Printer ink price per ounce is insane: Do you realize just how much name brand printer ink costs?

“very elegant on the palate, with rich, ripe but tightly wound cassis and chocolately flavors nicely framed by silky tannins. Finishes lively, floral and long…”

Ah, yes; Chateau Petrus, which has a reputation for being one of the best, and most expensive vintages of wine available.

In fact, silly humans can pre-order a bottle of it for about $1600 online, although don’t plan on bringing it to dinner next Friday night (to compliment Mom’s meatloaf?) as it might not ship for a few months.

“Wow, I would never splurge on something that decadent,” you say! Something so extravagant is surely only bought by fat cats who wear monocles and light their cigars with $100 bills, right?

Name Brand Printer Ink Can Cost $70 Per Ounce!

Actually, depending on how you price it, you might already be buying something just as lavish. As you can see in the graphic above, the price per ounce of printer ink is actually more than this legendary wine.

For the more expensive name brand inks, you could be looking at over $70 per oz.! (and, it doesn’t have a lively, floral finish)

Printer Ink: The Most Expensive Liquid You’ll Ever Buy?

Anyway, the point being illustrated here is that printer ink is probably the most expensive liquid that you are ever going to buy.

Companies like Epson, HP, and Canon are willing to actually take a loss when they sell you the printer itself, because when you need replacement ink, they know you’ll be back. (This is the same business model as the razor industry, which is built on you needing replacement blades.)

Stick it to The Man, Buy Generic Ink Instead

One way to stick it to The Man is to consider opting for “name brand compatible printer ink,” (aka “generic”) which can cost less than half as much as the “OEM” genuine ink. The market for it keeps growing, and it has become a billion dollar industry, to the dismay of those big printer companies.

Related: Winc Wine Club Review + $25 Off

Don’t just buy generic ink anywhere though. Like that ink you see displayed in the window of that stereo shop in Chinatown? (with a crudely drawn “Tony the Tiger” on the packaging) Skip buying that brand.

To ensure quality, you’ll want to be sure to buy ISO 9001 certified ink (meets quality standards) from a reputable online store like 4inkjets (coupons) and 123inkjets.