In September 2021 a reviewer wrote that she could get a product for eight times cheaper online. She sent us a picture of the product. The problem was the new product was not the same specification as ours and so she was not comparing like for like. The picture did have two red flags which she failed to pick up on.
The first was the number of impressions. The new cartridge only had a fraction of the impressions meaning instead of getting a cartridge eight times cheaper she was actually now paying more per impression.
The second red flag was the stock movement. Despite the cost and the lower impressions the site was selling less than three units per month. Not only does this bring into question the quality of the product (why is nobody reordering) it also means that the current stock is several years old from before the Covid-19 pandemic and looks like it will be another 12 months at least before the stock is replenished. The older the stock the more likely it is going to cause a problem for your machine.
This is something we have seen with non-specialist websites. We can see not only are some sites still holding stock for machines decommissioned in 2022 but some are still holding stock for machines that were decommissioned in the 2010s when the switch from red to blue ink was made. The problem is franking consumables is not their area of expertise. You need to have peace of mind if something goes wrong.
Although the online market is only small and franking machine consumables are still dominated by the Franking Corporations using scare tactics we have seen many users trying online stock and ending up with large repair bills. The largest we have seen is several thousand pounds.
Not all compatibles are the same. Although aesthetically some cartridges look similar the main cost of manufacturing a cartridge is the ink itself. The ink is a specialist product that must dry quickly on different types of media. This has become much more important now that the franking machines print QR codes. These need to be crisp and clear otherwise you can begin to have problems with your post. Low users might not be aware of this straight away.
Since 1994 we have developed our products so that it is a viable alternative to the machine manufacturers. Many of the online compatibles are targeted at low volume users who probably do not need a franking machines. These type of compatibles are just not good enough for our customers. The mailroom must run smoothly without interruption. We are so confident in our products that we offer a full guarantee that ensures that our customers are given peace of mind.