HP Instant Ink

I know I haven’t blogged for a while … okay a LONG TIME – let’s not go any farther shall we? I feel so bad for neglecting this blog and the others.

In my defense I’ve been busy with photography and writing – so many projects, so little time. Isn’t that how it usually goes? And, as some writers (and photographers) know – a good printer (along with plenty of paper and ink) is essential.

See what I did there? A good segue into this blog about one of the FEW services I have had for a long time, and highly recommend.

Yes, to me, three (3) years is a long time – especially for a service commitment. The longest thing I’ve had before that was Club Pogo (2003-2015) and my Sprint service (2010-current).

But, I do HIGHLY recommend this program, something I don’t easily do.

HP INSTANT INK

When I bought my HP 8610 printer in February 2015, not only was it on sale, but it came with a six (6) month FREE trial of HP’s Instant Ink Service. I was skeptical and decided not to use it. It also didn’t expire for a while, so there was no hurry to sign right up.

[My FAVORITE HP printer - OfficeJet Pro 8610; it was also on sale from Staples at the time I bought it]

Closer to the end of the year, I thought – why not? My mom was going to retire in March 2016 and we needed to start saving money. Six (6) months of a free service was definitely a plus. So, in December 2015 – I signed up to get my welcome kit. Also, the expiration for the offer was coming near and I hated to see it go to waste.

A few weeks later in January (2016) – due to the holidays – I got my first ink cartridges. But, as I already had ink in the ones in the printer, I waited until they were out. My billing cycle (free or not) wasn’t going to start until I installed the first one, which was February 13, 2016. And, I haven’t looked back.

[Instant Ink Welcome Kit]

[Set of 4 Ink Cartridges with Instructions]

What caught my attention was the “more ink than XL HP ink cartridges” statement on the enclosed paperwork.

[MORE INK THAN XL? That means less plastic, fewer replacements, and a BETTER value]

For the purpose of this blog, I will be referring to my XL cartridges for the 8610 (950 – Black; 951 Cyan/Yellow/Magenta). Each person’s printer and ink will vary, this is MY experience.  

Now, the XL black yields 2300 pages, the color ones (cyan/magenta/yellow) yield 1500. So, that was a plus! Only changing ink cartridges maybe once a year? That isn’t bad. A monthly option to pay for my ink? That was a sweet bonus, no reason to say no.

How much? Different levels and options (especially right now).

All good right?

Not really.

This is where some people miss the entire point of the program. Why do I say that?

The comments on HP’s posts about the service.

Someone made a comparison to Kodak’s Ink cost which I found interesting. Why? I previously owned TWO (2) Kodak printers. I was COMPLETELY on board with them – for a while.

Background: I bought my first printer when I bought my first computer (April 2003), and my last printer purchase was in February 2015. 

I’ve owned multiple brands of printers in that time – over 12 years, I’ve owned the following:

Epson (3)

Lexmark (defunct 2012-2015)

Brother

Kodak (5100 & 3250 – defunct about 2012)

HP (Photosmart Plus B209 & Office Jet Pro 8610)

The HP – B209 still works, but I don’t use it anymore since I have the 8610.

Anyway …

As you can likely tell, I’ve bought a LOT of ink as well for those printers.

Lexmark was the cheapest printer I owned (purchase price), but the ink cost was astronomical, particularly for the quality (the black looked like dark green). Epson ink was inexpensive and average quality; Brother was mediocre in price and quality. As you can see I only owned one (same as Lexmark).

Getting back to Kodak. They were known for cameras and later as photo developing paper in some retail stores. With my interest in wanting to print hi-quality photos at home – that was one upside to getting a Kodak printer.

They were thought to have “revolutionized” the ink-buying experience – black cartridges for $9.99 (plus tax) and tri-color for $14.99 (again, plus tax). That was another upside – low cost ink. $25 plus tax. Going by today’s sales tax (which has increased since I bought my first Kodak printer), that is $27.04 for both cartridges.

What a deal …

Until you wonder if you had some cyan left but ran out of magenta and yellow which caused the entire thing to stop working – or the other way around? That’s why I prefer the idea of separate cartridges – little to no waste. You’re not tossing a half blue because magenta is out, or yellow. You know what you’ve used.

