What are compatible toners?
A compatible cartridge refers to a cartridge that is not manufactured by the original manufacturer of your printer (called an OEM cartridge), but will function and work in the same way that an OEM cartridge would. Compatible cartridges are popular with consumers because of the lower cost to purchase, compared to an OEM cartridge. All generic or compatible toners are tested and checked and 100% guaranteed.
Types of Toners
- Original toners by the manufacturers. In general, toners by the manufacturers of a device are referred to as “Original”. Some of our competitors also call these cartridges “Manufacturers’ ink” or “Manufacturers’ toner” or simply “Manufacturers’ cartridge”.
- Re-filled original toners (so-called “Refill Toners”).
With refill-toners, the cartridge is cleaned and re-filled. In most cases the printing quality is acceptable, most customers however do not remain satisfied in the long term, which is why we do not include refill-toners in our range. - Reconditioned toners (so-called “Rebuilt Toners”) – We list these under “Compatible Toners”
With so-called Rebuilt Toners the cartridge is cleaned, the wear parts are exchanged and the cartridge is filled with fresh toner powder. - Compatible Toners (replicated toners)
Apart from re-filled and re-built toners, there are also so-called “New-Built Toners”, which are produced from scratch by third-party manufacturers. Due to patent restrictions, there are however hardly any new-built toners on the market these days.
Why are compatible toners so cheap?
There are a number of companies producing compatible toners in the world. The pricing of the toners is solely based on the cost of the materials used to produce the toner. This makes the price of the product low. As a customer, you can save up to 70% of your printing costs by using alternative toners by third-party manufacturers.
How good are compatible toners?
Original toners are manufactured by the manufacturers of the specific printer. This makes them the best choice. However, they are highly-priced. Compatible toners on the other hand are made by third party companies and are perfectly good. This however depends on the manufacturer. We recommend choosing from the list of compatible toners from our list if you want to go this route.
Contribution to the environment?
Rebuilt toner cartridges are in fact empty original toners. There are companies all over the world that buy empty toners and remanufacture them. Depending on the cartridge model there are several components that can be re-used. That makes rebuilt toners more environmentally friendly because they are, at least in part, recycled.
