I recently needed to replace the ink on my HP inkjet printer. Four little name-brand HP cartridges of yellow, blue, red and black cost me $123.
Ounce for ounce, that’s more than the price of Dom Pérignon champagne. Yet the actual ink in each cartridge likely cost about $2 to manufacture, industry insiders tell me. Americans are wasting some $10 billion each year on name-brand ink they could have refilled for less, according to the Public Interest Research Group.