Printer cartridges FAQ

Our ink cartridges and toner prices are very competitive. Ink Hub has distribution warehouses in Adelaide,Brisbane,Melbourne,Sydney and Perth. All of our products come direct from the manufacturers! Our aim is to offer the absolute best quality ink cartridges, toners and products at the most competitive prices. All of our printer ink Cartridges and toners are manufactured to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards using the highest quality American Inks. Ink Hub specialises in supplying a large range of customers ranging from the home user, small business , schools and large corporations.

Since 2007 we have worked hard to achieve a line of generic printer cartridges and toner which are exceptional in both quality and price. Along the way we have encountered our share of problems but that hasn't stopped us from striving for excellence. We believe that we nailed the quality of our inkjet cartridges very soon after starting however the toners were always a problem quality wise.

Now in 2017 we have a range of generic toner cartridges which are the best quality available in Australia. I have no problem in saying this after 10 years of R & D we have finally hit the jackpot. No more leaking toner powder, smeary printed backgrounds or incompatibility issues, simply a super reliable, high quality printing, low priced toner cartridge. All come with a 60 Day Money Back Guarantee.

Are your ink cartridges new or refills ?

We keep getting asked this question constantly. ALL of our Generic Epson, Canon and Brother ink cartridges are BRAND NEW, they are NOT refills! Some of our HP, Dell and Lexmark ink cartridges are FULLY remanufactured/genuine ink cartridges containing the same high quality USA inks and are imported direct into Australia by Ink Hub. ALL of our cartridges come with a 60 day money back guarantee (we will also refund your postage costs!) Thats right if you contact us within 60 days of purchase and are not 100% satisfied with your purchase well return your money.

One of the most important aspects of a generic printer cartridge is the quality of the actual ink itself. Many people focus purely on the cost per page of the cartridge however if the quality of the ink isn't a close match to the genuine OEM equivalent then huge problems can and will occur. We are not talking purely about the print quality but more so about the viscosity of the ink and also it's ability to not harden inside the print head during  times when the printer is not being used much.

The chemical make up of the ink itself is crucial for ongoing, trouble free printer operation. Many low grade generic inks simply don't cut it and if used over a prolonged period the print head will clog and fill with sediment causing print outs with lines missing or even no print at all due to badly clogged printer nozzles. By using a high quality generic ink then these issues should never occur

Why is Ink Hub selling more Ink Cartridges each year?

At Ink Hub we sell only top quality Compatible and Remanufactured Ink Cartridges. We get so many emails from people asking why our prices are so low. Once they have made a purchase they just keep coming back. Dont be fooled by our prices, we rely on large turnover rather than maximum profit on every sale. We love what we do and everyone knows that if you sell an inferior product no matter how cheap it is your business will eventually fold.

We want your business, we want our customers to be 100% happy with their purchase and 100% happy with the service which they recieve. We are proud of the Quality of every cartridge that we sell otherwise we wouldn't offer our 30 day money back guarantee! Want to save significant money on your next ink cartridge purchase? Look no further, once youve tried Ink Hub you wont shop anywhere else!

What are Compatible Ink Cartridges?

Compatible or "Generic" Cartridges are specially manufactured to meet or exceed OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) specifications and high standards of quality and reliability. Designed to be 100% compatible and interchangeable with OEM cartridges, and containing only new components, they offer huge savings over brand-name OEM Cartridges. Almost all of our Printer Cartridges contain MORE ink than the genuine OEM cartridges, in fact some contain up to 350% more!

For a more detailed analysis on compatible ink cartridges have a read of this article.                 

What are Remanufactured Ink Cartridges?

Remanufactured Cartridges are OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) cartridges, which have been reprocessed to meet or exceed the Original Equipment Manufacturers` specifications. The Remanufacturing process involves disassembling, inspecting, cleaning, replacing parts, reassembling, and filling with toner or ink. The Cartridges are then print tested, sealed, and packaged for resale.

Our Remanufactured Cartridges will perform in the same manner and to at least the same standard as the original cartridge and almost all cartridges contain signifigantly MORE ink. Although most of our cartridges are brand new generic cartridges a correctly remanufactured cartridge should not be feared. If it is done correctly then often the only re used part of the cartridge is the actual outer shell.  I mean why bother making a new outer shell when it is still in as new condition. It is the internals which wear out and if the remanufacturing has been done correctly then all of the internals should be new.           

