What's In This "Description" section:
I put a lot more information into my listings than most other vendors do. I do this to let buyers make a fully informed decision about buying what I sell, by providing the amount of detail that I, after buying as well as selling on for over 20 years, would want to see. During that time I've seen my share of sellers, whether on purpose or not, being less transparent and detailed than I try to be, but I'd rather risk losing a sale by my approach of honest and full disclosure, than have an unhappy buyer who made assumptions based on incomplete information.
Here's a quick summary of what you'll see:

• What's being sold and what the title means when not enough room is allowed by for 100% clarity
• Information about dating of the product
• Things you need to know if comparison shopping to avoid being fooled or making mistakes
• Condition of what's being sold (including specific, non "stock", photos of what's for sale)
• Shipping information (cost; speed options; "free local pickup" terms; how soon will we ship after Title:New Sealed Genuine Lexmark 11A3540 replaces 1040930 Re-Inking Ribbon 2300 2400
  Notes on Listing Title:
  11A3540 replaces 1040930means that this Lexmark product replaces an earlier Lexmark product that worked with the same model Lexmark and IBM branded printers.2300 2400refers to the series of Lexmark and IBM branded Printer models these ribbons work with. For a more complete list see the listing photos which will show all the sub-models these ribbons work with, or see the information below.
  Lexmark Branded:
  2480 2481 2490 2491 2380 2381 2390 2391
  IBM Branded (before IBM spun off its printer operations under the Lexmark label):
  2380 2381 2390 2391
  I used to buy and sell the above series of printers, which I most often saw being used in the hospitality industry (e.g. restaurants).
  Nothing Hidden From Buyers (the way some other vendors do)
  If you do some comparison shopping for this or other ink and toner and related supplies on , you'll often see them "out of box", meaning that they are at best offered sealed inside their inner sealed bag only, rather than still additionally packaged in a sealed (as we do here) or even opened retail box with a bag-sealed or tray-sealed product inside the retail box. Here are some reasons for this, that buyers of such products should know before buying:
  a. The seller doesn't want you to know how old the product is, so even if they obtained it in a sealed or opened retail box that showed what could have been a date as far as 10 or more years into the past, they've ditched the box. So they sell an item as "New" (simply because it's never actually been used) that could be over 10 years past its "expiration" or "Use by" or "warranty ends" date in a way intended to fool the buyer into thinking they're buying fresh stock, by simply calling the item "New". "New" such an "old" product would technically be; but sure to work as well and as long as freshly made stock, maybe not so much. And beware of the many listings that show photos that either skip the area that might show some date information, or use low contrast, low light, or other tricks to in effect "mask off" any date information that might otherwise be seen by a buyer in the listing photos. I don't think that's honest. I hope you feel the same way, so will appreciate that I don't play those games with my customers. I do tell buyers what I know about things like a "warranty end" date; many others, whether on purpose or otherwise, don't.
  b. The seller wants to save a little money on shipping (especially in "Free Shipping" listings), so they pull the sealed cartridge out of its sealed or opened box and then sell the product to you as either "New" (which is against rules for products originally sold boxed) or "Open Box". By shipping an item without its full packaging, they end up with a lighter weight, and physically smaller, item to ship, both of which can result in a lower shipping cost for the seller. But whether or not the seller is playing the "game" disclosed in "a" above, you end up with the same problem: You have no idea how old the product you are buying might be. And as mentioned above, I don't sell ink or related products on that way.
  c. The original retail box might show severe damage or other signs of "abuse" that might make you think twice about buying such a product. Once again, I don't deny this information to a buyer; in fact, if I sell a product with more than the slightest "shelf wear" I'll always include close up photos highlighting such defects, rather than hide behind the generalities many other sellers use, or disclaimers that stock photos are being used so the product you'd get "may not look exactly like" the one(s) in the listing photos. I've even seen "stock" photos that aren't even of the specific item being sold!
  I'm just doing the best I can to try to "level the playing field" here, by asking you to be a smart, informed, shopper, and be aware of the tricks some other sellers may try to play on you as a buyer, by using the information I'm sharing with you here.
  Source, Condition and Photos:
  Brand new and sealed. All these are mint condition or nearly so.
  There is no "date" information on any of these boxes other than a copyright date of 2000. If they never changed the design and printing on the boxes, the 2000 copyright would still be current. I've worked with cloth dot matrix style printing ribbons before, and as long as they're still inside their original sealed plastic internal bag packaging, these should all print close to, if not fully as much as, they would have printed had they been produced in, for example, 2023.
  I am also separately selling some Lexmark branded printer ribbons, Model that work with all of the above printers, plus additional later models in the 2500 and 2500+ series of Lexmark printers.
