Do You Have Empty Ink Cartridges?

I knew they were worth something. As I do my Makati rounds from time to time visiting clients, every time I walk along Ayala Avenue, there are some people in front of several buildings holding empty ink cartridges with a sign stating that they buy empty inks. The first thought that came into my mind was, why are they buying it? Well honestly, up to now, I don't know why but my guess is that it has something to do with either refilling it or using it for those unlimited ink systems. Let me know why if you know.


I bought my Canon printer years ago and had a refillable ink system installed. After a year, I removed it myself. The quality was horrendous even for just black and white paper work. There were lines and smudges here and there. It was so messy refilling the inks and although you save a lot of money, you don't actually get what you want. You really get what you pay for.

As I was changing my printer ink, I realized that I now have several empty cartridges with me, 8 in total. Rather than go to Makati and ask one of those buyers how much they will purchase my empty cartridges, I went to OLX. I was surprised at the number of ads posted saying that they buy used/ empty inks. I texted 5 of them and asked how much they would buy my inks. One replied after a few minutes and said that my Canon 810 (b&w) was worth P100 each and my Canon 811 (colored) was worth P210 each. Wow! I didn't know it was worth that much. I expected it to be worth around 20-50 bucks each. To add cherry on top, they offered free pick-up wherever I am at my preferred time!

So there you go. Those empty ink cartridges are worth something. Keep it and use the money to buy additional inks. As for unlimited/ refillable ink system, I still hate them. Good thing that for my printer, every time I change inks, I get new print heads as it comes with the inks. So the damage done by installing unlimited ink supply is no longer there as they tend to clog ink ducts.

If you want to get the number of my ink buyer, send me a tweet @cheftonio or PM me.

*Update 1*
So after they replied at 1 am last night, the guy just left now (It's 10:30am) and got the inks. I got 860 pesos from what most of us think is already trash. Here's the breakdown:
Canon 810 black and white x 5 @ 110 each = P550
Canon 811 colored @ 210 each = P210
Canon 811 colored @ 100 each = P100*

The reason that the last one is just valued at 100 pesos is because they do some tests first. They check if the ink passes through the ducts. They use tissue paper to put pressure on the bottom part then check if the ink smudges. If yes, then you're good. If no, they will value it at a lower price. For colored inks, all 4 colors must be visible on the tissue. If only one color like in my case, they paid 100 pesos for it.

I asked what they do with the inks after. He just said that his boss does trading of it. I think what he's saying is there is a valuable part inside it that is of value. This might be the reason why original inks are expensive and only have few printing capacity. No mention of continuous ink system from the buyer. It really must be just a valuable part inside.

*Update 2*
After an hour, and then I thought... if someone is posting an ad buying used inks, there must be someone posting an ad selling used inks. Lo and behold.

They are selling each ink at 600 pesos!??? Wow! These Canon inks are really worth something! Imagine, I remember buying my Canon 810 at around 800 pesos (or less). Then if I can sell them easily at 500 each, each ink would just cost me 300 pesos! That's pretty affordable for original ink! Wow!

Not all empty inks are priced the same. Didi commented below and said that their HP inks are sold at 10 pesos each. Will do a research and check which inks are valuable and update this post again.

Cheftonio
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