How to make money out of nowhere. I shit you not.
The Awakening
Look around. One of the most expensive liquids in the world is probably right next to you. It costs about 29.000$ (24k €) per gallon (3.78L). You buy it in very small quantities and you crave for more. You go out at night to buy more. It's a liquid that drives you as it pleases... Let me tell you it's name:
Black
Printer
Ink
Surprised? You may be. But think... You can buy a printer for about the same as you pay for an ink cartridge. How could that possible be, if it weren't for all the money they make you pay every damn time you desperately need to print something? Even if you refill it, be prepared to return because the printer didn't like the refilled ink... Oh, no no no... Your printer wants your fresh blood, not refilled cartridges!
You'll pay all the money they want if you desperately need to print something. Just like your car: they actually made it at loss, because you will spend your hard-earned money in mandatory maintenance. And then you'll pay whatever they want.
Source: Pixabay
My way of life just doesn't work with that. I enjoy not spending money in things I don't want. I like to buy things that last. I like to spend my money in stupid things, going out, eating organic, travelling and buying videogames. One of my best sources of income is not money I actually earn, but that money I don't even spend. And for that I have some strategies, like knowing where my money is, DIYing simple things, making small investments that pay out after some time.
No free lunch? U sure?
Some time ago I found a printer that has a little tank you fill with plain ink and it just sucks it up. That simple. I thought I'd found the holy grail, and I did pay a lot of dough for it. But the simplicity is just striking! And believe me, it's not from that small dubious start-up, but from an established brand simply shaking things up.
Sure, I paid 250€ for a 50€ printer, but I knew it would pay off. After a year and half of high usage, my black ink tank was getting too low. So I grabbed my calculator and saw how many pages I've printer with that original ink: 3254 pages.
I bought plain ink on Amazon. Just ink, you know. 2 bottles with 70ml (2.36oz) black ink + one of each color = 17€ (21$). Keep in mind that one regular 3ml (0.1oz) ink cartridge costs about 19€ (23$).
That's right. About 13.000x MORE for the EXACT same stuff.
Please don't punch the next person you see.
In other words, if I were to buy the same quantity of ink in regular cartridges, I would pay 2216€ (2761$).
In my specific case, considering manufacturer's numbers of about 190pages per cartridge, to print those 3254 pages I'd need 17 cartridges... 323€. Which means my inicial investment is already paid off.
As to filling it, it's much easier than changing cartridges. Just open the tank, put the ink in, and that's all. It's a scandal, folks.
Do you want to earn SBD forever? I'm giving away 2 Steem Basic Income shares :) Just drop an original comment or make a nice post!
In the meantime, here are some great posts I read recently:
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in portuguese Protege os recursos da tua máquina dessas sanguessugas mineradoras! by @aleister
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This beats sticking the needles into cartridges and then hoping the printer "recognizes" them next time you turn it on. Nice! Too bad it costs so much. I guess they figured people like you would buy it and they wouldn't make as much money on ink off of you so they jack up the price on the printer instead. I'm glad to hear you are saving money in the end!
That's exactly what I tried to do... Sticking needles and trying to refill them. And then trying to get the air out with a syringe... Bah.
Yeah I prefer paying for the thing itself. Just like cars, that's why I only buy electric vehicles: sure they're more expensive, but I won't be paying a cent for oil or particle filters or expensive gas... Just the car and the electricity and that's it
I like your attitude and ethics!
hahahaha "Please don't punch the next person you see."
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
I own a small business and buying printer ink makes me nearly break down in tears every time... to the point when I mess up a print job I think about the money I just lost in ink lol. I've watched youtube videos on how to puncture a hole in your ink cartridge to refill them, although it seemed a bit too complicated and messy for me. I usually just end up going to Staples and spending $60-$100 to have bulk things printed and hope I don't have to make any changes to the documents. I am looking into buying this printer right now!
Yeah I also tried refilling it myself but I ended up making a mess and wasting a lot of ink... And then there's the electronic part, since manufacturers try as much as possible to prevent refillings. It's their business, after all.
I avoided shameless free-sponsoring of the printer, but since it may be useful to you, my printer is the Epson Ecotank 2550
This might be one of the most well put together post I’ve read because shit me not I read the whole thing about ducking black ink hahaha, but was captivated - plus my ink cartridge is low right now, hate buying new ink
Thank you! Yeah it's the best way to make money appear out of nowhere: stop wasting it in damn black printer ink!
This is such a cool idea, I never realized how bloody expensive cartridges are (they are useless tho, dry up if you don't use the printer every single day of the week!). It's little things like that, that build up after a while. I will defo look into these printers for the future, sounds like something I might need :p
Well, the clogging part I guess you may still have it with one of these things... After all, it's ink and it will dry, for sure. Unfortunately (ecologically speaking) I use it a lot so I can't really tell if that happens frequently or not. But sure I let it several weeks without use and it's still rocking solid!
Inkless printers are available now - http://inkless.ink
Please tell me where can I get one...
click on the link I gave above.