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Opening a shop to refill customer's own cartridges is becoming a common way to start in this business. You offer the customer a
discount for bringing in their old cartridge. There are a number of well known franchises that operate in this way, so it seems to be a good business model. Let us offer you some advice.
Problem: If you were the customer, would you want to wait around whilst your cartridge was filled? What if there are
three people in front of you?
Solution:
Don't fill the customer's actual cartridge: swap it with one you have already filled. This is quicker and more efficient for the customer and you--then you can concentrate on refilling when you are waiting for the next customer to come in. A stock of five cartridges is usually quite sufficient to start with.
Problem: How do you know if the customer's cartridge is good?
Solution: Not a problem with ink tanks, but
have printers available for all the principle foil cartridges, and try them out. If they do not work, no refilling will! They must at least try to print! You can also buy testers for cartridges, but
these can work out expensive when you are starting up.
Problem: The customer has tried to refill his own cartridge.
Solution: Be careful: they may well have
damaged the cartridge and/or used universal ink. Remanufacturing success is not guaranteed.
Problem: The customer hasn't used his printer for months.
Solution: Be careful: ink in the printhead will be
dried and difficult to remove. This will make it difficult to remanufacture.
Problem: The customer's cartridge is chipped.
Solution: Always check the date on the cartridge. You
should not refill a cartridge likely to expire before the customer finishes using it. We advise you to replace the chip in all such cartridges with a reprogrammable replacement chip to avoid problems with the
customer's printer software.
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