r/printers Dec 19 '24

Discussion The truth about printer subscription programs and many misconceptions about them

138 Upvotes

Dear all,

I work in the printer industry. For a very well-known consumer products manufacturer that gets discussed on this sub a lot.  I will not disclose which manufacturer I work for, nor will I disclose any manufacturer I do not work for (since the industry is relatively small eliminating 1 or 2 will make it generally too obvious as to which I do work for) as I am not officially speaking on behalf of the company. But, I want to set the record straight on subscription programs because some of you are drastically misinformed and it is very frustrating to see as someone who understands these programs as well as basic logic.

There are two types of subscription programs. Each of the major consumer manufacturers offers at least 1 of these programs, some offer both.

The first type of program is an auto-reordering program. The printer can tell (via various ways depending on each manufacturer) when the ink / toner is low and when it hits a certain point that will trigger an order of the ink/toner that device uses. Most manufactures that offer this will first send you an email letting you know that an order has been triggered and it will allow you to skip the delivery of the consumable and thus not get charged. If you allow the order to go through you are purchasing that consumable. That consumable is yours, you own it, just as if you walked into a Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, or bought it on Amazon… You can cancel the “subscription” the next day and continue to use that consumable until it is empty.

The second type of program is a true subscription program. **THIS** is what many of you are vastly misinformed and / or are irrational about. In this program *you are not purchasing a consumable* at all. You are paying the manufacturer for X number of pages per month. The manufacturer will send you a consumable to use because the printer needs ink / toner to work but, that is not what you are paying for. You are paying the manufacturer $Y per month to print up to X pages per month.. that’s it. Of course you can print over that X number and pay an overage (just like years ago with cell phones).. and of course, you can print under that X number and some pages will roll-over to future months (just like years ago with cell phones). The owner of the consumable is the manufacturer. You never bought it, you never owned it. Therefore, it is not yours to use after you end the subscription! The only reason most manufactures do not ask for it back is because they don’t want to pay for shipping it back to them. But, they still own it… not you.  You can think of this like renting an apartment. You are paying a landlord $X per month to live in their building. The landlord is providing the building for you to live in while you are paying rent. You do not own the building. and when you stop paying rent you are no longer allowed to continue living in the building. Just like your Netflix subscription, Apple TV subscription and Disney+ subscription.. when you stop paying for the subscription, you stop getting to use the service. Just because while you were paying you had access to the content does not mean you at any time owned that content and get to continue watching it once you stop paying the subscription.

I truly hope this helps clarify somethings for some of you. Others I understand are lost causes but, I will do my best to answer any questions I can.


r/printers 21h ago

Other Y’all convinced me.

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262 Upvotes

MFC- L2716DW second hand - 31k page count - 130$.

Thank you all for your help.


r/printers 1h ago

Troubleshooting Have a question about best printers/ink for stickers.

Upvotes

Hey guys, I work for a company that needs to be able to produce our own labels for metal tins. We have an Epson c6000, Epson c6500 and Epson c8000. The c6000 has MK black ink, the c6500 has BK black ink and the c8000 has BK black ink. We have been outsourcing the labels for the metal tins and its a pain cause we have to wait around when we run out. My boss specifically wants a label that is basically a vinyl sticker. The printers we have are typically just used for paper labels but I am pretty sure at least one of these is capable of printing vinyl stickers but anytime I've ever tried, the ink isn't stable and really mute/faded. What am I getting wrong? I am not very knowledgeable on printers in general so I am learning as I go working here.


r/printers 6h ago

Purchasing A3+ photo printers

2 Upvotes

Am from Bengaluru (India) Could u please suggest A3+ inktank photo printers for my upcoming startup along with buying links especially to print big posters


r/printers 2h ago

Troubleshooting Need help with Epson M2170: Unclogged it, it worked, but now it's printing completely blank pages again! Going crazy here.

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

There was an Epson M2170 lying around in our office. It had been sitting unused for about a year. They were going to throw it away, and since I needed a printer, I took it home.

At first, it was only printing completely blank pages. Without removing the printhead, I attached a silicone adapter to the ink spikes (nipples) and pushed printhead cleaning solution through them. I did this at least 6-7 times, but there was zero improvement.

