(Mis)Uses of Technology

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick




Gartner: Printer Ink Costs More Than Perfume

from the premium-price-leading-to-competition dept

theodp writes "HP has taken umbrage with a Gartner analyst who pointed out that at $2,145 per liter, printer ink is more expensive per drop than Chanel No.5 or a good bottle of whiskey. HP hit back with a prepared email statement, saying the premium pricing just reflects their investment in R&D." This isn't new, of course. We've had a few stories in the past about how ink costs more than vintage champagne and how filling a swimming pool with ink would cost nearly $6 billion. Still, anyone who claims that they can price things so high because of the sunk costs that went into development is just screaming out for competition.

14 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments

(Flattened / Threaded)

  • Oct 12th, 2004 @ 12:14pm

    Yeah, but...

    by Oliver Wendell Jones

    I work in a similar industry, we spend millions of dollars to develop a product that is *very cheap* to manufacture, yet we sell it at a premium price.

    We also produce hardware that uses our cheap disposable product and give this away for far less than they cost to manufacture. Why? To entice people to use our premium priced product.

    The reason is that everyone else in this field uses the same business model. Everyone would love to not give away the hardware, but like with HP, Lexmark, etc., noone wants to be the first to try and sell a $500 entry-level inkjet printer with $5 ink cartridges.

    I'd venture to say that more than 95% of consumers do not consider the total cost of ownership when they purchase most products, they look at the features and the base cost and never once go to look at the cost of the expendable/disposable parts. Those 95% sure bitch when they run out of ink the first time, though...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Oct 12th, 2004 @ 12:50pm

      Re: Yeah, but...

      by Mikester

      That's why it's often cheaper to just buy a new low-end printer when you run out of ink, instead of new cartridges.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

      • Oct 12th, 2004 @ 1:53pm

        Re: Yeah, but...

        by Oliver Wendell Jones

        well, that's a good plan, but most new printers come with "demonstration" cartridges that are less than half full... but you're right, last time I checked it was $10 more to buy a brand new Lexmark printer with ink cartridges than it was to buy just the ink cartridges...

        (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Oct 13th, 2004 @ 3:22am

    Not to worry

    by David Garamond

    Not to worry. If something can be sold 10x cheaper, then someone else will sell it. There are many 3rd party ink providers already now.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Oct 13th, 2004 @ 6:46am

    Chanel #5 and Printer Ink

    If you needed to change the world, which would you rather have: A bottle of perfume or a printer with a full ink cartridge? Very few people could do better with the perfume...

    - The Precision Blogger
    http://precision-blogging.blogspot.com

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • May 28th, 2006 @ 2:16pm

    ink vs gas

    by dis be me

    You think gas prices are outragous???

    My printer ink, at about $25.00 for 8ml figures out to about $10,000 per gallon

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Jun 26th, 2006 @ 5:53pm

    My printer

    by Henry Cusic

    Your right about one thing , I didn"t look at the price of ink
    when I Bought my printer. Now I am going to look at the price of the cheapiest ink and then buy a printer
    to match. I have toyed with the idea of a ink reiful. DonT know.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Jul 24th, 2008 @ 8:09am

    perfume

    Your blog is very much good. I am very much impressed by your blog content, i also come across number of sites for the perfumes for the cheap colognes and discount perfumes online, you can also check these are also very much useful for everyone.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Jul 25th, 2008 @ 7:32am

    perfumes

    Your blog is very much good. I am very much impressed by your blog content, i also come across number of sites for the perfumes for the cheap colognes and discount perfumes, you can also check these are also very much useful for everyone.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Jan 1st, 2009 @ 7:57pm

    I have a passion of perfumes, and I also run a small perfumes sales business. I look
    around for posts like yours so I can keep myself updated. I consider the scent of perfumes
    as an art because every perfumes' scent is unique in its own way just like an artist
    paints unique pictures. I even run my own blog for perfumes.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Feb 12th, 2009 @ 9:01pm

    Perfume Brands

    Perfumes are the only commodity that requires complete hard work and patience. Every perfume is made having its own uniqueness. I own a blog and write posts on the history and the making of perfumes

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Mar 13th, 2009 @ 8:27pm
    by Anonymous Coward

    OMG what's with the perfume spam all of a sudden??

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Mar 15th, 2009 @ 11:25am

      Re:

      by Will

      I think someone said something about perfume and they decided that because of that they should spam it because we, as a community, have interest in perfume.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Apr 23rd, 2009 @ 8:40pm

    perfume

    I am interest in perfume.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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