Counterfeit HP cartridges creating havoc

This has been happening for about five to six years now. But it's only in past two months that people have actually started feeling the heat, about the counterfeit cartridges of HP LaserJets and DeskJets that have been raiding the market for long now.

It has been discovered over a period of time that resellers--including even some of the Registered Supplies Resellers (RSRs)--are mixing counterfeit cartridges along with original HP cartridge due to which they are able to sell at ridiculously low prices, which are again much below the standard RSR landed cost.

The trend prevalent is that the 'manufacturer' opens the original packing, very neatly, takes the original cartridge out, puts in the refilled one and packs it again--as it is. No layman's eye (or even of the experienced, for that matter) can make out the difference between the two, until and unless it is operated till the skin. The original ones then are sold either without the packing or in the fake packing--with a
guarantee.

On its part, HP has issued a letter to all its RSRs and sub-distributors to refrain from such activities; has given the hint of surprise raids and severe legal action against defaulters. But by when does it see its end, is something even the company doesn't know.

The problem is basically not that refilled cartridges are sold, they were always there. The particular factor that is creating the shuffle and jumble in the market is that slowly and steadily it is spoiling the market operational price. It happens like this:

• A particular man sells 10 refilled cartridges and 100 original cartridges.
• He takes out the average cost of his entire lot--i.e. if refilled cartridge is for Rs 80 and original is for Rs 100, then his average comes to Rs 90.
• Now this man sells both the cartridges for Rs 90, which obviously gets compensated.
• On the contrary, the original ones are available at Rs 100 with everybody else and selling anything below this price is a loss.

Even if he plans to cut down on price, he can for sure not go to as low as Rs 90. As explained AK Pandey, MD, Miraj Marketing, "I can lower down the margin that HP is giving me by two percent or maximum three percent, but definitely not 10 percent. Prices are already so ridiculous. By continuing selling at these, we are actually fiddling with the Rs 200 crore industry, which would not sustain this kind of things for long."

The 'credit' for this mishappening can be given to the huge and voluminous promotional schemes by these principals. Of course the 'A' factor is the bad shape of the economy. Principals come out with lucrative promotional schemes off and on to induce dealers to pick up material. All the dealers are tempted to buy more, which eventually becomes a problem to get over with. Here comes in the cut-throat competition in the price. All try to beat each other. Then somebody comes up with this idea of mixing the counterfeits and 'disposing' them off in mixed bunches and liquidate the price that they should actually get.