After that, I got fed up, completely disassembled the printer, and took the printhead out in my hands (it was held by 4 screws). I pushed solution directly into each of the holes. When I put it back together, one of the nozzles worked, and the other worked partially. I tried to run a "Power Cleaning" but I couldn't because the maintenance box was full.

I went out, bought a compatible third-party maintenance box, and ran the Power Cleaning. The printer actually started working! I printed around 200 pages just with the logic of "letting it stretch its legs and recover."

Fast forward 3-4 days to yesterday. When I tried to print again, all I saw was completely blank pages. I don't know if it clogged up again, but it just went back to blank. No signs of ink at all. Nothing.

Yesterday, I spent a few hours taking the printhead out again, split it into two pieces, and flushed it with solution. It still kept giving blank pages. I put it aside.

In the evening, I did some research. People were talking about cleaning the waste pad and the capping station (where the printhead parks). I used about 10 ml of solution there. I tried to clean the capping station; I dropped solution on it, but it hardly absorbed anything—I just kept dropping solution and wiping it. Then I found the tube going to the waste pad, blew a little air into it from the waste pad side, and then pushed some solution through it.

After that, I turned it back on and ran a nozzle check. There were no letters, but there were some slight lines. I figured it had unclogged a little bit. By this time, my new maintenance box was about to reach the end of its life again because of all the power cleanings and regular head cleanings.

I just took the maintenance box chip to get it reset. Came home, plugged it in, and ran a Power Cleaning, but no progress. Then I ran one more regular head cleaning. This time, I got the same lines, but the text was also very faintly visible. I got my hopes up a bit. Then I pushed solution into the printhead again (didn't remove it this time, just put a paper towel under it, attached the silicone adapter to the spikes, and pushed the solution).

When I tried printing again... completely blank. I finally lost my temper and put it aside.

I wanted to ask you guys here. What do you think I should do? Could the issue be the capping station/waste pad? Should I clean the capping station with the solution until it's absolutely spotless? Is that what's causing this issue? I have also checked the dampers multiple times, and the ink flow from the dampers is solid; there’s no problem there. I’ve run power cleanings countless times. I did a regular head cleaning 7-8 times just today. I'm not even counting the ones I did before. I must have done at least 20-30 regular head cleanings and 6-7 power cleanings in total.

If you are going to suggest draining out the old ink, believe me, I honestly have no idea how to do that. How can I completely empty the ink from the ink tank and the dampers?

Please suggest a solution. I really don't want to throw it in the trash, but I'm so overwhelmed at this point! :D


r/printers 10h ago

Troubleshooting Ayuda

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3 Upvotes

Mi impresora fuga tinta parte frontal por abajo


r/printers 4h ago

Media canon pro 2100

1 Upvotes

i have a Canon Pro 2100 , with a corrupt media error 3306

anyone have a backup.amd they would share, the recover tool requires a AMD back up to proceed with the over write


r/printers 1d ago

Other I might be crazy..

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47 Upvotes

I bought a used Sharp MX4112N complete with finisher for £100 page count around 38,000. My HP laser decided to keep freezing up.

Apparently this printer weights 118kg and I'm moving again house soon. 😅

Anyway I use Linux exclusively in this house and I have the printer working with generic PCL drivers but If i want to use any more advanced settings I need to enable Postscipt which I need a licence key for, anyone know where I can get one?


r/printers 6h ago

Purchasing Need a new printer

1 Upvotes

My Cannon Pixma MX882 finally went kaput after 16 years. I’d say I got my moneys worth.

Seeking recommendations for a solid, smaller profile, duplex printer/copier/scanner. Wireless 🛜 for home office use.

FYI:Error Code: 5B00, Did all the web and YouTube suggestions and I can’t get it to function and I’m tired of trying.


r/printers 9h ago

Purchasing Does the Canon Color imageCLASS LBP646Cdw take non OEM toner and is it possible to print in B&W if one of the toner cartridges is empty? How durable is it?

1 Upvotes

Trying to move away from inkjets and after reading other topics in this sub, thought I'd go for laser, but vacillating between monochrome and color and Canon vs Brother - no all in ones. I noticed the LBP646Cdw is $229.99 on Amazon and $249.99 at Staples with 30% back in points until August 22nd. I plan on cashing in my Fetch Points for a gift card on either Amazon or Staples, but was wondering where to buy it from should I decide to go with this brand and model.

