Up until a few years ago, consumers had very little interest in ink other than refills for their pens. Fountain pens became a novelty as the disposable ball point pen took over the market. The introduction of home computing led to home printing. Today, in developed nations, most residences and businesses have a printing capability. As a result, buying ink in the form of a printer cartridge has once again become a part of the day-to-day shopping experience, similar to buying a bottle of ink fifty years ago.

Ink refilling services for printer cartridges are offered by large, official printing companies as well as smaller, “unofficial” refill companies. Customers can often cut printing costs by using refill services from a refill company, or buying the new non-OEM (original equipment manufacturer) brands instead of refilling. The refilling of ink cartridges and the use of continuous ink supply systems for inkjet printers is very common in most countries, with the exception of the United States. As printer manufacturers control to a great extent, the type of competition that they allow on retail shelves, devices to ease the use of refill inks is usually only available online.

Originally the term “stationery” referred to all products sold by a stationer, whose name indicates that his book shop was on a fixed spot, usually near a university, and permanent, while medieval trading was mainly ambulant, by peddlers (including chapmen, who sold books) and others (such as farmers and craftsmen) at non-permanent markets such as fairs. It was a special term used between the 13th and 15th centuries in the manuscript culture.

Though decreasingly popular in western culture, stationery has been an important part of good social etiquette, particularly since the Victorian era. Some usages of stationery, such as sending a manufactured reply card to a wedding invitation, has changed from offensive to appropriate. Many of these social guidelines may have been defined by the manufacturers of stationery products themselves, such as “Crane’s Blue Book of Stationery” showing so much influence by Crane & Co. that the company name is included in the title.

The usage and marketing of stationery is a niche industry that is increasingly threatened by electronic media. As stationery is intrinsically linked to paper and the process of written, personalized communication, many techniques of stationery manufacture are employed, of varying desirability and expense. The most familiar of these techniques are letterpress printing, embossing, engraving, and thermographic printing (often confused with thermography). Flat printing and offset printing are regularly used, particularly for low cost or informal needs.