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Cartridge photos are a representative sample. There may be variations in design.
design details
warranty details
This site started out as an advice site to educate people on how to save money amid all the confusion and scams on the net. What the printer companies are doing amounts to legalized piracy and our goal was to help you keep your own money in your pockets. Eventually visitors urged us to stock the items we recommended and offer them on the site. When we discovered the reusable cartridges, we found a fantastic product difficult to obtain in the US so we had to import them. Our advice site evolved into a family business. Our goal is help you save money while getting great results from your printer.
We consider ourselves more than reasonable in dealing with customers and go the extra mile to make sure no one is disappointed. However, sometimes a few individuals make it difficult for everyone else. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone conducted themselves fairly and we wouldn't need lawyers and contracts to keep people honest? So while we would like to say 100% money-back guarantee, no questions asked, a few people have made it impossible to do this without adding some conditions. They can be summed up in two words: be reasonable.
We have a 60-day window in which to give credit car or paypal refunds, so refund requests must be received within this time frame (though we have at time sent refund checks even after that time period). The time limit for replacement is much more generous. If there is a problem with one or two of our cartridges, we will replace them. If three cartridges, we will refund the purchase price for those cartridges and any unopened ones returned within the window. If a printer uses four or six different cartridges (black and 3-5 colors) and you opened one of each, we will take those back. But don't open more than one of each color and expect a refund.
Why this limit? It is always possible that one or two were defective. This can happen (and has) even with genuine Epson products. But if it is two of the same color, this indicates a problem with the printer itself. What happens is the print head gets clogged and the printer stops producing that color. The customer puts in a new cartridge and it still won't print. The customer assumes the cartridge is defective and tries a second. At that point, the customer should realize it is a printer problem. Even if the customer believes it to be a cartridge problem, if two don't work, there is no point in continuing to open the rest. Return them for a refund. But we did have at least one person order a dozen black cartridges, then (without contacting us) return them all opened and empty six months later, claiming they were all defective. We did not refund in that situation. Another customer received 12 black cartridges on a hot day in a southern state. Exposure to heat creates pressure within the cartridge. (So does exposure to extreme cold.) He then emailed to say all 12 cartridges spewed ink when he removed the yellow tape and he wanted a refund. Had he called or emailed after opening the first one or two, we could have told him to put them in a refrigerator and let them cool off before opening. (And had it been a cold day, we would have recommended letting them warm up.) But if the first one spewed and then the second, why continue to open all 12? We have to protect ourselves from geniuses like that. Incidentally, we did send another 6 free and that person is still a loyal customer. But we went beyond our warranty and are not obligated to do so.
It does not take months to decide an entire order is defective. The customer tries one and it doesn't work, tries a second and has the same issue and at that point should contact us. Naturally we don't expect a customer to test an entire order within two months. So if they bought a quantity and a few months later find that one didn't work properly, we will replace it or add extra to their next order. But to request a refund, it must be done within the window. The excuse "I know I bought these 6 months ago but I just got around to using them" doesn't cut it. What's to stop anyone from buying anything - a MP3 player, computer, car, etc and saying they didn't use it until after the warranty expired? The warranty begins from date of purchase, not the date they decide to use it.
We have made exchanges a year after the purchase date when there was good reason. For example, customers bought a quantity of cartridges and then had to buy a new printer which couldn't take the old cartridges. We almost always take back sealed cartridges. But we don't want to be obligated to do so, hence the limitations in the warranty.
If you experience a problem, email or call first. Often we can resolve the problem over the phone. We get very few cartridges back and most of those work just fine in our printers. If we can't solve it, the next step would be to replace or refund. We may require that you send the product back to us. We do not send prepaid potage labels or reimburse your shipping. If this is for replacement, we will add extra to cover your costs. (We also put extra cartridges in most of our Epson, Canon and Brother orders.) This is what you accept when placing your order online. If you buy an item from a store and it doesn't work, it must be returned to the store. You can't call them up and expect to get your money back. If you expect a refund without returning the merchandise, shop elsewhere.
When returning opened ink cartridges, you must be careful to seal them against leaks. If they leak, the Post Office will dispose of them without delivery. Tape the bottom of the cartridge where the printer punctured it and the top where you removed the yellow tape. Place them in a baggie. Do not put closed cartridges in the same baggie. Return them to:
Izzy Goodman
2412 Oceancrest Blvd
Far Rockaway, NY 11691
We supply schools, professional printers and corporations. We do almost no advertising. Most of our customers come to us by referral from other customers. We must be doing something right (and our cartridges must be working properly) to achieve this track record. As long as your expectations are reasonable, we will be more than reasonable.