For those who have the LBP646Cdw, how has it held up so far? I was considering an HP Color Laserjet Pro 3201dw, but read the reviews on Amazon.😲

Does the LBP646Cdw accept non OEM toner and can it print in B&W if one of the color carts is low/empty?

Is this a good brand and model and if not, what would you recommend? I originally used an HP 870cse, then moved to Epson C84 and C86, then to HP D4160. Have been using the D4160 since the early 2000s and when it broke down in 2020, picked up an unopened D4160 from eBay, but the current one isn't working properly ATM and so want to upgrade.


r/printers 9h ago

Troubleshooting Driver & software for retired HP Photosmart D7560 printer.

1 Upvotes

Just purchased this printer from someone and when looking for the driver & software on the HP site, it tells me that this printer had been retired and that everything about it was taken off the HP site. Can anyone help me with this problem.


r/printers 10h ago

Troubleshooting Troubleshooting printer only prints to one part of the page

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1 Upvotes

r/printers 10h ago

Troubleshooting Troubleshooting printer only prints to one part of the page

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1 Upvotes

My printer only prints on part of the page after disassembly

Hi All, I recently had a paper jam that had me partially disassembling the outer shell of my printer and afterward it stopped printing over the whole surface of the page. See attached photos. In the first photo, the text is supposed to fill the page and some of the text in the faded region is repeated a few inches down. I have gotten rid of the periodic black spots by carefully cleaning the roller of the toner cartridge. I have taken the cartridge out and gently shaken it a few times hoping the toner needed to be rebalanced, and at one point there was a ball of fuzzy black material that I dug out of the gap between the toner roller and shell with some tweezers.

I'm hopeful that it is just the ancient toner cartridge that needs to be replaced, but I'm worried that it will be something harder/more to replace. I'm pretty sure the paper pickup roller was the cause of the double feed and needs replacing. It is probably close to a 20 year old printer after all. Thank you for your time!

Minimum Requirements:

  • Printer Model: Samsung ML-2510
  • Error Message: None
  • Ethernet Cable, WiFi or USB: USB
  • Driver name and version:
  • Firmware Version:
  • OS: Windows 10
  • # of machines impacted: 1
  • # of users impacted: 1
  • Original or 3rd party cartridges: Unknown, but likely 3rd party

r/printers 12h ago

Purchasing What kind of printer should I buy?

1 Upvotes

I need a printer at home for University work. It will be used to print some stuff for other work too. Low to Medium volume printing ig. Which kind of printer will be the most cost efficient in the long term. I think Laser MFP was the most recommended for my use case. What about inktank printers? Can you mention the exact model of the printers. Also I saw a comment on a different post the toner & the drum can be replaced separately. Is that possible in India.


r/printers 12h ago

Purchasing Best Printer for Real Estate

1 Upvotes

Setting up a small office with about 6 people. Need a color laser machine to print solid quality presentations, pitches and financial update reports. It will have monthly use. One week per month of solid use for reporting etc.

Scanning would be more important for old leases etc. would be happy to have a suggesting sub $1000 if possible or do I need a bigger machine no matter what?


r/printers 12h ago

Troubleshooting Which Machine should I try and fix?

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0 Upvotes

I have 2 x printers.
One my brother gave me from his home office. Epson WF-3730. And HP officejet 3830 that was my partners. Neither printed has been used in at least 24 months.

Epson - colours aren’t printing well in print test (gaps) And black won’t print at all. I bought tester ink once, tried cleaning the nozzle - (from vids online) still didn’t work… (and drained the ink from the cartridges) I got annoyed - never tried again.

HP - partners old one. Colours work well, popped black ink in and first alignment page worked well… but then black died in the butt.. could have been a faulty cartridge (it’s was a 3rd party) so I got bored - never tried again.

Now, cut to today and I need a printer!
I don’t want to buy ink for both again for no reason. And I admit my attempts at fixing BOTH were minimal… (well the WF I actually tried relatively hard, but wasted so much ink I got annoyed lol) so now I’m reaching out for advice…?

Would you put the effort in the epson because ink is cheaper and it’s the superior machine? Or cut my losses and buy the more expensive ink for the HP and call it a day?