  No hand written marks on the boxes. No inventory, routing, shipping or other label, or document pouch, added to the boxes. No holes or deep dents punched in the box, or rips in the paper. In other words, pretty nice looking! I have provided many photos, including close-ups of shelf-worn areas, so that you won't be surprised when you get this item. No "stock photos" used here!
  As with much of the toners and ink cartridges and related items that we sell, we obtained the inks, toners, and printing ribbons (yes, there is still a market for those!) that we are listing during the month of September 2023 and possibly beyond, from a governmental agency's surplus department. As a government agency's printing equipment is replaced for various reasons, agencies often end up with surplus supplies that they no longer need. To offset government expenses, surplus agencies may sell off such surplus supplies. I buy such surplus items and then resell them on . So this is not some random "dumpster find" or anything like that.
  See photos. You will note that we have positioned any product offered through this listing to give you multiple views of the exterior of the retail package, as best we could within the number of photos allows a seller to include in a listing, to let you have a good look at each surface. Please note that the order in which I show photos of products being sold here is not in any kind of "best to worst" order, but be assured that if there is a significant difference between any of the products being sold in any of my listings where I'm selling more than one of a given product, I'll show the "least best" one first.
  Please note also that in a listing where there are 2 or 3 or more same description items listed, in overall similar condition but with enough differences that it's better that I show more than photos of just one "model" for listing photographs, I'll always include photos of whichever one looks slightly worse than the other one, to avoid any buyer feeling they were misled by the first photo which is also always the "Gallery" photo they'll see during searches. If 2 such items are listed, my listings' general rule here is: the first 12 photos will be of one of the pair, the remaining 12 the other of the pair; and if 3 such items are listed, each item will be displayed in 8 photos. On occasion, if any items in a multi-item listing are in much different condition than at least 1 of the others, I may devote more photos to the one with more "issues", than to the nicer-looking ones.
  As for overall condition, each ribbon offered through this listing is clearly never opened brand new genuine Lexmark stock. All the photos shown in this listing are of a single ribbon, in its original Lexmark box, in its original sealed clear bag inside of that box. I also show a few examples of one of those ribbons removed temporarily from its box, so that you can see that ribbon, like all the others being sold in this listing, is still sealed in its original clear plastic bag.
  Bottom line: I don't think you'll see anything that will give you a reason not to buy any of the ribbons available through this listing.
  These Ribbons Are Being Sold Only for Use with Lexmark Printer Models From their 2300 and 2400 Series Of Printers
  Please don't buy from this listing if you intend to use your purchase with any printer or other device, other than the above listed series of Lexmark printers. If you still decide to buy for use with any other model printer or other equipment than the above-listed items (which are the only ones listed on the product's retail packaging), or any other company's printers or other equipment, and you only realize your mistake after having already opened the product's box and opened up the internal clear plastic bag, no returns will be allowed.
  If you are looking for Lexmark printer ribbons that are compatible with the Lexmark 2500 and 2500+ series of printers, please don't buy from this listing. I'm only going by what's on the boxes of the ones being sold through this listing. I don't know for a fact that these ribbons can't work in the 2500 and 2500+ printers, but I have sometimes seen similar situations. So let's avoid a possible return issue; if you need ribbons for the 2500 and 2500+ printes, please check the 1 or 2 other listings I will feature that show right on their boxes that they will work with those models as well as with the 2300 and 2400 series printers that the ones being sold here will definitely work with.
  If you do figure out within the 30 calendar day return period that you made a mistake but didn't yet open the box, or some quantity less than the total number of boxes you bought from us, you can return this item, at your expense, in the same condition as received, for a refund of what you paid for it (less any upgrade fee you might have paid for us to use a different method of shipping than the one specified as would be used for Free shipping).
  WE SHIP QUICKLY AFTER PAYMENT (BUT PLEASE DON'T BLAME US IF THE SHIPPING COMPANY ITSELF -- RATHER THAN US -- DOESN'T MOVE AS QUICKLY ON YOUR ORDER AS YOU MIGHT WISH THEY DID):
  Our commitment on this sale is to get your item(s) to the shipper within one business day after payment is completed. You might be about to run out of working ink ribbons, or nearly so; meaning that buying from us with our one business day) at most turnaround time between payment and shipping, would be a great option for you.
  And if a buyer is able to get payment to us completed by 11am California time on a non-holiday weekday (Mondays through Fridays), we are often able to ship the same day as paid. We may ship the same day as paid even if paid later in the day, but the later in the day payment is made, the less likely same day shipment can take place.
  Depending on circumstances at our end, if the method used for free shipping is via USPS (which for a shipment the size and weight in this case, unless you are located very close to us in the S F Bay Area, isn't too likely), we may even be able to do "same day as paid" shipping on a Saturday, though our local USPS closes at 4pm Saturdays (vs. 5pm on weekday business days). Other carriers for their standard Ground class shipping that we might choose to use for Free Shipping, generally don't pick up items on weekends.
