For a small business, the cost of printer ink and toner cartridges can impact the bottom line more than one might expect. When purchasing toner cartridges for his family's grocery stores, Kovac's, Mark Kovac was surprised at how much they cost. "I got on the Internet to see if I could find anything cheaper and ended up getting them for less than half the price that we were paying for them," Mr. Kovac said. He purchased the cartridges from California-based Caboodle Cartridge, which sells re-manufactured ink and toner cartridges. Mr. Kovac noticed that the chain was looking for franchisees, so he decided to look into it. After he and his wife, Sheila, visited the company's headquarters in California, they decided to give the product a test run. "We started ordering different cartridges and gave them to people who we knew did a lot of printing," she said. "We wanted to see the quality because we knew that if the quality wasn't good, it wasn't going to work." None of the Kovacs' testers reported any negative experiences, so the couple opened Caboodle Cartridge in February at 6952 King Hill Ave. The store sells re-manufactured and original printer ink and toner cartridges and some printer accessories such as paper. Re-manufactured products are available from all major printer brands such as Epson, Canon, Lexmark and Hewlett-Packard. Customers may bring in empty cartridges to receive a credit toward the already discounted re-manufactured products. Empty cartridges are then sent to Caboodle headquarters where they are vacuum filled. "It's important to know that they are vacuum filled and not filled with syringes," Mrs. Kovac said. "I know some people have used re-manufactured products that are syringe filled and that tends to cause leaks and air bubbles." The re-manufactured cartridges typically run between 25 and 65 percent off the retail price of originals. All of Caboodle Cartridge's products are guaranteed, Mr. Kovac said. Since the store opened five months ago, businesses in town have begun to show an interest. About 90 businesses order their cartridges from Caboodle, Mrs. Kovac said. "It seems like we have more trouble with the bigger companies, just getting them to give us a try," she said. "Sometimes they're under contract or they've tried re-manufactured products before and been disappointed, but I think if they gave us a try, they'd be pleased." WHY WAIT? Find the Caboodle store nearest you NOW!
Updated Recently