Printer Ink: When HP Calls You a "Bad Investment"

Why does printer ink cost so much? HP's CEO said a printer buyer who doesn't use its supplies is "a bad investment." One small HP cartridge holds about half a teaspoon of ink, and printer ink can work out to over $43,000 a gallon. Here's the business model behind it. We follow the printer ink business from the real story of the Gillette razor to chips, firmware updates, a Supreme Court case, a French criminal case against Epson, ink subscriptions, and the sentence in HP's own annual report that gives it away. 0:00 The "bad investment" 1:36 The razor myth 3:03 A very small explosion 4:55 Where the ink goes 7:02 Building the lock 9:55 The trial in France 11:16 Renting your ink 12:56 The crack in the business model 14:50 What to do in the store 15:59 Half a teaspoon at a time Allegations in lawsuits and complaints are unproven. HP denies wrongdoing in the settled cases. Epson rejects the accusations, and no verdict has been reached. Per-milliliter, bottle and gallon figures are our arithmetic from HP's US store price in November 2026 and distributor listings of about 2 ml.