LaserMonks

A few years ago, I worked for a company that needed to get a lot of information into a database. This meant hiring people to read the material, understand it, and type it all into the right places on a form. Where did we finally go? To a convent that earned money by doing information processing for dotcoms and other companies.

I couldn't help being reminded of that when I saw the Web site for LaserMonks, which is run by a monastery that is part of the Cistercian Order. They sell new compatible cartridges or remanufactured cartridges for a variety of printers. According to their site, they got the idea when their Steward of Temporal Affairs realized that (a) the markup on printer cartridges was incredible, and (b) the abbey needed a new way to generate income.

I checked out a few cartridge prices and was pretty impressed. For example, a black cartridge for the Epson Stylus C40UX costs $16.19 at Staples; the listed price at LaserMonks is $4.95. Even with the base shipping price of $4.95, it's not a bad deal.

And let's face at -- at how many Web sites can you simultaneously shop for printer cartridges and request a prayer?