If you run a busy office or spend a lot of time printing at home, you'll find the printer ink cartridges for your inkjet printer running dry pretty often. And the first time you pop down to your local offices supplies vendor to buy new cartridges, you'll get a nasty shock in the form of the prices for replacement cartridges. Very often the price for a set of new black-and-white and colour cartridges will exceed the original price you paid for the printer.

Welcome to the world of the loss leader where the printer manufacturer sells the printer at cost and makes his money in selling replacement cartridges. Another factor to bear in mind is that new printers are usually sold with smaller ink cartridges. These are cheaper to produce and run out of ink faster both of which are good for the printer manufacturer's bottom line but not for yours. So is there anything you can do? Fortunately, yes.

When it comes to replacing the ink in your inkjet printers, you have a number of options. These include buying different types of cartridge, and filling them yourself. Here's a look at the pluses and minuses of each option.

Your first option is to buy replacement cartridges from the equipment manufacturer. These are also known as OEM (original equipment manufacturer) or original printer cartridge. Buying original printer cartridges is the most straightforward method and by far the most expensive. On the plus side, you'll get a standard ink cartridge in a nice box bearing the manufacturer's logo and you can be sure it will be full of premium quality ink, for example HP printer ink or Canon ink. You can also be reasonably certain you'll never have a problem with this product and the manufacturer will stand behind it. But as mentioned above, you're paying a hefty premium for this.

You next option is to get what are known as compatible ink cartridges. These are produced by third party producers under license from the printer manufacturer and to their specifications. The big difference is that they're far cheaper than the cartridges sold by the manufacturer. These are also brand new but the box won't have the original manufacturer’s logo. But what about their quality? Generally speaking, compatible printer ink cartridges give excellent results as they're produced to the manufacturer's standards. Of course they'll never be quite as good as the OEM product.

A third option is to by remanufactured inkjet cartridges. Unlike the first two options, these cartridges aren't new; they're old cartridges that have been cleaned up and refilled. These are obviously the cheapest but also the least reliable.

Finally, if you really want to save money, you could refill your cartridges yourself. You just buy bottles of ink and a syringe and get to work. This method is by far the cheapest but has a number of drawbacks. For one thing, it's a tricky and messy business. But more importantly, you'll be putting generic ink into your cartridges which can not only give inferior results but might even clog or damage your printer.

So what's the best thing to do when you're looking for cheap ink cartridges? It really depends on your needs and circumstances. If your business demands printing of the highest quality and reliability, you should bite the bullet and buy original ink cartridges. Fortunately there's a great way to get the real thing at low prices - buy your printer cartridges online.

In the UK, you'll find reputable online vendors of printer cartridges at very competitive prices. You can get Canon Inkjet Cartridges and HP Printer Cartridges for far less than you'd pay in a shop, for example. Ordering online is fast, secure and easy and your cartridges will be promptly delivered by post.

If you use your printer mainly print to print documents, then buying replacement cartridges should be perfect for your needs. Again, these are available online at far lower prices than you'd pay in the High Street. As for remanufactured cartridges and refill kits, best avoid them and save yourself a headache you really don’t need. By buying online, you can get quality products at the keenest prices.