Exposed: The Great HP Ink Rort

Hewlett Packard the world’s largest maker of printer and printer inks is charging Australian consumers more than double, what US consumers pay for a Hewlett Packard (HP) 02 Ink Cartridge Value 6 Pack.

Back in January 2008 when the Australian dollar was hovering around the $0.85 cents to the US dollar, Officeworks was selling a Hewlett Packard (HP) 02 Ink Cartridge Value 6 Pack for $49.95.

That same HP Value Pack is now $89.96 despite the dollar rising to $0.93 last week.

In the USA Best Buy is selling the same Hewlett Packard 02 Ink Cartridge Value 6 Pack for US$39.99 or A$43.00.

Last week Hewlett Packard Australia launched a major radio and print advertising campaign in Australia, warning consumers of the perils of buying non HP ink. They have also invested millions into establishing their own ink police force in Asia in an effort to catch organisations that are manufacturing counterfeit HP ink which is selling in some Australian stores for half the price of the genuine HP inks sold at Officeworks.

HP are claiming that to avoid excess costs, spillage and waste consumers should purchase, high quality, reliable HP Original Ink & Toner Cartridges that work every time to provide the “best quality and value”.

What they don’t tell consumers is that they can buy the same ink from US web sites for half the price.

Recently Best Buy in the US said that they will now start shipping to International consumers via a US address. This allows freight Companies and third party organisations to take delivery of the Best Buy products and then on ship it to Australia.

 Research done by SmartHouse reveals that the cost of freight to Australia adds approximately $10 to the US cost of the advertised HP Ink which combined with a purchase price of $43 makes the US purchase $36 cheaper than the advertised price for HP Inks in Officeworks.

At the time of writing this story Hewlett Packard had not responded to our request for an explanation of their Australian pricing.

If you want to communicate with me on this issue send an email to dwr@4squaremedia.com