Will using Compatible cartridges void my warranty?

The Australian Consumers' Association Choice Magazine has undertaken a survey into the use of compatible Ink Cartridges and spoke to Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Canon and Lexmark. They were informed by all companies that the 'printer warranty would NOT be affected by the use of compatibles or refilled cartridges'. In fact in Australia it is illegal under the Trade Practices Act for a printer manufacturer to require a consumer to use a particular brand of ink or cartridge. The brand of ink cartridges, ink or paper you purchase is your decision. In our own experience we have only ever heard of a few cases were consumers were refused warranties due to using third party inks. The fact is however that legally a company cannot refuse to honor a printer warranty for this reason alone. It would be quite rare anyway for a printer to be damged by a third party ink unless it was very poorly moulded or if the ink itself was of an extremely poor quality.

Can using compatible Ink cartridges damage my printer?

No, by using our Printer Cartridges you are assuring that your printer is using one of the highest quality print cartridges available. All our cartridges are tested to the highest degree and only the very highest quality of inks are used in our production process. Since 2007 Ink hub has sold thousands of generic inks and toner and we have never been accused of damaging anyone's printer. If we did we would certainly replace it !

In saying this we believe that there are still many online resellers who are still selling very low grade  inks and toner cartridges that will possibly damage your printer. Cheap, low grade toners will certainly shorten the lifespan of your printers Drum Unit. This is due to many factors but the main one being that a poor quality toner will almost always leak toner powder.

Low grade printer cartridges on the other hand will eventually clog your print head or if used long enough may even destroy the print head. Take our advice and don't always go for the cheapest product as it may end up costing you more in the long term. We strongly advise people to read a company's "Google Reviews" page before making a purchase as Google reviews are the most accurate and cannot be tampered with like many other review sites allow.

Will the quality of print be equivalent to an OEM Ink cartridge?

Yes, because only the highest quality inks are used in the manufacturing process which assures you that the print quality will be equivelant to the more expensive OEM cartridges. Also we guarantee that if the printer is used correctly and not left sitting for months at a time that you will never experience print head clogging as you certainly would using inferior generic inks.

A good quality generic ink usually uses a pigment based dye for the black "text" cartridge and high quality dyes for the colours. Pigment black cartridges tend to give a more darker black look that looks sharper and darker than a dye based black ink. Some cartridges such as the Canon Maxify series utilise all pigment based inks.

One of the main reasons that we promote Canon inkjet printers so heavily is that they are the only manufacturer that we know of that doesn't try to combat the use of non genuine cartridges. We are not saying that they wont change their minds further down the track and start doing the firmware updates which other manufacturers do but so far they haven't.  

Interesting to read a comment made some 10 years ago by Canon's K.C. Lu which states "Canon's policy is to let customers choose," he says. "If they want to use third-party ink, they can do that but our focus is to educate customers in terms of the benefits of using genuine ink." He also went on to claim that around 80% of Canon users were sticking with genuine cartridges. I would be interested to know what percentage were using the genuine printer cartridges now in 2017.

What is the shelf life of a compatible Ink cartridge?

All our compatible printer ink cartridges have a minimum shelf life of many years as long as the original vacuum bag that they are sealed in has remained intact. Due to our large turnover we have stock coming in all of the time so we guarantee your cartridges WILL BE FRESH ! Usually the manufacturers expiry date is 2 years from the date of manufacturing. In practice however if they are stored in a cool environment and out of the sunlight they should be useable after many more years than this.

Like it or not the printer cartridge industry is changing extremely fast and no doubt there will be big changes in printer technology in the near future. Already the new 3D printers are becoming hugely popular and inkjet printers are changing direction all of the time as company's try to invent ways to prevent third party consumables from stealing large amounts of their revenue.

Some of the latest attempts to regain the printer cartridge market share include Epson's Eco Tank printers, Canon's Maxify Printers and the latest technological advance is a DNA based Security Ink. If this takes off it could mean the end for all generic printer cartridges. Let's hope it doesn't !