Hewlett Packard Counterfeit cartridges

Earlier this year, I took part in some market research which (it turned out) was conducted on behalf of Hewlett Packard, Brother and Xerox to get views about genuine, clone and counterfeit cartridges.

I'd never even heard of the term clone and counterfeit cartridges?!? That was just something I had read about as being a problem in the Middle East. I rambled on that my main concern was the terrible effect compatible printer cartridges imports were having on the UK market.

How times have changed!

Counterfeit Hewlett Packard laser cartridges are entering the UK market place in increasing numbers.

We haven't seen counterfeits for any other brand. 

We have only seen counterfeit colour laser cartridges for the following printer families:

• HP CP1515 printers using CB540A/CB541A/CB542A/CB543A
• HP CP2025 printers using CC530A/CC531A/CC532A/CC533A
• HP CP1025 printers using CE310A/CE311A/CE312A/CE313A
• HP CP1525 printers using CE320A/CE321A/CE322A/CE323A

These cartridges are all similar in design (cuboid shaped, approximately 30cm in length).

Greensource Solutions are in the privileged position of being a cartridge collector, supplier and remanufacturer. Unlike many suppliers, we handle many thousands of empty cartridges every month from the public and private sector. 
My colleagues have been educating me about the tell tale signs and I hope this information will help anyone using a Hewlett Packard printer.

Genuine CC531A (top) Counterfeit CC531A (bottom)

Can you spot any differences?

This photo shows some printing differences on the labels. On the left hand side of the label, you can see the first picture on the counterfeit cartridge (bottom) is different colours to the genuine version. The quality of the counterfeit label is inferior to the genuine cartridge.

Genuine label close up

Counterfeit label close up

These close up pics of the labels illustrate differences more clearly. 
The counterfeit cartridge label looks ever so slightly blurry - they often lack the sharpness of a genuine label.
The curved edges on the labels are also different - HP labels always have that same curve whereas the counterfeit labels are sometimes straight corners (we're going in deep now!).

You can also see how the chips on the left hand side of the cartridge are different.


On many of the counterfeit cartridges we've seen, the chip is a different colour to the genuine HP green - this isn't conclusive.

Genuine cartridge left hand side

Counterfeit cartridge left hand side

The latest of batch of counterfeit cartridges are plainly fakes because of the plug in the left hand side. 

A genuine Hewlett Packard laser cartridge will never have a plug like this.

This is quite audacious of the counterfeiting operation - they're trying to pass drill and fill cartridges off as the real deal. Naughty.

I've circled the chip again to illustrate how the genuine and counterfeit differ. On this particular counterfeit, the housing around the chip has also been burnt/melted (like a soldering iron has gone to work on it), which would never be the case on a genuine cartridge.

Genuine cartridge right hand side

Counterfeit cartridge right hand side

One clear difference on this side is the cog colours.

Genuine cartridges plastic casing and parts are uniform in colour.

There is one more point, my learned colleagues inform me of. A genuine Hewlett Packard printer cartridge will have a plastic case that is matt in appearance. Many of the counterfeit printer cartridges are much more shiny.

WHAT NEXT?

If you think you have been supplied a counterfeit cartridge, contact your supplier. 

SO, AM I BUYING SUPPLIES FROM A SHYSTER?

We supply and I have some sympathy for suppliers who have been told they've sold a counterfeit cartridge (I rue the day when we get the accusing phone call from one of our lovely customers).

I am sympathetic because many cartridge sales are shipped direct from distributors (of which there are only 5-10 in the UK that most of us cartridge suppliers use), so the supplier will not necessarily have even handled the offending article.

The next issue is the packaging. I have personally been acquainted with many counterfeit cartridges. I have yet to see one counterfeit box. Think about it, who would save an empty cartridge box next to the printer? 

If the cartridge box is of high quality, then I would personally find it very hard to identify that something was not right. As a supplier, I would never open boxes to check stock - I couldn't sell the goods as new afterwards.

Counterfeit cartridges are an issue that any supplier worth their salt takes seriously and will respond appropriately to any concerns their customer has. 

I hope this has been helpful and if you have any enquiries about counterfeit laser cartridges then please contact Greensource Solutions. We have a supply of counterfeit cartridges we are holding and can provide images and examples as resources.

patricks@greensource.co.uk

www.greensourcesolutions.co.uk

0117 304 2390

The true cost of home printing

The cost of ink cartridges for desktop printers has been a feature in the news for many years - printer ink costs per gram than gold / fine champagne?!?

There is no doubt it is an expensive habit that many of us indulge in.

The Guardian have run an interesting feature which has a focus on how the oem manufacturers (the companies who make the printers and "genuine" ink cartridges) have reduced the amount of ink in cartridges over time to get more bang from their buck.
Counter arguments ensue - some of which have validity, but ultimately it's a case of market forces never being satisfied.

Greensource has some great suggestions to minimise your home printing costs:

• Use remanufactured cartridges. These are generally a minimum of 30% cheaper than their brand name equivalents. Unsure or unhappy with the quality? Any supplier worth their salt these days will offer a no quibble guarantee on remanufactured products so choose where you buy from with that in mind.
• Avoid colour printing at home. Many online photo services offer fantastic deals these days. This is much cheaper than printing at home (remember you need ink and photo paper), but does sacrifice the instant gratification. The vast majority of other printing people do is documents isn't it? Is it really necessary to have your e-ticket in colour.
• Buy a mono laser printer. Straight away, a cartridge prints thousands of copies rather than hundreds and the cost per cartridge can be comparable with oem inks, so big savings to be made.
• Take advantage of the work place! I think we all understand what I'm talking about;-)

I'd also like to add a footnote about cartridge recycling. Greensource was founded to raise funds for charity through the collection of empty printer cartridges. This activity fuelled the cartridge remanufacturing industry. 
However a paradox exists. Quality control measures mean that the cartridge remanufacturing sector rarely reuses anything other than an empty brand name cartridge. Despite this, the arguments for using remanufactured cartridges most convincing as it benefits the cost you pay, quality is guaranteed and the environment has fewer resources taken from it.

Hewlett Packard endorse remanufactured products

The relationship between multinational printer manufacturers and the cartridge remanufacturing industry can be a bit cat and mouse. 

The remanufacturing industry has been thrown a chunk of cheese from Hewlett Packard.
Their Renew program promotes customers using quality guaranteed remanufactured machines.

That sounds familiar!