I don’t use my printer for much anymore. These days, I use it to print coupons and an occasional document. I’m out of color ink and it’s looking like I’m getting low on black, so I decided it was time to buy some more.
I’m a member of MyPoints.com, which is a site that allows you to accumulate points from reading e-mails and making purchases on partner sites. You can redeem points for gift cards at a variety of retailers.
I saw an e-mail stating I would earn 350 points if I paid a purchase at 123inkjets.com and it included a coupon code for 5 percent off my purchase. I clicked over to see the prices I could expect to pay.
The black cartridge was $12.95 and the color was $19.95 plus shipping.
I searched the internet for a better coupon code, and I found one for 15 percent off (save15). My total was $27.96 before shipping.
Before ordering, I wanted to see prices at other web sites.
A quick search told me that I was getting a decent deal for a regular site, but I could get an even better deal on eBay.
I found the two cartridges I needed (refurbished) for $7.95 plus $5.95 for shipping, or $13.90 total. I saved at least $14, but probably more like $20 since I don’t know how much shipping would have cost with 123inkjets. I expect it would be $5 or $6 at least.
Lesson learned: Shop around (and don’t forget eBay!) even if you are a member of an incentive program and already have a coupon code. You might find an even better deal!
I don’t know if this warning matters much now, but I JUST posted over the weekend about a bad experience with refurbished ink cartridges!
Have you every used them with your printer before? They seem to work fine for some people, but I used one for 6 weeks and suddenly my printer stopped recognizing it. I thought maybe it was out of ink, so I replaced it with another refurbished cartridge. It won’t read that one either. I was afraid that I’d damaged my printer, and refurbished cartridges can void your warranty!
My printer wouldn’t do ANYTHING with the refurbished cartridges, so I ended up having to replace them. Now I’m stuck with $60 worth of defective refurbished cartridges and no one at 123InkJets will respond to my emails.
Be careful if you’ve never used refurbished before with your printer. Will you be able to return the cartridges if they don’t work with your printer? If not, you might consider canceling the order and just going with new ones. I’d rather pay more for new ones than end up paying for defective cartridges like I did or risking damage to your printer. :(
Karen’s last blog post..Working an unexpected raise into the budget
Ugh, I’m so sorry you had a bad experience with your ink! That’s such a pain.
I have a refurbished cartridge in right now (the black one) and the color one was purchased new.
I haven’t had trouble with the refurb one, luckily. I hope that’s how it stays!
Hope you can get a hold of someone at 123injkets. That’s such lousy customer service for them to not respond.
Good! I’m glad you haven’t had a problem with them in the past. I’m sure the prob is with my printer recognizing it, but if they’re going to sell ink cartridges specifically for my printer, they should really make sure they’re compatible! Ugh.
Unfortunately, the biggest complaint about 123InkJets I’ve read in reviews is that it’s impossible to get a hold of them when you want to take advantage of their 1-year warranty. I’m not giving up yet, but I’m thinking my chances for a refund are slim.
Karen’s last blog post..Working an unexpected raise into the budget
Thanks for the tips Kacie! Our color cartridge hasn’t been working for several months now (I thought it was just out of ink but after getting it filled I found out it was done for). We haven’t gotten a new one because I can’t bring myself to pay all that money for a new one in the stores. I’ll definitely be shopping around online and on ebay for a new cartridge.
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I’d be hesitant to buy ink on Ebay- how would you know you are getting full ink cartridges? Hopefully you have found a good seller and all goes well. I really hate spending money on ink cartridges so I’d love to find a good place to buy it too.
@ Eden
I bought from an eBay store. The seller has a regular store web site, and also sells stuff on eBay. I feel fairly confident that I’m getting a good product. Hope so, anyway!
I never even thought of checking out eBay for print cartridges. I’ve used the 123inkjets.com before and liked it but usually I am doing emergency runs to buy ink because I always run out before I have time to purchase it for cheap online. Has anyone done the refill places where you bring in your empty cartridges and they fill them for you?
I always buy my ink from ebay, cheapest I have found
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Don’t forget that you can shop at eBay through MyPoints and earn extra points that way :)
Walgreen’s can refill your black cartridge for $10. Right now I believe it’s half off, which makes it $5. And it works great - you take it in, you can wait (around 5 to 10 minutes) and it’s ready and done!
I also had a bad experience with the refurbished cartridges. I actually sent them back as defective and they replaced them with new (refurbished) They were the same. The red color is a salmon color.
My printer is a dell and I will only buy original dell cartirdges from now on. I intend to use these cartridges until they are gone, ( i bought 4), but after that I will only use dell