It's easy to figure...
To get you to buy it in the first place the manufacturers make them really cheaply and sell them even cheaper.
They all get their profits by selling ink cartridges for silly money. Some manufacturers even "fix" their machines so they will only work with their own cartridges - to keep the profit for themselves.
A repair will probably cost more than the device did in the first place. Take the hit and buy a new one.
Peccavi
December 2008