OEM stands for "original equipment manufacturer." When you buy a cartridge made by the same company that makes your printer, you can only use it in that printer. Whether you buy a compatible replacement or a remanufactured replacement cartridge, it all starts with the design and function of an OEM product.

Printer companies have known for a long time that the printing business makes the most money when it works like the razor business. Razor makers sell the handle of the shaver for a low price or give it away for free, but they charge a lot more for the razor blades. Ink and toner for printers are often more expensive than the printer itself. You can get a good printer for about $100, but if you pay OEM prices, each cartridge could cost you more than $100!

OEM ink and toner sets the quality and performance standards. They're reliable, make great prints, and are made to work with OEM printers. Compatible and remanufactured cartridges, on the other hand, are a cheaper option for consumers. Our cartridges are the same as OEM products in terms of print quality, page yield, and shelf life, but you'll only pay a fraction of what OEM charges. So, what is the difference between a compatible cartridge and a remanufactured cartridge?

 

Remanufactured ink cartridges

Remanufactured cartridges are the best place to start. If you buy an OEM cartridge and use all of the ink or toner in it, you can recycle that empty cartridge. A lot of online businesses and stores that sell office supplies take these empty cartridges to recycle them. A remanufactured replacement cartridge is basically a recycled OEM cartridge that has been cleaned, refilled with ink or toner, and checked for quality. But the quality and performance of the cartridge will depend on the business from which you buy it.

We never take short cuts or the easy way out at inkjets.com. At every step of the process of making our remanufactured replacement cartridges, they are checked for flaws. Once a cartridge passes our first inspection, it goes through a thorough cleaning and drying process at the factory to get rid of any leftover ink or toner as well as any dust or dirt that may have built up. Next, we put new parts in each cartridge. This may include a new smart chip that tells you how much ink is left, a new sponge (for ink cartridges), or a new drum unit and wiper blade for toner cartridges (in toner cartridges). 


Our engineers refill each cartridge with premium ink or toner to the level recommended by the OEM factory. This is how a remanufactured product can give you the same page yield as an OEM product. After remanufacturing, our technicians put the toner through the same print tests that OEM toner goes through. This way, you know you're always getting a quality product that works just as well as an OEM cartridge.


Many inkjets.com customers find it comforting to know that our remanufactured cartridges are reengineered right here in the United States. This is in addition to our excellent quality control measures. Buying remanufactured ink and toner cartridges can also help you reduce your carbon footprint. 


Remanufactured cartridges get a second chance instead of being thrown away after one use. You won't be able to tell the difference between a photo printed with inkjets.com's remanufactured cartridges and a photo printed with OEM ink or toner after our factory cleaning and reengineering process!

 

Compatible ink cartridges

Remanufactured cartridges are a little different from compatible replacement cartridges. A remanufactured product is an OEM cartridge shell that has been cleaned and put back together. A compatible cartridge, on the other hand, is made from scratch to fit your printer just like the OEM version.

It will still work and be of the same quality as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) product or a remanufactured product, but it will be made in a slightly different way.

Compatible cartridges are like generic cereal at the grocery store. They look, smell, and taste the same as brand-name cereal, but they are made by a different company and come in slightly different packaging. Aside from that, they are pretty much the same.

At inkjets.com, we make this high-quality, low-cost cartridge with brand-new parts from well-known, top-of-the-line manufacturers. Each cartridge goes through a thorough testing process that includes quality checks and print tests after it has been made.

So, why are some of the cartridges on our site compatible and others remanufactured? It's all about getting licenses. Some original equipment manufacturer (OEM) brands have patents on their cartridges that stop third-party companies from making compatible (generic) versions. We try to give our customers cartridges that work with their printers whenever we can.

But when a patent makes it impossible for us to make compatible replacement versions of an OEM product, we still offer a remanufactured version to meet our customers' needs.

 

Make sure you visit InkJets.com for the best prices on compatible and remanufactured ink cartridges.