posted on December 29, 2009 09:24:14 AM new
I have to admit, I knew it was coming. I warned my business partner about it months ago. I even predicted it would change at the first of the year.
Office Max has been giving $3 per ink cartridge recycled (up to 10 a week) in Max Perks Rewards. That meant I was recycling $30 a week for 3 business accounts... or $90 a week. Every month I would get a rewards card of $120-$150 per account to buy everything and anything at Office Max.
We bought office equipment, printers, cameras, GPS system, paper, television, etc for practically nothing.
We even bought empty cartridges off of ebay for about 50 cents a cartridge and then recycled them at our local Office Max.
Well, they're changing it now. You can recycle up to $60 a month, but the reward will only match the amount you spend on non-tech purchases.
I really can't blame Office Max as this was a real loss for them. We probably earned $3500-4000 in rewards this year without spending much money at their stores. I heard many employees talk about seeing the same person daily with different cards coming in. They would recycle $30 per card and have 10 membership ids. We never did that, just kept it to the 3 people we have.
The other office supply stores have similar programs, but clamped down on the restrictions last year. It was inevitable that Office Max followed the same path.
posted on December 29, 2009 11:36:48 AM new
When people abuse something good, it gets taken away. I've no doubt that you didn't mean to abuse it, but what you did is part of the problem. If it continued, it may have caused an even bigger problem for Office Max. There are very few of Office Maxes even left where I live. Buying the cartridges off eBay to take to Office Max for recycling is cheating in a way.
I'm not trying to sound mean or anything so please don't take it that way. Just pointing out that your practices also contributed to the change Office Max had to make. The same thing happened with Staples although their rewards program for buying certain items there is still pretty good.
I recycle my cartridges and get nothing in return for doing so. I do it because it makes me feel good to do it.
posted on December 29, 2009 04:45:25 PM new
Years ago someone posted on this board what he did with his scanner.He used his scanner every day for like 10-12 hours a day .
He will buy the scanner at Bestbuy and after a few months it is no good, he would return it and get a new one,and months later it wears out and he will get another one from Bestbuy.
Later he will buy from one Bestbuy store and return it to another Bestbuy store .
I dont know if he is still doing it now,but Bestbuy does keep track of what we buy,so I am sure they will notice this pattern of buying and returning and getting a new replacement free.
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
[ edited by hwahwa on Dec 29, 2009 04:48 PM ]
posted on December 29, 2009 04:49:57 PM new
i guess i look at it from a business point of view. there are businesses that collect items to recycle. some take those things and recycle them into something useful through their own business. some businesses acquire items and then sell them to another business who then in turn recycles the item into something else and then sells it.
there is a company here in Portland that buys and sells recycled boxes, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, etc. i don't question where they bought or acquired their stock of recycled goods. i'm happy they are here for me to find these items.
office max rules were quite simple. bring in 10 cartridges a week, receive $30 a week in office max perks. there were no rules about how you acquire the cartridges.
to be quite honest with you, office max makes money on those cartridges. they refill them and sell them for almost $30 each. who in their right mind would turn away at least a 900% markup? if they pay $3 a cartridge and 50 cents in ink costs to fill them... they make huge profits. office max markets these cartridges pretty hard against the companies that make the oem cartridges that they also sell.
i know you think it may be abuse, but office max could have ended their policies long ago if it wasn't to their benefit. they obviously did it for a reason. at this point they likely acquired a vast collection of empty cartridges that they can now maintain their inventory at a steady pace.
i should add, one of the new policies also allows people to recycle many more oem brands than before. it used to be only hp, lexmark, and epson.
i think office max got exactly what they wanted. they did what auctionwatch did to us. they got people into their store, using their business, and now they are retracting the "great deal" in hopes that their customers will stay. some did, some didn't.
posted on December 29, 2009 05:49:51 PM new
I buy generic brand cartridge online,off hand I dont recall how much I paid for them,probably in the teens but no where did I pay 30 dollars.
As for Office Max taking in and recyling used cartridges,I doubt if they resell them at 30 dollars per pop.
They could have sold to some companies which fill them with ink and sell them cheap,but the logistics of rounding up these cartridges from each store and ship them to some central location and assigning someone to man the whole process is just not worth the money,it is probably more of a marketing scheme to entice their customers to keep coming back.
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on December 29, 2009 06:10:45 PM new
i asked one of their guys one time. they actually do have a central recycling center. they even allowed people to ship directly to their recycling center allowing them to recycle up to 100 cartridges at a time or month (I can't remember which), but for only $1 each.
i just checked officemax.com and found a twin pack of officemax brand cartridges for an hp at $60.99. it had one black and one color cartridge. it just depends on what you buy. i've seen black $10-25, and color around $15-30.
i don't like using aftermarkets on my lexmark b/c they don't read the ink levels. it bugs me when i run out of ink in the middle of something and don't have it on hand.
posted on December 30, 2009 02:44:41 PM new
Shag, Have you considered a printer that uses refillable toner cartridges. They are much cheaper/print and any print head returns are not necessary. Ink Jet technology is convenient but very expensive. Your situation sounds like a small commercial laser printer may be your best option.
posted on December 30, 2009 05:10:43 PM new
No,her best option is for Office Max to reinstate the policy so she can buy cartridge for 50 cents on Ebay and trade them in for PC,printers,TV etc.
May be even a DIAMOND TIARA once worn by Queen Victoria!
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
