In a world dominated by brand name ink cartridge manufacturers, we would usually be asked to pay for expensive replacement cartridges when our old ones run out of ink. That holds true for Canon cartridges and for all the other brand name cartridges out there. The reason they are expensive is because the brand name printers such brand name ink cartridges are supposed to work for are not sold sometimes at actual cost or at a low price that provides low profit margins to the printer manufacturer. The printer manufacturer then has to recoup his expenses by selling consumables that are a bit expensive to the public. Brand name cartridges like Canon cartridges are consumables, which explain why some consumers opt for compatible cartridges instead – the brand name consumables are much more costly than compatible cartridges. Thought it should also be noted that many websites also specialize in selling Canon cartridges to the public as well, showing that there is still enough demand from consumers for real Canon cartridges (and that is good news for Canon.)

Compatible cartridges have become more complicated and diverse because of the sheer number of brand name printers out there that they aim to serve. Thus, when you mention compatible cartridges to members of the ink cartridge industry, you may be asked to be more specific as to the type of compatible cartridges you may need to get.

For instance, compatible cartridges that are easy to refill would be the Lexmark cartridges, HP cartridges, Dell cartridges, Canon cartridges, and Brother cartridges. Compatible cartridges for Epson printers necessitate buying a chip resetter as well because Epson cartridges have a counter chip that you need to factor in. Bear in mind that generally compatible cartridges are newly-manufactured (not second-hand) ink cartridges. It just so happens they are not made by the brand-name manufacturer that made your printer, but the compatible cartridges are compatible with your brand-name printer anyway.

It may be difficult to refill compatible cartridges at the start if you don't know what you are doing. But in time, with experience, it does get easier. If you are not sure of the quality of your efforts when you are refilling ink cartridges as a novice, you may want to take your ink cartridge to professional ink cartridge refilling stations where they will do it for you. These professional ink cartridge refilling stations may also require you to purchase ink from them which is compatible with your choice of compatible cartridges.

It is not surprising that the brand name manufacturers have taken steps lately to limit or even completely prevent consumers from being able to use compatible cartridges on their brand-name printers – brand name manufacturers lose money this way. The brand name manufacturers would far prefer that you buy their brand name ink cartridges (like Canon cartridges, if possible.) One step is to offer low-priced replacement ink cartridges that carry the same brand name as the printer. Since consumers may prefer to buy brand name products over generic products like compatible cartridges should pricing be comparable to that of compatible cartridges, brand name companies that resort to this tactic can expect their ink cartridge sales to go up significantly.