Toner Shootout: Which Warehouse Club Offers The Lowest Price On Toner?

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What is going on inside those big warehouse club stores?

BJ’s. Costco. Sam’s Club. You can’t even shop there without purchasing a membership. They offer great prices on certain products, especially if you buy in bulk, but do warehouse club stores offer true savings when it comes to printing supplies like ink and toner?

And which offers the best bargain? We hit the street to put the big three warehouse stores to the test!


Toner Blues

If you’re looking to feed your laser printer some reasonably priced toner, the warehouse stores will disappoint you. We visited three brick-and-mortar wholesale clubs in Northern New Jersey, and found:

  • Zero laser toner cartridges on the shelves at Costco.
  • Two laser toner cartridges on the shelves at BJ's—the ever-popular Brother TN-450 and TN-660.
  • Twelve laser toner cartridges on the shelves at Sam’s Club, including popular OEM cartridges by HP, Brother, and Canon.

You’re Going To Cyberspace!

BJ’s, Costco, and Sam’s Club didn’t offer much in-house stock of OEM laser toners, but did have slightly more variety on their websites.

BJ's Online carries only the most common models of Brother replacement toner— TN660 and TN450. If you own a black-and-white Brother LaserJet, you might be in luck at BJ's Online. All others, shop elsewhere.

Costco Online offers approximately a dozen different types of genuine Brother laser toner cartridges, as well as a handful of OEM toners for Lexmark and Xerox laser printers.

Costco Online also has a handful of remanufactured toner cartridges for HP laser printers; no genuine OEM HP toner here.

Sam’s Club Online offers the best selection of laser printer toners. You’ll find dozens of genuine HP toner cartridges online, as well as a modest assortment of OEM laser toner cartridges from Lexmark, Canon, and Brother.

The lesson here is clear. If you own a laser printer, you need to buy OEM replacement toner cartridges online. But online wholesale clubs offer limited savings and even less selection.

You can do better elsewhere. An account at TonerBuzz.com is free—as is ground shipping—and the price and selection on OEM laser toners can’t be beat. Feeding your laser printer means a trip to cyberspace.


The Toner Shootout

Toner Cartridge Toner Buzz BJ’s CostCo Sam’s Club
Brother TN 450 - Black 69.00 58.99
Brother TN 660 - Black 55.00 58.99
Brother TN 760 - Black 77.39 80.99
Brother TN 760 2-pack - Black 149.54 154.99
Brother TN 433 - Black 80.11 90.99
Brother TN 820 - Black 69.99 83.99
Brother TN436 - Black 84.05 88.98
Brother TN433C - Cyan 128.85 136.98
Brother TN331Y- Yellow 63.00 61.98
Brother TN650 - Black 115.00 117.98
Brother TN360 - Black 65.00 67.98
Brother TN630 - Black 44.99 39.98
Brother TN210 - Black 64.00 64.98
HP 202A - Tri-Color 227.98
HP 202X - Tri-Color 306.98
HP 202X 2-pack - Black 191.98
HP 206A - Black 67.99 68.89 68.98
HP 206A - Cyan 80.99 81.98
HP 206A - Yellow 80.99 81.89 81.98
HP 206A - Magenta 80.99 81.98
HP 410X - Black 159.00 171.98
HP 83A 2-pack - Black 135.00 139.98
HP 414X - Black 188.99 189.98
HP 410A 4-pack - Black + Color 379.00 449.98
HP 85A 2-pack - Black 139.00 150.98
HP 305A - Tri-Color 393.98
HP 85A - Black 75.00 83.98
HP 215A - Black 52.99 53.98
HP 215A - Magenta 58.99 59.98
HP 215A - Yellow 58.99 59.98
HP 215A - Cyan 58.99 59.98
HP 05A 2-pack - Black 169.89 197.98
HP 414A - Black 91.99 92.98
HP 48A - Black 54.00 54.98
HP 202A - Black 69.99 70.98
HP 30X - Black 109.00 110.98
HP 78A 2-pack - Black 159.00 174.98
HP 80X 2-pack - Black 369.00 391.98
HP 81A - Black 198.00 208.98
HP 80A - Black 119.00 126.98
HP 80A 2-pack - Black 228.98
HP 58A - Black 115.00 116.98
HP58X - Black 239.00 244.98
HP 414A - Magenta 119.99 120.98
HP 414A - Cyan 119.99 120.98
HP 414A - Yellow 119.99 120.98
HP 414X - Magenta 257.00 258.98
HP 414X - Yellow 257.00 258.98
HP 414X - Cyan 257.00 258.98
HP 89X - Black 239.00 252.98
HP 87A - Black 245.00 260.98
HP 55X 2-pack - Black 492.00 497.98
HP 26A - Black 132.00 139.98
HP 12A 2-pack - Black 142.00 174.98

Conclusions

All of the warehouse clubs fell short when it came to offering OEM supplies for laser printers. Sam’s Club had the broadest in-house selection, but even that was limited to a select number of toners from HP and Brother.

None of the warehouse clubs offered OEM supplies for other popular printer brands like Okidata, Samsung, Ricoh, Sharp, or Panasonic.

The most economical way to buy OEM printing supplies for laser printers is on the web, and TonerBuzz.com is the number one online seller of OEM toners, inks, fuser kits, drums and maintenance kits.

TonerBuzz.com is an independent dealer, not directly affiliated with any manufacturer, which frees us from the price restrictions imposed on other printing supply retailers. TonerBuzz.com for the win!

Rob Errera

Rob Errera

Rob Errera is an award-winning journalist embedded in the world of printers and printing supplies. Rob has nearly two decades of experience writing about cutting edge technology, business trends, and the ever-evolving industry of printing.

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