[mu_killnine]

Just an anecdote: my grandfather passed away a few years ago and he was always into new technology. After he passed when we were cleaning up his home we found no fewer than 11 inkjet printers in his basement.

Every time one stopped working (probably ran out of ink, or printed poorly because of long delays between printing) he would go to Best Buy, get talked up by a salesperson about a nice new printer, and buy it.

It's just incredible to see this story in action.

[bluedino]

>> he would go to Best Buy, get talked up by a salesperson about a nice new printer, and buy it.

In a past life I worked at Best Buy, and the standard printer sales tactics were nuts. If a customer wanted to buy a printer, you were supposed to sell them:

  2 packs of color ink (remind the customer that the included cartridges are only half-full)
  2 packs of black ink
  4 reams of regular paper
  2 packages of photo paper
  GOLD printer cable
  The Best Buy Service Plan, of course

[doubled112]

The GOLD printer cable used to get me.

At Staples they also told us something about better USB cables for faster, more reliable printing.

How bad does your existing USB cable need to be before it starts to cause your printing to fail? Stop running it over with your chair.

[marpstar]

Fellow former $BBY-er here... you gotta admit, the bundle pricing Best Buy ran on all of that stuff (with the purchase of a new printer, of course) made it so easy to talk them into it.

When I started I had just left commission-based sales in electronics at Sears and I was amazed at how much better Best Buy was at pushing accessories with big ticket items.

[calvinmorrison]

Best Buy has certainly felt the competition though. I went in and got a USB-C to USB-C cable for 8 bucks.

It's nice to see the market drive bad practices away through competition.

[JohnFen]

This kind of thing is one item in the long list of reasons why I stopped shopping at Best Buy.

[gonzo41]

And all 11 of those will still be in landfill when your childrens children are old and dying. It's a pity they didn't make them out of metals that could be easily recycled.

[giancarlostoro]

Just curious what metals would be affordable and durable that would not bring the cost of cheap printers up too high?

[ajford]

My dad ran a pet grooming business, and he went through probably a printer a year. I always figured it died because of the amount of pet fur in the air clogging up the printer, so at one point I asked him why he didn't put a door on the office to keep the fur out so his printer wouldn't get jammed up with pet fur.

He told me they weren't replaced because the fur killed them, it just wasn't worth replacing the inks since it was so damn expensive. It was always cheaper for him to replace the printer instead of replacing the ink, and because he never held onto a printer for much longer than a year he never bothered trying to keep it protected from the shop environment.

About the only think he ever printed was the occasional door flyer, checklists and general office paperwork, probably a single ream of paper a year at most.

[Jiro]

They sell you printers with half empty cartridges to prevent [people buying new printers for the cartridges.

[treeman79]

He may have been smart. Cost of printer with starter ink was occasionally cheaper then just getting new ink.

[mu_killnine]

Yeah, totally. He only printed things a few times a year and by then inkjets usually dry and print poorly. I don't fault him but it's interesting to these strange market forces in my life.

As an aside, my grandfather was a terrific guy. He bought a Gateway 2000 PC in the 90's and spent lots of time with me getting Sim City 2000 loaded up on it. He always had some gadget to show me since he knew how much I loved technology and he was very good at it for someone of his generation. I don't begrudge recycling 11 printers as I cleaned up his house and it always gives my dad and I a good laugh and nice memories of an important person in my life.

[goosedragons]

But incredibly wasteful. For sporadic printing it really makes the most sense to go somewhere where you can print by the page like a public library, office supply store etc. I think I've spent about $2 on printing in the past 5 years.

The most common electronics I see being thrown out these days is some shitty inkjet printer. Unlike a CRT or computer nobody wants them and so they sit by the side of the road for several days.

[Tijdreiziger]

But the starter cartridges are probably only partially filled.

[hnbear]

I got a great deal on a Canon MF743C (a pretty decent color laser multi-function). MRSP is something like $600 (but in deals can be $400).

A guy on FB marketplace was locally selling one brand new for $250 (and took $175 if I picked up same day), because his dad had one that ran out of toner so the father had just bought a new one. It actually came with the new receipts from Best Buy. Looks like BB upsold on lasers too.

Except, it's a low-end business class laser, and they last forever. This thing is great.