• Select a Laser Printer That'll Work for You

• Evaluate Laser Printer Features

• Find Laser Printers on eBay

• Buy Laser Printers With Confidence

Select a Laser Printer That'll Work for You

Select a Laser Printer That'll Work for You

Laser printers can save you time and money when printing large volumes of work. Although they typically cost more than ink-jet printers, laser printers can produce more prints at faster speeds. Also, laser toner typically costs less per printed page than ink cartridges used by ink-jet printers. Popular brands of laser printers include Brother laser printers, Dell laser printers, Epson laser printers, HP laser printers, Lexmark laser printers, Minolta laser printers, Samsung laser printers, and Xerox laser printers. Choose the type of laser printer that best fits your needs.

• Black & white laser printers: Accurately reproduce precise black text with a basic monochrome laser printer.

• Colour laser printers: You can create vivid photos and graphics with a colour laser printer. Colour laser printers combine toner for cyan (blue), magenta, yellow, and black (also known as CMYK toner), to turn out colour prints. While versatile, colour laser printers often cost more than monochrome laser printers.

• Multifunction laser printers: If space is a concern in your home or office, consider an all-in-one (AIO) or multifunction laser printer, which combines the features of a scanner, fax machine, photocopier, and laser printer in one compact unit. While convenient, multifunction laser printers may not deliver the same quality as other types of laser printers.

Once you know what type of laser printer you need, find a laser printer to support everyone in your home or small office.

• Personal laser printers: Personal laser printers have a smaller print capacity than laser printers designed for network use, but make a perfect choice for individuals who print hundreds of pages daily and for small offices with less than 10 employees. If you want to network your printer, set up a print server on a dedicated computer or buy an external print server.

• Laser printers for workgroups: Network a workgroup laser printer with a print server so that the people in your workgroup can all use the same printer. They do not offer the same speeds as a network-specific laser printer.

• Network laser printers: Connect a high-speed network laser printer directly to your local area network (LAN) so that everyone in your office can use it.

Stock up on laser printer supplies

You'll find all the printer supplies and accessories you need for your laser printer on eBay. Remember to pick up plenty of premium paper or photo paper, as well as replacement black laser toner or colour laser toner. Handy printer cleaning kits, printer repair kits, and printer power supplies are also available.

Evaluate Laser Printer Features

Evaluate Laser Printer Features

Make sure the laser printer you select is compatible with your operating system. Also consider:

• Resolution: For top-quality text and images, look for higher resolution printers. Resolution is a measure of how many dots, both horizontally and vertically, that a printer produces per inch. Look for a minimum resolution of at least 600x600 dots per inch (dpi) for plain text, and 1200x600 dpi to 5760x1440 dpi for photos.

• Speed: Choose a printer that is capable of producing the number of pages per minute that you need. While listings may include a manufacturer’s product specifications, your actual printer performance will depend on the print settings you choose. In general, monochrome printers print faster than colour models. Also, higher-speed printers tend to come with higher price tags attached.

• Paper handling: Choose a printer that can handle the types of paper you want. Some models can print onto heavy stock, transparencies, and labels. Most will print text and images to letter-size paper, legal-size paper, and envelopes, depending on the print options you choose. If you plan to frequently print to different-sized paper, look into a printer with several paper trays, and note the capacity of each tray. Many laser printers feature large paper trays for high-volume jobs. High-end printers may offer multiple output trays, collators, and automatic staplers. Also, if you tend to scan or copy multiple sheets of paper, look into a multifunction printer with an automatic sheet feeder (ADF), so you don't have to feed each sheet of paper individually.

• Memory: Like your computer, printers have an onboard processor and memory. With more memory, your laser printer can handle a greater number of print jobs without experiencing errors. For the most part, your computer does a great job lining up print jobs by itself, but purchase a laser printer that supports memory upgrades if you have concerns.

• Connections: Check that the printer comes with the correct cables to connect with your computer. Printers commonly use USB 2.0, a parallel connection, or, in the case of network laser printers, a network connection. A parallel port should suffice for personal or small business needs. USB 2.0 offers high data transfer rates and allows you to connect more than one computer to the same port.

Find Laser Printers on eBay

Find Laser Printers on eBay

Once you know what type of laser printer you want, go to the Computers & Networking portal, click the Laser Printers link under Printers, and start searching for items on eBay.

• Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you narrow down your listings by brand. You'll find links for Brother, Dell, Epson, HP, Lexmark, Minolta, Samsung, Xerox, Tektronix, and Other.

• Keyword search: Search eBay listing titles for specific words. For example, if you want to find colour laser printers, type “colour laser printer" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy Laser Printers With Confidence

Buy Laser Printers With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay are not covered by eBay protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorized payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to C$1,250.

• eBay Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay's quick and efficient resolution tools.