Ink price per litre: sample of 20 Epson cartridges

Conceptual illustration generated with AI. The objects are not photographs of the products in the table nor proof of a measurement.

A cartridge fits in the palm of your hand and its price seems manageable. Dividing that amount by the few millilitres inside changes the scale entirely. We calculated this using references identified by their full product code, without ranking them by popularity. You can review the data, open the sources, and repeat every step.

The sample includes Epson 29, 603, and 604 cartridges, including XL formats. These are genuine original products sold by Epson Spain, not the compatible cartridges sold by Startoner. We chose these families because the manufacturer publishes product code, price, and fill volume together. It is a verifiable single-brand selection, not an overall market study or quality ranking.

What we compared and on what date

Prices reflect catalog observations on 2 October 2026. They represent single-cartridge purchase prices including Spanish VAT, excluding shipping. All references shown carried a 15% promotion, advertised until 11 October 2026, with a maximum of three units per product and order. The table uses the displayed current price, not the crossed-out reference price. For example, 33.29 € is the visible price for the 604XL black. We do not apply an additional 15% or assume extra checkout discounts. Full terms are on each linked product page.

The price snapshot has a practical expiration date: a store can change its pricing or inventory. The CSV also preserves the reference price, the VAT note, and the promotion so you do not compare a discount with a different tariff unintentionally. We did not check the checkout. An advertised price does not equal a completed purchase or ensure delivery totals for any address. Before publishing or using this table to purchase, prices and offer validity should be rechecked.

The table: 20 references with SKU and millilitres

Each row links to the official product page supporting the price and volume. Colours are handled separately because they carry distinct product codes. We did not divide multipack prices across items or assume that all cartridges in a family share the same volume.

The lowest value in this selection corresponds to Epson 29 black and the highest to standard black 603 and 604. That range exclusively describes the rows above. It does not prove what 'ink' costs in general: other brands, retailers, refill bottles, and printing systems are absent.

Champagne and whisky: the comparison we can make

To provide scale, we selected two specific products from La Cave Gillet, a Spanish merchant that explicitly notes 'VAT included'. Both are sold in gift boxes. We preserve that presentation in the product name because a bottle without a box or in a different size could carry a different price. Shipping is also excluded from this comparison, consulted on the same date.

At these prices, the cartridge range equals approximately 44 to 63 times the price per litre of the selected Moët & Chandon. This is a comparison between packaged retail goods. It does not claim that all ink is more expensive than any champagne, nor that this retailer offers the lowest price. Changing the reference bottle changes the multiple.

The visual difference helps in understanding the scale of a tiny container. It does not make these liquids substitutes, nor does it explain manufacturing costs, vendor margins, or print quality. Nor would it be rigorous to mix this Spanish table with perfume from another country, an outdated offer, or tax-exclusive pricing.

How to convert cartridge price to euros per litre

The calculation uses the full cartridge price. Therefore, the result includes the container and everything purchased alongside the ink. It is not a quote for bulk liquid per litre nor an estimate of chemical production costs. We round to two decimal places at the end; we do not use pre-rounded per-millilitre figures from other pages.

In the download, the column delimiter is a semicolon and the decimal separator is a dot. Select these options if your spreadsheet program does not recognize numbers on import. You will find input values, formulas, and results, plus per-row sources. You can substitute price and volume locally in your spreadsheet without sending data to any external server.

Why the cheapest cartridge per litre can mislead you

There is an example within the table itself. The standard 604 cyan costs 3,745.83 €/l. The 604XL cyan ^[18] costs 4,495.00 €/l. Looking only at that column, the standard version appears preferable. However, manufacturer specifications declare 130 pages for the former and 350 for the latter.

Dividing the price by that declared yield, the cyan cartridge contribution is about 6.92 cents per page for the standard cartridge and 5.14 cents for the XL. The order is reversed. These are calculations based on manufacturer specifications, not pages printed by us. And they are not the total cost of a colour page: additional cartridges must be factored in.

Do not simply add cyan, magenta, and yellow yields together. Comparing full systems requires matching document types and testing methods. Our guide on printing cost per page explains how to extend this calculation to your personal budget.

Fill millilitres and usable pages are not the same thing

Epson explains ^[23] that declared volume represents factory fill and advises against using it as the sole criterion to compare printing systems. It also notes that printhead cleaning consumes ink and residual ink may remain. We have not measured these quantities or applied arbitrary corrections.

The manufacturer determines cartridge yield using continuous printing and ISO/IEC 24711 and ISO/IEC 24712 test patterns. For interpreting this data, see also how many pages does a cartridge print. Treating a declared yield as an exact guarantee for individual print jobs would imply a degree of precision this comparison does not possess.

How to use this data before purchasing

Start with the correct SKU for your printer. A price difference is useless if the cartridge does not fit your machine. Then check whether you are looking at standard, XL, a single unit, or a multipack. The guide to choosing ink cartridges helps sort out these differences before comparing prices.

Note the final price including tax and delivery. Find the declared yield for that exact SKU, and compare cost per page only under matching test conditions. If you are considering changing printer types, factor in printer hardware costs: the article ink tank or cartridges: do the math covers that broader decision.

Startoner sells compatible ink cartridges. You can check alternatives for your printer, but this table does not prove savings or performance for compatible products: it does not include a direct comparison. Transparency requires identical criteria for price, capacity, reference, and evidence.

What you can conclude, and what is missing

In this sample, normalizing purchase prices by volume reveals a substantial difference compared to two specific luxury beverages. The table is reusable precisely because it maintains its boundaries: one brand, three families, one ink seller, one date, and one promotional offer. We do not know national averages, model sales volumes, or your household print budget.

If you quote this study, preserve the date and the wording 'cartridge price per equivalent litre'. If you are buying, update current prices and factor in yield. The practical question does not end at what a litre costs: it continues with what you will pay for the pages you print.