Selling Toner Cartridges vs eBay — Which Actually Pays More?

You’ve got a box of unused toner cartridges sitting in the office. Sealed, original packaging, completely fine. You want to turn them into cash — and your first thought is probably eBay.

It makes sense. eBay is the default option most people reach for. But before you spend an afternoon photographing cartridges, writing listings, and waiting for bids, it’s worth doing the actual maths.

Because once you account for fees, time, packaging, and postage, the amount that lands in your bank account from an eBay sale is often significantly less than you expected.

Here’s an honest, side-by-side breakdown — so you can decide for yourself.

The eBay Route: What Actually Happens

Let’s walk through what selling toner cartridges on eBay really involves — step by step.

Step 1: Research and listing. You look up your cartridge model to find the right category and price. You photograph the cartridge from multiple angles. You write a description, add the title, set a price or starting bid, choose listing duration, and decide on shipping options. For a single cartridge, this takes 15–25 minutes. For a mixed lot of 10 different models, multiply that.

Step 2: Waiting. If you list as an auction, you wait 7–10 days for it to end — with no guarantee of a sale. If you list as Buy It Now, you might wait days or weeks for the right buyer. Toner cartridges have a specific audience, and you’re relying on that audience finding your listing among thousands of others.

Step 3: The sale — and the fees. Here’s where most people get a surprise. eBay charges a final value fee on every completed sale. As of 2025, this is typically 12.8% of the total sale amount including postage, plus a fixed fee of around 30p per order for most categories. PayPal or payment processing adds another layer of cost.

Step 4: Packaging and posting. You need to package the cartridge securely — bubble wrap, a box, tape. If you’re selling multiple different models, each needs separate packaging. Then you queue at the post office, pay for postage (which you may or may not have priced in), and hope the buyer doesn’t raise a dispute.

Step 5: Potential returns and disputes. eBay’s buyer protection is heavily weighted toward buyers. If a buyer claims the item wasn’t as described — even unreasonably — you may have to refund and cover return postage. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens.

The Real Numbers: What eBay Leaves in Your Pocket

Let’s use a specific example. Say you have an HP CF289A high-yield toner cartridge — a common enterprise laser toner. Comparable sealed units typically sell on eBay UK for around £65–£75.

Here’s what you actually keep after an eBay sale at £70:

That’s nearly £21 lost on a £70 cartridge — almost 30% gone before you’ve done anything useful with the money.

And that’s on a smooth sale with no returns, no disputes, and a buyer who pays immediately.

Now scale that up. If you have 15 cartridges to sell, you’re looking at hours of listing time, multiple post office trips, and potentially £300+ in fees and costs across the lot.

The SuperImageLTD Route: What Actually Happens

Selling directly to SuperImageLTD works quite differently.

Step 1: Fill in one form. You go to our quote page and list your cartridges — brand, model code, quantity. Attach a photo if you have one. The whole thing takes under five minutes. If you’re not sure how to find your model number, our FAQs page has a brand-by-brand guide with photos showing exactly where to look on every major brand’s packaging.

Step 2: Receive a quote — fast. We come back to you with a real offer, typically within a few hours. No waiting days for bids. No uncertainty. A specific number for your specific cartridges.

Step 3: Accept and done. If you’re happy with the offer, we arrange free collection from your location — anywhere in the UK. You don’t package anything. You don’t go to the post office. You don’t pay for shipping. We come to you.

Step 4: Get paid within 24 hours. Once we receive and check the stock, payment lands in your bank account within 24 hours via BACS transfer or PayPal. No fees deducted on your end.

Side-by-Side: The Honest Comparison

“But Can I Get More on eBay If I’m Willing to Wait?”

This is a fair question and deserves an honest answer.

For very rare, high-demand cartridge models in perfect condition, eBay might occasionally yield a marginally higher gross figure — before fees and costs. If you have a single, obscure enterprise toner that collectors are specifically hunting for, it’s possible.

But for the vast majority of standard toner cartridges — HP LaserJet, Canon i-SENSYS, Brother HL series, and similar — after fees, packaging, postage, and your time, the net amount you actually receive from eBay is consistently lower than a direct sale to SuperImageLTD.

And that assumes everything goes smoothly. One return, one dispute, or one lost parcel and eBay becomes a loss-making exercise.

For bulk lots of 5 cartridges or more, there’s no comparison at all. Listing 20 different toner models on eBay individually is a part-time job. Submitting them to us takes five minutes.

What About Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree?

These platforms avoid eBay’s fees, but they introduce their own problems.

Toner cartridges have a specific buyer pool — businesses, IT managers, and procurement teams — who aren’t browsing Gumtree. You’ll attract a much smaller audience, and the buyers you do attract are often looking to negotiate aggressively.

You also still deal with local collection logistics, no-shows, and the general unpredictability of peer-to-peer selling. For anything beyond a couple of cartridges, it’s rarely worth the effort.

Who Does SuperImageLTD Buy From?

We buy from individuals with a handful of spare cartridges all the way up to businesses clearing full stockrooms.

The most common situations we see — office managers clearing print rooms after a printer fleet upgrade, IT teams handling asset disposals, procurement departments that over-ordered, and businesses that have surplus toner in bulk following a managed print contract change.

We buy all major brands — HP, Canon, Brother, Samsung, Lexmark, Dell, Xerox, Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, and more. And we buy ink cartridges through exactly the same process.

We collect across the entire UK — London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and everywhere in between.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will SuperImageLTD match what I’d get on eBay? In most cases, when you account for eBay’s fees, postage, and packaging, the net amount you receive from us is comparable or higher. Our offers are based on current market rates for sealed unused cartridges — and everything you receive is yours, with no deductions.

What if I only have one or two cartridges — is it worth submitting? Yes. We have no minimum quantity. Whether you have one cartridge or a hundred, the process is exactly the same. Submit a quote request and we’ll come back to you with an offer.

How do I find my cartridge model number before submitting? Our FAQs page has a full brand-by-brand visual guide. Canon, HP, Brother, Dell, Lexmark, Samsung — each brand is covered with photos showing exactly where the model number appears on the box.

Do you buy cartridges from private sellers, or only businesses? Both. We regularly buy from individuals who found spare cartridges at home as well as from large businesses clearing entire stockrooms.

What if my cartridges don’t sell on eBay and I come back to you? Cartridges lose value over time as models age and stock becomes less in demand. If you want the best offer, it’s better to come to us before listing elsewhere — we always pay based on current market rates.

The Bottom Line

eBay is a general marketplace built for casual sellers who don’t mind waiting and can absorb fees. For a handful of common consumer items, it works.

For toner cartridges — especially in any quantity — it’s rarely the most efficient or most profitable route once you account for everything that comes out of the final figure.

If you want to know exactly what your cartridges are worth right now, there’s a simple way to find out. Our sell toner page has everything you need to get started — or you can go straight to the quote form and have an offer in your inbox within hours.

GET YOUR FREE QUOTE →

Or call us directly: 020 3488 0410 / 078 7263 8737

SuperImageLTD — UK’s Trusted Buyer of Unused Toner & Ink Cartridges Since 2013. Free Collection. Fast Payment. No Fees.