Frequently Asked Questions

Who does a three-cartridge order make sense for?

A department that prints steadily all quarter and would rather stock toner like paper — bought ahead, shelved, and drawn down without a fresh purchase order every time a warning lights up. Three TK897K cartridges at $296.09 cover that rhythm for one busy machine.

What is the difference between TK897 and TK897K when I am placing the order?

TK897 is the family name; the letter at the end names the color, and K is black. Order TK897K for the black position. The same code is printed on the cartridge label inside your machine, so a thirty-second look there removes any doubt before you commit.

Which machines will these three cartridges serve?

The FS-C8520MFP, FS-C8525MFP, TASKalfa 205c and TASKalfa 255 — every one of them runs the TK897K in its black slot, so a single shelf item can feed any of these models a department happens to run.

How do we rotate three cartridges so the oldest gets used first?

Write the delivery month on each box as it arrives and load from the front of the shelf, oldest first. The cartridges themselves keep well sealed, but dated boxes make the rotation automatic for whoever restocks the printer.

What if the last cartridge of the three misbehaves months after delivery?

It is protected the same as the first one was. Every cartridge in this set carries a 1-year warranty with free returns for a year, counted from purchase rather than from the day a given box is opened, and a faulty unit is handled on its own without returning the rest.

How does delivery and support work for a stock order like this?

Stock ships from our warehouses in IL, PA, GA and CA, and help is available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM CST if anything arrives damaged or a unit disappoints. Delivery windows and the return routine are spelled out on the shipping and returns page.

What does each cartridge in this three-pack effectively cost?

The set is $296.09 for three TK897K cartridges, which works out to about $98.70 per cartridge. Spread across the 12,000-page rating of each unit, that is roughly 0.82 cents per page of black printing — a useful figure when a department wants to attach a real toner cost to its monthly page counts. The arithmetic only holds at standard coverage, of course: dense, graphic-heavy pages spend toner faster and push the true per-page cost up, while plain text work keeps it near the estimate.

How far does a three-cartridge stock stretch in page terms?

Three cartridges rated at 12,000 pages each amount to a pool of about 36,000 pages of black printing across the quarter. A department can sanity-check that against its own volume: look at the machine's page counter today and again in a month, and the monthly difference tells you how many quarters a stock like this actually covers in your office. Machines printing mostly letters and reports will land near the rating; heavy coverage shortens each cartridge's run and eats the pool faster.

When should the next stock order be raised — at the last cartridge or earlier?

Earlier, as a rule. The natural trigger is the day the second cartridge of the three goes into the machine: one full TK897K is still running, one sealed unit remains, and there is comfortable time for a delivery to arrive from the warehouses in IL, PA, GA and CA before the shelf is empty. Waiting until the final cartridge is fitted turns every subsequent warning into an urgent purchase. Tying the reorder to the second fitting keeps the quarterly rhythm this pack was bought for.

How should the three empty cartridges be handled as they come out?

Empties accumulate quietly in a stock rotation like this, so give them a routine: keep each spent TK897K until its replacement has printed cleanly, then return it to its carton and move it to wherever your office collects recyclable hardware. Toner cartridges are dry inside, so a sealed empty is safe to store for a while if your collection is periodic rather than weekly. Just avoid letting unboxed empties pile up loose, where residual dust can mark shelves and paperwork.

About This Three-Pack

A quarterly stock of three compatible Kyocera-Mita TK897K black toner cartridges, $296.09, for the FS-C8520MFP, FS-C8525MFP, TASKalfa 205c and TASKalfa 255. Each cartridge is rated at 12,000 pages; date the boxes, pull the oldest first, and the department stops thinking about toner between orders. A 1-year warranty and 1-year free returns cover every unit in the set.