Another downside to Kodak Ink? I was averaging replacements quite often. The reason? The Black cartridge only yielded about 425 pages (XL -770) and the color cartridge was about 420 (don’t think there was an XL version). $27 a month for that? Not such a good bargain after all. 

Again, on my plan I get 3600 pages a year for about $130. For that many pages with Kodak, I’d have to buy nine (9) of each cartridge. That’s about $243 a year. I’m saving $113 on my plan, even with one replacement set per year. 

Not to mention the sheer plastic waste. Even if I get ONE (1) set of HP cartridges a year – that beats nine (9) sets (1 black/1 tri-color) of Kodak cartridges (as you can’t buy half or quarter one) for a total of 18 cartridges.

HP at least sends a pre-paid postage bag to send back old cartridges to recycle. I had a devil of a time trying to recycle Kodak cartridges with Staples, Office Depot, and Office Max outright REFUSING to accept them. So, in the trash they went for waste. I’m not a tree-hugging, save the Earth type of person. I often forget my reusable bags, but I do try to help out as much as I humanly can. Eighteen (18) ink cartridges is a WASTE, especially if I can cut that down by nearly 78%.

I know some might say that more is better – not here.

This same person also commented that HP’s ink “cost more than a gallon of gas”. Well, with the gas prices I paid recently, that’s a fact I won’t actually try to argue. Sadly it is an ineffectual argument to say the very least.

I don’t think you’ll EVER find a solitary ink tank for less than $4, let alone the four (4) that my printer takes. If she meant a TANK of gas – that depends on what type of vehicle you’re filling up. My car (2008 Chevy Cobalt) has a 13 gallon tank. At its age and mileage, with using mid grade ($3.60/gallon) – I pay $46.80 from empty! Of course it never is empty, so I might pay a gallon or two less.

If you’ve got a 31 gallon Suburban – you’re going to be paying (with mid-grade) $111.60 from empty (again, I doubt most people get it right on ZERO fuel). So, yes, with using my car as an example, the ink is far more expensive than a tank of gas. Using a Suburban – the ink cost less. Not a good comparison at all.

Also, the ink goes a bit longer than the gas. The longest my car goes on a tank is about four (4) weeks. At its highest, I averaged 400 miles on a tank. On the other hand, I’ve seen my Instant Ink go MONTHS between shipments/replacements – about 10-12 months!

I started February 2016, next shipment out? December 2016. 

[Start of service to second shipment, after the initial one]

More recently, I got 2 separate shipments in March 2019. The last shipment before that? March 2018. That is nearly a FULL YEAR (12 months) between.

 

[Almost one year between shipments 2018-2019]

Let me clarify this – I AM NOT PAID BY HP IN ANYWAY.

I wish I was! I have two of their laptops which are nine (9) and eight (8) years old. My first was a black one (DV6 Entertainment) I got from Walmart – and that was back in February 2010. At the time I had a Compaq (HP) Windows Vista desktop – I’m glad Vista is gone.

I liked having a laptop for portability – and it was better suited for my lifestyle. Having Windows 7 was a plus. In April 2011, with a stipend from a student loan, I bought my “backup” – a purple one (HP Pavilion g7).

I’ve replaced hard drives, screens, buttons, cooling fans! So, if I was paid (or employed) by them – I would’ve enjoyed it immensely. I could REALLY use it.

I also got my first HP printer in 2010 as well. And, I loved it. So, that’s why I upgraded to the 8610. Not to mention the sheet feeder for scanning was a MUST-HAVE – especially when you’re trying to go paperless.

Getting back to the HP Instant Ink service and their pricing.

When I started there were only three (3) tiers:

[Instant Ink Plans circa 2015/2016]

I went with the $10 plan (which has been the BEST deal for us). With my sales tax (Nevada – 8.25%) it is $10.81. That’s about 3-4¢ per page. That’s a pretty good deal. I’ve had a lot of rollover pages (currently at 401 plus an expected 86 pages on the 15^th when the next cycle comes around). I’ve NEVER paid for an overage in printing. There were a few times I lost pages, but not too many.

