There are a lot of things that change when you become an independent operator that I have learned over the past year since I’ve had my own authority. One that wasn’t obvious at first was the fact that I would be printing a lot more stuff in the home office. Whether it was printing receipts for business expenses paid online or having to invoice multiple loads and customers every day, my business printing seems to have tripled since I attained my own motor carrier authority. Being a self-proclaimed Costco junkie, I found myself buying 3-packs of ink for my printer there just about every other month it seemed. I would receive in those packs two black cartridges and only one color. I know that the reasoning behind this is that most people, myself included, do more black printing on average than color. This being so, I still found myself having to buy bulk packs I didn’t necessarily need all of at the time, which led me to another money saving option offered by Costco…inkjet refills!
Always leery of trying to use the take-home refill kits offered at your typical office supply stores and online, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that you could drop off your empty cartridges and have them refilled by a professional in their photo center. The added fact that it could usually be completed in the time it takes for me to wander around and gather up snacks on “Sample Saturday” was definitely an added bonus! Now, instead of a single use throw away expendable item, I have managed to save a collection of cartridges that I can have refilled over and over at a fraction of the cost of buying new.
One thing to remember when thinking about using inkjet refills is to maintain the cartridge to be refilled in good condition prior to taking it in. If left sitting empty for too long, the cartridge can dry out, rendering it unsatisfactory for proper refilling. Using the original packaging tray to store the spent cartridge, with tape to hold it closed, can be a good 
temporary storage method until you can get it in to refill. An even better method I have developed to maintain cartridge integrity, is using the covering clips that Costco returns the cartridges in when refilled to keep them sealed while awaiting return to the store for another round. These little black clips are cushioned and provide a seal to the cartridge that helps prevent them from drying out.
One downfall about using inkjet refills is that some printers don’t recognize them as full when inserted into the printer itself. Although it is full, the sensors can’t be reset that tell the printer a new cartridge has been inserted on some models. On my Canon printer, one way around this is to hold the “stop” button on the printer until it basically ignores the 
“ink level” programming. At that point normal printing will can again. Unfortunately, I only know when I am running out of ink by paying attention to the print quality, but it is easy to spot the streaking that indicates when I am running low. Costco recommends visiting www.Inkjet411.com for individual printer recommendations for aiding in compatibility issues.
Given the minor trouble of using refills instead of new cartridges, the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion. There is not risk to the printer itself and it does not void or impact your printer’s warranty. I happen to get the same print quality and comparable number of sheets until empty that a standard new cartridge used to get me. Being that they are easily refillable at a reasonable price makes them a smart business choice in my opinion for anyone printing from their home, home office, or even on the road.