“Is the XL worth it?” is the most common question we get after “which one fits my printer”, and it has a real answer that takes about thirty seconds to work out. The number you want is cost per page, and the price on the shelf tells you almost nothing about it.
The arithmetic
cost per page = price ÷ page yield
That is the whole method. The only hard part is finding the yield, and it is usually printed on the box or on the product page. Ours is on every product page where the manufacturer publishes one.
A worked example
These are hypothetical numbers, not current product prices: a $30 cartridge rated for 1,500 pages works out at 2 cents per rated page. A $45 cartridge rated for 3,000 pages works out at 1.5 cents. Use the current price and comparable stated yield from the actual product pages before buying.
When an XL cartridge is worth considering
A high-yield cartridge can cost less per rated page, but it is not automatically better value. Check that the standard and XL options fit the same printer and compare their current prices and stated yields. Do not assume every XL is the same shell with a fixed multiple of ink.
Your printing volume also matters. If you print rarely, or plan to replace the printer soon, paying for capacity you may not use can be poor value.
Rated yield is a comparison, not a guarantee
Yield methods differ between ink and toner and between product specifications. Use the stated test basis rather than assuming every yield is measured at 5% coverage. Actual pages depend on coverage, colour, cleaning and usage.
The number most people forget: the printer itself
Cheap inkjets are sold below cost and paid for by the cartridges. Over three years, ink very often costs more than the printer did.
So if you are choosing a new machine, work out the cost per page of its cartridges before you buy it, not after. A $99 printer with 4 cent pages is worse value than a $299 printer with 1 cent pages if you print more than about 5,000 pages.
This is also why the tank printers — Epson EcoTank, Canon MegaTank, HP Smart Tank — exist. They cost more up front and dramatically less per page. Whether that is right for you depends entirely on how much you actually print.
Where third-party cartridges fit
We are not going to publish a percentage saving, because genuine prices move and a comparison is only honest against a real price on the day you buy.
What we will tell you is how to check: take our price and yield off the product page, work out the cents per page, then do the same sum against whatever your usual retailer is charging today. Two sums, one minute, and you will have a number that is actually true for you rather than a marketing claim.
Not sure what your printer costs to run?
Call 0800 INKINK with the model. We can usually tell you the cents per page off the top of our heads, and occasionally the honest answer is that the machine is expensive to run and you would be better off replacing it.
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