Not Sure What to Do With Those Empty Ink Cartridges?

Not Sure What to Do With Those Empty Ink Cartridges?

Dan Kobialka

Dan KobialkaMar 26, 20183 min read

If you print a lot of documents every day, you likely need to replace your printer's ink cartridge regularly. This can get expensive and cause a lot of waste with those empty ink cartridges everywhere, so why not save on printer ink? Rather than dispose of your ink cartridges, it may be beneficial to save it and find a better use that saves you money in the long run.  

Here are four options to help you save big with those empty ink cartridges.

1. Online Marketplaces

eBay, Craigslist and other online marketplaces make it simple for anyone to sell empty ink cartridges. Put together an online listing to describe your empty ink cartridge, and within minutes, you can offer your ink cartridge to anyone in the world.

Online marketplaces are easy to use and available free of charge. As such, they represent viable options for individuals who want to quickly and effortlessly sell their empty ink cartridges and promote them to as many prospective buyers as possible.

On the other hand, online marketplaces offer no guarantees. This means an empty ink cartridge posting may receive dozens of responses or no responses at all. And if the latter occurs, you may be forced to hold on to your empty ink cartridge for an extended period of time.

2. Office Supply Stores

Some office supply stores offer empty ink cartridge return programs. They may provide a store credit any time that an individual returns an empty ink cartridge. Additionally, these stores accept qualifying empty ink cartridges, and individuals usually can return up to 10 empty ink cartridges per month.

Office supply stores that accept empty ink cartridges are available in many cities and towns nationwide. These stores instantly provide a store credit for an empty ink cartridge, and they enable shoppers to use the credit on any store item.

Conversely, many office supply stores provide $2 per empty ink cartridge. Individuals also will need to bring an empty ink cartridge to a brick-and-mortar location, and they are required to use their credit on items available from the store itself.

3. Ink Cartridge Buy-Back Sites

eCycle Group, Toner Buyer and other websites buy back empty ink cartridges and pay the shipping costs associated with mailing them to various locations. These sites generally provide some of the best rates for empty ink cartridges.

Although ink cartridge buy-back sites may seem ideal, it is important to note that it often takes several weeks before an individual will receive payment for his or her ink cartridge. Plus, the total amount that a person receives for his or her ink cartridge varies. And in some cases, this total may be as low as 25 cents.

4. Refill your cartridge

Instead of buying brand new ink cartridges every time, what about refilling those cartridges for continued use? Depending on your print needs, refilling the cartridge is not only cost effective but environmentally friendly, helping decrease waste.

If you decide to refill the cartridge the cost is less than a quarter of a new cartridge and when you are finally all done with it you can use one of the other options to save even more dough!

There are lots of ways that individuals can save by utilizing their empty ink cartridges instead of tossing them. For those who want to maximize their ink cartridge savings, it may be beneficial to shop with 123inkjets too. 123inkjets offers remanufactured ink and toner that is proven to perform and affordably priced. That way, individuals can capitalize on unprecedented ink cartridge savings by shopping with 123inkjets. When you are finally ready for the replacement get 15% off so you can start the process all over again!