Our warranty only covers the cartridges bought from us and for up to the amount paid us. We do not cover any other expenses. If someone waited until the day an important job was due and discovered a cartridge didn't work and had to run out and pay a lot more somewhere else, they can't expect us to refund the amount they paid for the other cartridge. We had one customer say since a cartridge didn't work and she couldn't find another one, she bought a whole new printer and expected us to pay for it. Sorry, but that's not the way it works. Another customer complained that his 4-year old printer stopped working a year and a half after putting in our cartridges so it had to be the fault of our cartridges and therefore he expected us to buy him a new printer. I hope anyone reading this understands why this is not a reasonable expectation. If not, please shop elsewhere.
Don't wait until you're down to your last cartridge on the last day you have to complete a critical job. At about $3 a cartridge, there is no reason not to have a backup. Someone's failure to spend an extra $3 does not impose an obligation on us. An entire set of our cartridges cost less than a single Epson cartridge. Instead of spending $60-$100 for one set of Epsons, spend $20 to $40 for two to three sets of ours. With our special bonuses for buying backup sets, there is no excuse not to be prepared.
We do not offer lifetime free replacements. Cartridges do not contain any moving parts. There is no particular reason a reusable or refillable cartridge can't last for years. We have a set going on four years. However, electronic chips can be damaged by stray voltage, liquid, or being touched by sweaty fingers. So don't count on your cartridge lasting forever. We typically replace it free within a few months of purchase or we add an extra in your next order. But we did have a professional print shop with multiple printers buy a single set of refillable cartridges and move it from printer to printer. Naturally doing this caused the ink to be used very quickly. Every time time cartridges are inserted in a printer, they go through a charging process which uses a good deal of ink. This print shop kept calling to complain the ink was being used too quickly. In four months we had sent five replacements for the four cartridges they bought. In all that time, despite our reminders, they didn't take the obvious step of buying a set for each printer. Expecting unlimited lifetime replacements of a $4 item is not reasonable. Epson won't do it and their cartridges cost five times more and give one-third the ink. Incidentally, when we stopped replacing the cartridges, this print shop bought several sets and has had no problems since. They still buy their ink from us and gave us a glowing recommendation. See our customer testimonials on the upper left. We also had customers call every few months to ask for a replacement for a different cartridge - all without placing any new orders. They were basically using our warranty to get free replacements every time they ran out of ink. Over a year they had received a complete new set, cartridge by cartridge. With some people abusing our warranty we can no longer afford to be that generous. So if you make your purchase expecting our basic warranty and you experience some issue, you will receive service which exceeds any reasonable expectations.
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Merchant Accounts - What You Need To Know by Yisroel Goodman
by Izzy Goodman
For a free e-book called "The FoolProof Guide to Accepting Credit Card and Check Payments," by William Hamilton, email us.
We recommend that you read this entire page before going to the end to see who we recommend.
Why should I get a merchant account?
Customers want a convenient and safe way to send payment. Money orders and checks are not very convenient nor are they safe. As a vendor, you want to close the transaction quickly. If you have to wait for the customer to remember to mail you a payment, there are too many things that can break the sale. So credit cards are a method by which the customer can place the order quickly.
What about payment services like Paypal?
Yes, payment services such as Paypal will work and is in fact the method of choice for most customers. But there are drawbacks. Often both buyer and seller must register for an account with the same service. The charge may appear on the customer's card as a charge from the service - not the actual merchant. Sellers complain about payments being accepted into their accounts which they do not want, such as payments from unverified accounts with unconfirmed addresses. Sometimes a minor problem leads to an entire account being restricted (something which should never happen with real merchant accounts) and payments continued to be accepted into these restricted accounts (which would NEVER happen with a real merchant account). Payment services often allow scammers to hide their identities. Disputes often go from the buyer to the buyer's credit card to the payment service and then to the seller. There are too many points along the line where the ball can be dropped and an innocent party made to pay for it. There is little incentive for the service to fight on behalf of the seller. Even if all the proper efforts are made, it is often determined that a scammer used a loophole in the system to perpetrate the fraud. If there is no money remaining in the scammer's account (and there wouldn't be) the victim loses.
With a merchant account you deal directly with the buyer and decide if you want to charge the card. With a payment service all you know about the buyer is what the service tells you. If the buyer used a stolen credit card or changed addresses, you wouldn't know about it. I did have a buyer try to get back his paypal payment made to me because I shipped to an old address from which he had moved years before. That was the only address I was given by Paypal because the buyer had never updated it. Fortunately Paypal ruled in my favor. With a real merchant account the buyer could not have made such a mistake. So while services like Paypal and Google are basically safe if some common sense is used, they still add complications which can make it less safe for the seller.
