Due to Epson advancing their legal clout, particularly in the US, there
are tariffs that have been added to imported 3rd party cartridges, such
that the cost makes them non-competitive. Epson claims some patents are
being violated by 3rd party manufacturers, and that has been supported
by the Courts.
One can still find some refillable cartridges around, but filled
cartridges are coming difficult to locate. Bulk inks are still
available. For those interested in easy refill cartridges, I suggest
they pick them up soon, before they also become highly tariffed.
You can refill most Epson cartridges but besides needing a chip
resetter, some cartridges are tricky to refill and require special
tools, etc.
Art
If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:
http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/