We’ve had numerous instances since we’ve been in business to see non oem cartridges marketed as originals by either HP or Collins Ink.  Being the most popular cartridge we sell, the HP c8842a Versatile Black is by far the most common culprit.

It used to fall primarily under the category of “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”, where the name said HP, but the pricing said “no way”.  That seems to have changed a bit, where more of the non HP cartridges are priced more similarly to an OEM HP cartridge, making it harder to tell, especially by us from here at a distance whether it is a legitimate HP cartridge or not.   Most of the time, I would guess that we don’t ever find out, because the purchase is already made before we get to look at the competition.

If you have a question about whether the cartridge you are purchasing is a legitimate OEM, please give us a call.  We try to very clearly mark on our website what cartridges are OEM (anything listed under our Hewlett Packard section) vs. remanufactured (Color Labs section).

Let me be clear, I am not knocking remanufactured cartridges, we’ve been selling them for years, and many of our customers have very good results from them.  I am disappointed in those marketing remanufactured or refilled cartridges as OEM.

Thank you for your loyalty, we appreciate it.  If you have any questions, please ask.