You hit print and yet again you realize your ink cartridge is anything but full. The time has come yet again go to get in the car and head off to the store or mall to buy some more ink cartridges. That means traffic, parking and all the general hassle of daily shopping. When you reach the store you have no guarantee that they'll even stock the replacement ink cartridge that you're looking for. The headache has already begun.

Printers are greedy beasts at the best of times; sometimes regardless of how much printing you actually do. They seem to guzzle up ink as fast as you buy it. HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark it doesn't make any difference - we need to keep those ink tanks full or our printer will just sit there gathering dust and become a rather expensive ornament.

For disgruntled inkjet owners there's always the option of shopping online for ink cartridges or refill kits. Many online stores offer massive savings on inkjet consumables and even offer free shipping on larger orders. You'll also receive special offers from these companies each month - probably just in time for your next ink order.

Many people are concerned about the quality of the product they'll receive if they're getting it at 50%+ of cost. Potential online shoppers are worried about low quality products and online fraud and find it hard to take that leap of faith with their credit card and make the plunge into those online waters.

Whilse these are understandable concerns the amount of money spent online is increasing 100% every single year. Over the next 8 years the estimated value of online sales will increase from $8 billion to over $230 billion which shows that consumer confidence with online shopping is on the rise. As I'm writing this I'm ordering Xmas gifts for my family online - I can highly recommend it.

The point is that online shopping is safe. If you're concerned about the vendor you intend buying from then look for previously satisfied customers, reviews or testimonials. Google the name of the company and look for any horror stories from previous customers or any posts written on messageboards etc. If an online inkjet cartridge retailer has received dozens of terrible reviews then you can take that as a hint to not shop with them.

So if you've never considered shopping online now is a good time to start. There are huge savings to be made by shopping for inkjet supplies online and who doesn't like savings a few bucks these days. Plus there's the convenience of it all. You get on the web and several clicks later your order is being processed and shipped to you. Or you could just get in your car and sit in traffic for an hour, find parking, join a queue in the store and...

Shopping online becomes a habit and once you've experienced the perks and savings that you can have each and every time you'll never want to shop anywhere else.