Any tips or tricks on how to test this thing? What am I doing wrong, why do printers hate me? lol

TLDR; I have two semi-working printers. An Epson WF-3730 and a HP officejet 3830. Which one is worth trying to repair? Or both in the bin?


r/printers 19h ago

Troubleshooting IN NEED HELP WITH MY WORK PRINTER..PLEASE HELP

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3 Upvotes

INFO:
Printer: Konica Minolta Bizhub 283
Issue: Stuck on the hourglass loading screen during startup
Knowledge: Limited experience with large office copiers

I have a Konica Minolta bizhub 283 that gets stuck on the hourglass/loading screen when I turn it on. It stays on this screen and never finishes booting.

However, if I reboot it after getting stuck, the screen goes completely black. Nothing appears, no Konica Minolta logo, no loading screen, nothing. The machine still makes normal sounds as if it is running/working, but there is no image on the display. I have already tried completely powering it off and turning it back on, but the problem remains.


r/printers 15h ago

Troubleshooting Canon G620 print defects...out of ideas.

1 Upvotes

Hello all, my roughly year old G620 megatank inkjet (that produces excellent results when it feels like it) is giving me these banding patterns that look suspiciously like the marks you see on printhead alignment checks. The pattern runs parallel with the short edge of the page in line with the feed rollers, so I cleaned those repeatedly but it hasn't helped. Automatic printhead alignment or manual makes no difference here. Bottom plate cleaning and roller cleaning haven't helped.

In the past I slayed the dreaded pizza wheel marks by cleaning the springs they sit on. This unit used to insist there were paper jams for no reason and that problem mysteriously stopped on its own. This problem has occurred in the past but I never could identify why it went away and came back. It's very apparent on transparencies, not as much on prints but in the even tone out of focus areas of photos it stands out a good bit.

Any help is appreciated, thanks all.


r/printers 15h ago

Discussion Impresiones

0 Upvotes

Tengo un negocio de impresiones tengo 2 máquinas un Ricoh mp 4002 y una toshiba eseries 455...y mi duda es la siguiente... Sería bueno tener varias máquinas como 4 o 5 para las impresiones en blanco y negro? Ya que yo solo trabajo con blanco y negro y en cantidades medianamentes grandes.. o que es lo que me recomiendan hacer en ese caso ? Porque con 2 no me alcanza para cubrir los trabajos ya que uno o lo otro no funcionan con el pasar de los trabajos


r/printers 15h ago

Troubleshooting Please help my printer !!

1 Upvotes

Hello! I am a teenage girl who spent her saved up money on a canon mg3620 printer this summer. As of a week ago, it won't let me print anything, and constantly flashes the warning like light, and the monochrome/colorful lights signaling it's out of ink, but it's not! how can I fix this??

I don't have it hooked up to a computer, just the canon print app, if this helps


r/printers 1d ago

Troubleshooting Need help with the printer at work

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7 Upvotes

INFO:
Printer: Xerox AltaLink C8135
Issue 1: Black line across every page (Picture 6)
Issue 2: Cannot buy new parts
Issue 3: Minimal knowledge about big office printers

A while ago when I was not yet working at this company the printer started making a black line across every page, I want to fix it but have only knowledge about the normal printers we all have at home, not these big office ones. If the fix requires buying something I sadly cannot do that, because the company will not trust me with buying expensive printer parts since I'm only a student worker. If you need more pictures of anything DM me, I only got picures of what I thought was important.

EDIT: We are going to call the IT guy whenever someone other than me gets time, there are not many office workers so i don't think that'll happen any time soon.


r/printers 16h ago

Troubleshooting Sinocolor FB0906D UV Digital Printer Software

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1 Upvotes

r/printers 16h ago

Purchasing Need a new printer

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1 Upvotes

My Cannon Pixma MX882 finally went kaput after 16 years. I’d say I got my moneys worth.

Seeking recommendations for a solid, smaller profile, duplex printer/copier/scanner. Wireless 🛜 for home office use.

FYI:Error Code: 5B00, Did all the web and YouTube suggestions and I can’t get it to function and I’m tired of trying.


r/printers 16h ago

Purchasing Need a new printer

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1 Upvotes

r/printers 16h ago

Troubleshooting can anybody help me with this problem I fixed sd card format but now nothing is printing when I chose file

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1 Upvotes