When you're buying replacement printer cartridges for your business or at home, then you're likely looking to get the best possible quality at the lowest possible cost. This leaves you faced with a dilemma - do you choose ones that come from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or replica ones? It might surprise you to learn that many printer companies don't make the bulk of their profits from selling printers. Instead, most of their income comes from selling peripherals such as ink and other products that are needed to keep your printer operating after you've purchased it. This is why there's no common format across the industry, so when you need a replacement, you'll usually have to buy one from the company that originally manufactured your printer. By doing this, they lock you into a long-term relationship with them, and over the lifetime of a printer, you can find yourself spending much more on peripherals than you ever did on the original device. Replica companies purport to be able to break up this relationship by providing an alternative source of products. They invest large amounts of money and time in working out just how the major manufacturers' printers work and thus how they can produce peripherals for them at a reduced price. As they can't rely on you being locked into a relationship with them in the same way as you might be with a printer company, they have to compete on price, and many of them can be significantly cheaper than branded replacements. However, when it comes to buying printer cartridges, the important question you have to ask yourself is whether the risk of buying a replica cartridge is worth the saving you make from using it instead of an OEM cartridge. In order to combat the manufacturers of replicas, and keep their profits for themselves, the manufacturers have made their own products increasingly complex over recent years. Manufacturers use all sorts of devices and designs to stop people using replicas. For instance, many cartridges now include complex chips within them that contain the operating system and instructions for the printer. If the chip isn't present, or the information on it is incorrectly programmed, then the printer will not work at all. Some manufacturers also claim that their printers are designed to use particular types of ink that only they can supply. If you choose ink from a replica company, it may not flow correctly through the printer, causing blockages and poor quality printing, perhaps even damaging the machine itself and necessitating its replacement. It's not all doom and gloom, though. There are many printers out there that will run perfectly happily on replica cartridges and using them will save you a good deal of money while still producing the quality of printing you need and expect. Seek advice online and from friends about people's experiences of using OEMs and replicas, and also consult the staff at any printer supply shop near you. There are many that specialise in recycling and reusing OEM and replica cartridges, and they'll be able to advise you which will be best for you and your printer.