Some of you think that once you’ve seen the company name “Hewlett-Packard” or “HP” on your printer cartridges, you’re already buying original HP. If that’s the case, then you can just pick up anything you see in the market marked with the company name HP. However, this is not the real scenario. Not all of these products are genuine – some are fake.

Why do you need to buy original HP? The answer is very simple. Genuine HP means better print quality for your printing jobs. Plus, an authentic HP product will give you more printouts over counterfeit ones.

Some news about fake HP printer cartridges

If you are not convinced that there are fake HP printer cartridges that are currently sold in the market today, perhaps these sets of information will help:

1. As reported by ZDNet UK in 2002, there were 87,000 fake HP cartridges and accessories which were seized in China. These were taken from 10 retail shops in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai.
2. In 2009, HP also reported that it seized over 818,000 fake printed cartridges in the Middle East. That is a total of $20 million for the first quarter of the said year alone. During this time, it was not only the HP printer cartridges which were counterfeited but the packaging as well.

How then will you know if HP printer cartridges are authentic?

Well, the first thing you should look into is the seal for both HP ink and toner. These two are entirely different from each other. When looking at an HP ink seal, make sure that the “OK” and “√” symbols are both moving in opposite directions when you tilt the box. If you tilt the box from right to left, you will also notice that the color changes.

As for HP toner, you should first search for its color-switching seal. After that, you can turn the box from one side to another to see that the color changes. As you move the box, you will notice that half of the seal is light blue in color while the other is dark blue in color.

Other tips on how to detect a counterfeit HP cartridge

Aside from checking on the printer toner and ink seals, you may also use the following indicators that you have a fake HP cartridge on hand:

1. Some missing parts on the packaging such as the logo and security seal. You can check the product itself if these parts are missing too. If it is, then you have a counterfeit product.
2. The product package has no color switch features.
3. You may also see some repackaging signs such as broken seals or boxes sealed with masking or scotch tapes. In line with this, a fake product also misses some outer wrappings, pallets and sub packs.
4. Very low price. Even if you are looking for savings on your HP printer cartridges, you must see to it that you’re not getting a product with a very low price. Do some comparison shopping first.
5. Poor print quality. You may only notice this once you’ve already used the product. Hence, make sure you have used the other tips mentioned above so you would be able to avoid this problem.

Despite efforts of HP to seize counterfeit products that are out in the market today, there is still reason for you to doubt if you’re getting an original HP or not. Be vigilant enough on these matters if you don’t want to put your money to waste.

Tags: hp cartridges, HP ink, HP printer cartridges, hp products, HP toners, printer cartrides | Category: Local Printer & Ink Services | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL