Since I've seen this many times before, I would be willing to pet you were buying "cheap" inkjet printers. By "cheap" I mean they take ink cartridges. Never ev

Since I've seen this many times before, I would be willing to pet you were buying "cheap" inkjet printers. By "cheap" I mean they take ink cartridges. Never ever ever buy a cartridge inkjet printer. instead buy a tank printer (eg Epson Eco-Tank). They are more expensive. You fill up the ink from a bottle. Cartridge printers are sold at a loss and designed to make a profit from the cartridges. This is why printer manufacturers are constantly fighting third-party cartridges with unnecessary firmware "upgrades". Additionally, the printer will use some of that ink to clean the printer heads so the printer will run out of ink even if you don't print anything. Also, retail printers are typically sold with less-than-full ink cartridges. It's a good example of how consumers buy based on price rather than value. But don't confuse cartridge vs tank inkjet printers. They're completely different beasts.