Pros and Cons
The main benefit of using a refill kit is the savings. The average price for these kits is $10–$20 and they usually yield about three refills. Based on that, a person could be getting a new cartridge for about $5, versus the $25–30 they would pay at the store for a new one. There is also the environmental benefit, as you are reusing a cartridge that would have otherwise been thrown away after one use.
The downside to refill is the time associated with it and the unpredictability. Refilling a cartridge can take 10–15 minutes for those unfamiliar with the process, and some may prefer buying a new cartridge to the effort it takes to refill. Also, ink cartridges usually last for 4-5 refills, but there are those that can only be refilled one time before they are worn out.
The biggest perceived downside to refilling is the mess associated with it. Many consumers shy away from refilling either based on past experiences or stories they have heard. Many of the unsuccessful refill kits of the past were so-called "universal" kits, meaning they were designed for use with multiple cartridges. Because all manufacturers use different types of ink, and because different cartridge designs require different refilling processes, these universal kits had a high failure rate. Today these kits are harder to find, as refill kits made for specific cartridges have become more the norm, but perception that all refill kits are messy still remains.
The main reason for the decline in refill kits is the emergence of large chains of ink stores that offer a refill process. This is similar to the evolution of the automobile oil change. Just as cars became too complex for the average driver to change oil, the new cartridges have also become too complex for the average consumer to do it by themselves.
Inkjet refill kits are available in different sizes and with different grades of ink. In the US, popular brands of inkjet refill kits include Uni-Kit, Jettec as well as others.
Read more about this topic: Inkjet Refill Kit
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“Quite generally, the familiar, just because it is familiar, is not cognitively understood. The commonest way in which we deceive either ourselves or others about understanding is by assuming something as familiar, and accepting it on that account; with all its pros and cons, such knowing never gets anywhere, and it knows not why.... The analysis of an idea, as it used to be carried out, was, in fact, nothing else than ridding it of the form in which it had become familiar.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)