As of late 2018, HP introduced two “HEAVY” volume plans:

[Plan options from my account page]

$14.99 for 500 pages/month; plus additional charge for extra pages [this is one I think for existing customers only as I didn’t see it on their “information” page but saw it in the “account” page] – roughly 3¢ per page (with tax – $21.64)

[Some options from the HP Instant Ink home page]

$19.99 for 700 pages/month – roughly 3¢ per page (with tax – $21.64)

They even have a FREE plan – 15 pages per month for the life of the printer (for printers under $99). That’s great for the occasional letter here or there.

[Yes, Virginia, there is a FREE plan]

[You can even get a card at Staples for the eligible printer]

And, it is SO easy to switch plans – I know, I went on the website to see how easy it was. That’s where I got to see the $14.99 plan.

Now, you won’t get a set of ink cartridges per month – you get it as you need it. Just remember that. Including my initial cartridges, I’ve had five (5) Black cartridges and six (6) cyan/magenta/yellow cartridge replacements from January 2016 to April 2019; that’s less than 2 sets per year. Right now I have a black, cyan, and magenta spare in the box.

I think that is another problem people are having with this – they don’t get a set every month or year. That’s not what was promised. You get it as you need it, and you still save money. You get bigger capacity cartridges so you don’t need to change as often. And, you can check your “pages printed” on the website.

With Amazon pricing (I’m not going to worry about Staples at this point; and some of their pricing is about the same) – I would have paid:

[Current price as of the time/date of blog]

[Cyan/Magenta/Yellow XL cartridges]

$43.89 x 5 black cartridges = $285.07 (with tax)

$33.89 x 18 (6 each cyan/magenta/yellow) = $660.35 (with tax)

As of May 15, 2019 – I’ve paid $356.66 for my plan. Of course, that total includes sales tax. 

Total savings?

  $945.42

- $356.66

$588.76 

[Current billing to July 2018]

[July 2018 to July 2017]

[June 2017 to December 2016]

[November 2016 to March 2016. March was the first billed month.]

That’s roughly about 62.2% savings! Approximately $196.25 per year! [NOTE: Had to update the totals as HP finally updated my account]

As far as shipping costs – I have Amazon Prime, so I could get my ink in 1-2 days after placing the order. Of course, I’d have to already be out of ink (BUMMER) – or know I’m almost out and have the UP FRONT FULL PRICE at that time. That’s not always easy to do on a fixed income which is why per month pricing is a real bonus! It’s almost like a layaway plan or finance plan.

With HP – they send it BEFORE YOU NEED IT. Printer says it is getting low, they get a shipment out. Sometimes I’ve had it MONTHS before I need it. And, again, I’m paying less than $11 per month, so not that much going out at one time making it SO affordable. If you print less, your per month cost is less. 

There you have it – facts, figures, and actual usage from a real uncompensated customer.

Since I still have a spare BLACK – I’ve roughly used close to four cartridges.

Going by my plan and deducting the roll over and unused pages (401 + 86):

3¾ (black) cartridges (haven’t replaced tank #4 yet) ÷ 11,213 pages = 2990 pages

I think I’ve got 10 more pages left in it. Maybe even more.

Remember, the XL Black ink tank is around 2300 pages, I’ve done close to 3000 on the Instant Ink cartridges.

As far as the color ones –

4¼  cyan (1 spare) ÷ 11,213 pages = 2638 pages estimated

4¼  magenta (1 spare) ÷ 11,213 pages = 2638 pages estimated

5¼  (6^th one is in) yellow ÷ 11,213 pages = 2135 pages estimated

Again, color XL cartridges are estimated 1500 pages. I’ve gotten over 2100 to 2600 pages on these Instant Ink cartridges.

Is it a good value? Well, going by my experiences and actual cost …

YES!! ABSOLUTELY!

Only you – the printer owner – know your printing needs whether it is as low as 15 pages per month or as much as 700 pages per month. HP has no-cost (free) to $20/month plans to fit that need. 

It is easy to switch plans online. Just remember that it will take effect on your NEXT billing cycle though.