Kodak tells us what we knew – we overpay for ink jet cartridges
Anyone else see the new Kodak “Print and Prosper” campaign on TV? I saw recently (can’t remember if it was this morning or last night but I did in fact see it) and I have to admit – it caught my eye. In this economic climate, it’s incredibly smart of Kodak to go after the cost factor of ink jet printers – the ink itself. Kodak’s new ad campaign publicly exposes what most of us already knew – we overpay for ink jet printer ink. How else could companies sell inexpensive ink jet printers? They price the printers for cheap and then overcharge on the cartridges (and then force you to buy it directly from them).
According to the company’s press release, consumers overpaid for inkjet printer ink by roughly 5 billion dollars in 2008 alone. These numbers are apparently based 
on 2008 U.S. annual desktop printer ink revenue and average ink savings using a Kodak ESP 3/5/7 or 9 All-In-One printer. The company has even launched a new website (www.printandprosper.com) that allows consumers to calculate how much they overpaid for printer ink – and of course how much they could potentially save with Kodak. You can check out their lists of print performance and ink value data (separated by countries) here.
Truth is in the past – I simply replaced my cheapo ink jet printer with a new printer instead of buying an outrageously priced cartridge. Of course, I’ve gone color laser.. (plus I don’t print photos at home anymore) so none of this really affects me per se….
