Last week I was in a well-known store doing some research on printers for an associate. A customer was nearby, contemplating the purchase of a small Samsung colour laser printer and discussing it with a sales assistant. The price was very keen - just £80 and this was for the wireless version, too. The customer asked the assistant about toner cartridges, to which he replied: "It does come with toner, but they are only starter cartridges and will soon run out. I recommend that you buy a full set of spare cartridges." "And how much are they?" asked the customer. "They are £60 each and you need 4 of them: one for black, one yellow, one cyan, one magenta" replied the assistant. "So the printer is £80 and the cartridges are another £240?" asked the customer incredulously? Needless to say, he did not buy it.
Of course, it's not the store that is at fault. It's the pricing model adopted by the printer manufacturers, which is to sell you a cheap printer and hook you in to buying expensive toner cartridges on which they make a lot of money. The basic thing to keep in mind is: the cheaper the printer is to buy, the more expensive it will be to use and own. In general, so-called 'personal' colour lasers, priced around £100 have very high running costs. It's only when you go for a workgroup printer costing several hundred pounds that things become more affordable, and you have to spend around £500 to buy one with what might be called 'reasonable' running costs. Costs vary by brand, too. In general, the less well known brands have more expensive toners, plus there is less competition and choice. In contrast, it may be possible to purchase cheaper or refilled cartridges for big name brands such as HP and Brother (don't use them why the printer is still under warranty, though).
Heard of the expression "there's no such thing as a free lunch?". Well, there's no such thing as a cheap colour laser printer, either.