Since almost anyone can get a paypal account, many buyers have decided that a seller who has his own merchant account is more reliable than a seller who only accepts payment through a service. Many buyers do not want to join a payment service in order to make a purchase. Many sellers have discovered that having their own merchant account not only gives them a more professional appearance to their buyers, it also gives them more protection against fraud.
What about CCnow and Propay? Aren't these merchant accounts?
Not really. Companies like CCNow and ProPay allow merchants to pretend to have a merchant account. I will assume that CCNow (which I haven't used) works similar to ProPay (which I have used). The merchant validates the customer and enters the transaction at the site. There are no monthly fees, statement fees or minimums; it is strictly pay-as-you-go. Payments are not automatically accepted; the merchant must accept them. The merchant uses his own judgement and does not rely on a third-party to validate the customer. Charges appear on the statement with the merchant's name. However, there are still some disadvantages. The transaction fees are high. Propay has a fee to open the account (last I checked it was $35 annualy), a 3.5% percentage and a transaction fee of about 70 cents (35 cents on the acceptance and another 35 cents on the withdrawal. You can make one withdrawal which encompasses several transactions.) CCNow's rates are even higher. There are limits. Propay limits individual transactions to no more than $250 and no more than $1,000 per month, unless the merchant signs up for a different account with higher fees. Even though it appears to be a real merchant account, it isn't. Propay is acting as the middle-man. Chargebacks are reported to Propay, who may or may not contact the merchant in time to dispute them. As for validation, in about 20 transactions I made with Propay, it reported a zip code mismatch every single time. I even charged my own card and it reported a zip code mismatch, though I had been living at that address for over 12 years. When I contacted Propay, they blamed it on typos, on the issuing bank, on the AVS system, and would not for a moment entertain the notion that there might be a problem with their software. This was several years ago so they have probably fixed it by now.
There are some folks who shop by price alone and look for what is (or seems to be) the cheapest deal. There are some who understand that other factors may influence the bottom line. Do you want to deal with a company whose support desk often consists of a telephone answering machine? You can save on your startup costs if you do. But what would the long-term ramifications be? Perhaps it really isn't a "savings" when you take into account that the company with the higher fee provides a manned support line, electronic check processing, free shopping cart software, and a secure order form for your customers.
You also have to be very careful. Unfortunately, there is a lot of dishonesty in the merchant account arena. Like the
stereotype
of the sleazy used car salesman, providers often mention those areas where their
rates
are lower and fail to mention those areas where they are higher. Some outright lie.
I spent months researching
merchant accounts
, for myself and also for a series of articles I wrote for auctionbytes.com. I discovered that while most of them advertise "free application," almost ALL have a
fee
for opening the account and this fee ranges from a low of $25 to as much as $500. Having opened seven or eight different merchant accounts over the past twelve years, I have detailed my experiences. I suggest you read them and learn the tricks you have to watch out for. Read this for a list of the fees a merchant account might charge and the merchant account provider I recommend, Merchant Account Fees
Don't fall victim to sleazy marketing tactics and hidden charges!
Make sure you ask the right questions:
What does it cost to open the account?
What are the monthly fees, statement fees, gateway fees, annual fees, per transaction fees, batch fees, monthly minimum?
Don't fall for the "qualified" card rate. Ask what the rates are for corporate cards, Canadian cards and other foreign cards.
Is there any long-term commitment? Are there any closing/cancellation fees?
If you want a customized form for your own web site, the source code to our own ASP shopping cart, or have general questions about adding credit card processing to your site, email us.
My Recommendation
Having investigated numerous merchant accounts, the best one I found came recommended by a good friend who has been with them for many years. I spoke at length with a representative and feel comfortable recommending him. Since the fees vary according to the type of business being conducted, I can only give you the general information.
He promised that for those I recommend there would be NO application fee, annual fee, monthly fee, batch fee, avs/cvv fee, cancelation fee or PCI DSS fee. The people who signed up at my recommendation told me David is a man of his word and there were no unexpected charges. There would be a statement fee of $10 a month and a gateway fee to authorize.net of $15 for 250 transactions. There may be a one time fee of $89 to authorize.net. Instead of quoting a qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified rate, they use the interchange rate table with about 80 rates in it and said the average rate would be about 2.3% plus 20 cents a transaction. Based on my experience, this is the best deal available. (If you know of a better one, I'd love to hear about it.) If you want to know more, email sales@ccs-digital.com and I will provide the contact information so you can talk to David directly and decide for yourself.
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