much better your positive “qi” energy is flowing when your MPS provider makes said arrangements, additions or removals you will be saving money. One could argue that by making your CEO happy you may very well bring about such positive energy.

5 Ways to Make Your Ink Cartridge Last Longer

I know ink is expensive so here are 5 simple ways to make your ink cartridge last longer.

1. Don’t print it. If you don’t need it or you can send it to your phone. Don’t print it!
2. Wear your glasses. Do you really need to print everything in 18pt font? Put your glasses on and back it down to 12pt font and save some ink.
3. Use gray-scale. You don’t need color on your MapQuest directions. Think about what you are printing and if you don’t need color, use gray-scale.
4. Be selective. Select the area you need to print. For example, when printing an email select the portion you need, copy it over to word and print it. You don’t have to save the file, and this saves you a ton of ink on all the CC addresses.
5. Buy remanufactured cartridges, on average they have 20%-50% more ink in them to start with. Remanufactured ink is usually less expensive too! Check some prices at JetScape.com

What do you do to save ink or make it last longer? Did I miss something?