Is it possible to buy cheap cartridges from Refresh Cartridges? Yes, actually it is. For one thing, Refresh Cartridges does not make its cheap cartridges (like the remanufactured cartridges or compatible cartridges) on its own. Rather, Refresh Cartridges is able to retail its cheap cartridges inexpensively by looking for reliable sources of the remanufactured cartridges and compatible cartridges instead.

Why does Refresh Cartridges opt to buy instead of make these remanufactured cartridges and compatible cartridges themselves? Wouldn't costs go down if Refresh Cartridges became a manufacturer itself instead of just a vendor? Well, yes, and no. On the one hand, Refresh Cartridges does not have the expertise to make these types of cheap cartridges itself, which is why Refresh Cartridges opts to look for companies that specialize in remanufactured cartridges and compatible cartridges instead. On the other hand, if Refresh Cartridges is able to charge a lower mark-up by being just a vendor of these types of cartridges. If it were a manufacturer, it might have to charge a higher mark-up to recover costs.

For its remanufactured cartridges, Refresh Cartridges opted to source such cheap cartridges from Printrite, X-Print, and GreenTech. Refresh Cartridges offers consumers a 100% guarantee that its remanufactured cartridges will work perfectly because each and every one of these are tested by Refresh Cartridges before selling them to the public. Any sub-standard cartridges can be returned to the company's freepost address so consumers can get their money back. By opting for remanufactured cartridges sold by Refresh Cartridges, consumers benefit by receiving more ink per cartridge compared to the amount of ink they can get from original brand-name ink cartridges bought off the shelf. Refresh Cartridges and consumers also work hand in glove to keep such cartridges out of landfills where they would simply sit uselessly and take up much-needed space. It is better for the environment, for the ink cartridge industry and for Refresh Cartridges when consumers buy remanufactured cartridges from the company.

But what about compatible cartridges – what do these do? A compatible ink cartridge is one that is manufactured by a company aside from the manufacturer of the original ink cartridge used. The third-party manufacturers sell their compatible cartridges as cheap cartridges that are less expensive than the brand-name ones. Of course, the brand-name manufacturers do not want the consumers to buy compatible cartridges since these compete with their brand-name replacement cartridges, but Refresh Cartridges does sell compatible cartridges to the public. Refresh Cartridges usually gets its compatible cartridges from X-Print. At times, Refresh Cartridges buys from other accredited suppliers if X-Print compatible cartridges are not available. All compatible cartridges bought from Refresh Cartridges come with the standard 100% money-back guarantee for all consumers.

If you happen to hear the phrase "OEM cartridges" being bandied about the ink cartridge industry, the term is simply another way of describing brand-name ink cartridges that come from the big-name manufacturers. There are some OEM cartridges which are hard to replace with remanufactured or compatible cartridges for legal reasons in which case you may have to get OEM cartridges from the brand name manufacturer itself. But for many printers, cheap cartridges like remanufactured and compatible cartridges will do just as well.