Updated March 23, 2026 - MIN READ
Stop overpaying for printer ink and toner. Here’s the plain-English guide to choosing the right cartridge for your printer (and your wallet).
Printing is a bit like owning a boat. The purchase price is just the entry fee. The real cost quietly piles up… one "low ink" warning at a time.
When it’s time to replace your cartridges, you usually face a choice: OEM (genuine manufacturer cartridges) or third-party cartridges (compatibles or remanufactured options). So, which do you buy?
Most Kiwis don't want to become cartridge experts. You just want the printer to work, the page to look decent, and to avoid feeling like you've accidentally signed up for a subscription to "surprise expenses."
Here is the simple way to choose, without overthinking it.
⏱️ Quick Takeaway (Read This First)
Compatibles
Best value for everyday printing (home, school, office admin).
OEM (Genuine)
Best for colour-critical work and guaranteed "factory standard" reliability.
Remanufactured
The eco-friendly middle ground (reuses the original shell).
The Golden Rule
Pick one system per printer (all OEM or all compatible) to avoid messy troubleshooting.
Worth knowing: Good Egg sells OEM (genuine), compatible, and remanufactured cartridges. So we’re not here to push one option over another. We’re here to help you buy what makes sense for how you print.
What Do These Terms Actually Mean?
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
These are the genuine brand cartridges made by your printer manufacturer (HP, Brother, Canon, Epson, etc). They're built specifically for your printer model and usually offer the smoothest "plug and play" experience.
Compatibles
These are brand-new cartridges made by a third-party manufacturer to fit your printer. They're designed to work just like the originals, minus the brand name on the box - and minus the premium price tag.
Remanufactured
These start life as genuine cartridges. They are collected, cleaned, refilled with ink or toner, fitted with replacement parts where needed, and rigorously tested. Arguably, these are the most eco-friendly option.
The Main Differences
1) Price
This is the big one. OEM cartridges bake research, development, marketing, and hefty brand margins into their price. Compatibles don't carry those massive overheads.
The result? You could save up to 70% by switching to compatibles.
If your household or office treats the printer like a public utility, those savings add up fast.
(Reality check: Cheap is only a win if it works. Buying from mystery websites with zero support is where problems start).
2) Print Quality
OEM is the safest bet for guaranteed consistency. But for standard documents (invoices, schoolwork, forms, shipping labels), the difference between OEM and a high-quality compatible is usually impossible to spot.
3) Warranty & Reliability (The "Fear Factor")
Big printer brands love to imply that using non-genuine cartridges will void your warranty. In New Zealand, that's heavily overstated. Under NZ consumer law, using compatibles doesn't automatically void your right to a repair if the printer has a factory fault (like a failed Wi-Fi module).
If you want the deeper (plain-English) breakdown, read: Will Using Third-Party Ink Void My Printer Warranty?
The Real World Comparison
Feature | OEM | Compatible | Remanufactured |
|---|---|---|---|
Price | Highest | Much lower | Low - Mid |
Everyday Text | Excellent | Very good | Very good |
Colour / Photos | Best | Good, but can vary | Good, but can vary |
Reliability | Smoothest "handshake" | Occasional chip quirks | Occasional chip quirks |
Sustainability | Depends on recycling | Lower (new shell) | Strong (reuses original shell) |
Which One Should You Buy?
Why Compatibles Make Sense (And Who They're For)
If you're printing invoices, school worksheets, shipping labels, and the occasional "why is this a PDF?" document… you are in the sweet spot for compatibles.
The Busy Household: Perfect for assignments, web pages, and general documents where value and convenience rule.
The Small Office: Keep admin costs under control while still producing clean, professional quotes and invoices.
The "Always Run Out at the Worst Time" Printer: Because they cost so much less, it's painless to keep a spare set in the drawer to prevent late-night homework panic.
When OEM Is Worth Paying For
OEM isn’t "bad value" - it’s simply a premium product for specific needs. It's the safer pick for:
The Photographer & Designer: You need colour-critical, client-ready images and exact brand colour matching.
The "It Must Be Perfect" Office: You need high-stakes, archival-quality documents with maximum longevity.
The Fussy Printer Owner: Your specific printer model has a history of throwing tantrums over third-party chips or firmware updates.
🚨 PRO TIP: Don't Mix Cartridge Types
If you remember one tip from this guide, make it this: stick with one cartridge "system" per printer. Use all OEM or all compatibles. Mixing different formulas won't break your printer, but it can make colours muddy and turn troubleshooting into a guessing game. Pick a lane and stick to it!
The Trade-Offs to Know Up Front
- Quality varies by supplier: Some compatibles are excellent; others are cheaply made and prone to leaking or fading. A reputable supplier like Good Egg filters out the low-quality options for you.
- Firmware updates can be annoying: Some manufacturers push firmware updates that can block non-genuine cartridge chips. Often you gain nothing, but you lose compatibility. Annoying, but true.
Recommendation: If you plan to use compatibles (especially HP), consider turning off automatic firmware updates. Update manually after checking what’s changing (and after confirming your cartridge setup is likely to stay compatible). See our Guide: How to Turn Off Automatic Firmware Updates on HP Printers
No-Stress Printing, Backed by Kiwis
Buying printer cartridges online shouldn't feel like a gamble. At Good Egg, we take the stress out of the process:
Curated Options: We rigorously test our suppliers. We only stock compatibles made for specific models, not "close enough" guesses.
Clear Guidance: Match by your exact printer model to eliminate second-guessing.
Local NZ Support: If a cartridge doesn't play nice with your printer, our NZ-based team will sort it out fast. No bots, no endless runarounds.
FAQ
Most of the time, no - as long as they are the right match for your model and come from a reputable supplier. The real risk lies in buying unknown-quality cartridges from random sources.
Printers often show prompts when they detect a non-OEM cartridge. Usually, it's just a warning you can click past. If it simply won't recognise the cartridge, reseat it and try again. If it still won't play ball, contact us and we'll help.
Sometimes. It depends on how the printer reads the third-party chip. Even when ink levels aren't perfectly displayed, the cartridge usually prints fine.
For casual photos to stick on the fridge, compatibles are perfectly fine. For colour-accurate, professional client work, stick to OEM.
If you rely on compatibles, turning off automatic updates reduces the risk of a surprise compatibility block. However, printers also get security fixes this way. The best approach: turn off auto-updates, read what the update fixes, and update manually when you're comfortable.