  Since only one person here takes care of shipping (and just about anything else), we can't (and don't) literally promise in advance to achieve same-day-as-paid shipping, since things can always "come up" to prevent that for a smaller operator like us.We do, however, ship the same day as paid when we can, especially when it comes to relatively small size shipping packages, and our response shows that our customers appreciate the extra effort.
  The bottom line is: As long as we hand off your purchase to a shipper as quickly as we've committed ourselves to do (which is within one business day of the date that payment is completed), please don't "ding" us with a lower rating on how quickly we ship, for what may happen afterwards due to things beyond our control. And also please remember that different shipment methods come with different in-transit time estimates.
  We know that on occasion we receive less than the highest rating from buyers on shipping issues even if we were on time on what we were required to do and shipped using a method chosen (automatically or by qualifying for an upgrade) by the buyer. That doesn't seem fair to us. Unfortunately, keeps all such ratings anonymous so we can never ask a buyer what specifically led them to give us less than the maximum positive rating on shipping issues.
  All we ask of you, the buyer, is that so long as we ship using a method that is at least as fast as what the listing required us to use (including any upgrade that this listing may provide, with an upgrade fee if appropriate), please don't "ding" us if you aren't happy with the speed of delivery if we do get it to the shipper within the time frame we've promised to meet. Thank you for your understanding!
  "BEST OFFER" TIPS: If you want to offer us less than our full "Buy It Now" price, here are some tips about when and why we'd make such a deal with a buyer: We have certain fixed costs, quirw possibly exceeding $10, possibly by a substantial amount. There is also time and effort involved. So while you might like to buy one of these ink ribbons for say $12, with us paying to ship, we simply can't afford to do that given our expenses and what we know these should sell for.
  But we would be willing to consider taking less than the full posted Buy It Now price if you buy multiple items from us (in addition to the item(s) that make up what's being sold in this listing) that could be shipped together to a single address (bearing in mind that you'd have to buy several items within a fairly short time period because I'm committed to a 1 day handling time, with any delay on my part -- even if you'd agree to it -- would result in a "ding" on my on-time shipping statistics). And the closer you are to us in Northern California, the less it might cost us to ship a multiple item shipment, on a per-item basis. So keep ideas like those in mind when you decide, if making an offer, how much to offer per item.
  SHIPPING IN GENERAL: Shippers always "round up" to the nearest whole pound, and if you added the lightest safe packing materials I can use with these ribbons, a single one will be charged as a 1 pound shipment. Shippers base their charges on package size as well as weight and distance (when flat rate services don't apply or are more costly than using a "generic" box).
  So please be aware that unless you ship a wide variety of items in different sizes, shapes and weight of packaging, shipping any ink sold through this listing may cost us a lot more than you'd think, and I have to consider that in how I price these items. And I don't "pad" my shipping charges to use those charges as a "profit center" to offset charging a low "buy" price just to "lure you in". I also don't charge materials, handling, or similar seller add-on fees to offset a low "buy" price. Please keep these facts in mind while comparison shopping and you will often find that while others may charge a lower "buy" price, you'll save money buying from me with my shipping charges and/or my "buy" price.
  Also, we are not offering "free local pickup" on these ribbons, being sold through this specific listing, at this time. If you do buy from the 1 or 2 other listings we'll be having for similar Lexmark printer ribbons that will allow a local pickup, we might be able to arrange local pickup for these as well, but can't promise this at this time. Please reach out to us for details regarding possible free local pickup on this listing as well, before you buy.
  FREE "STANDARD CLASS" SHIPPING (MEANS YOU MIGHT GET A FREE UPGRADE TO FASTER SERVICE): defines "Standard Class" shipping as meaning a shipping service that is supposed to get a buyer's item to them within 5 business days after being given to the shipper by the seller (plus, in our case, our standard 1 business day after payment handling time between payment date and shipment date). When you choose "Free Shipping", we will pick from available carriers that will commit to delivering your item(s) to you at least that quickly, based on whichever method costs us the least. And if that means choosing Priority Mail when doing so is less expensive for us than using a usually slower Standard class service such as "FedEx Ground", "FedEx Home Delivery", "USPS Ground Advantage", or "UPS Ground", we'll "upgrade" you to Priority Mail at no added cost.
  If you want us to use a faster service class than we offer here, please contact us before you buy or make a "Best Offer" to see what options we might have, because if an Offer is pending we can't generally modify a listing, and the shipping options might be difficult to change after a purchase.
  EXPEDITED SHIPPING VIA USPS PRIORITY MAIL:You can decide at time of checkout to pay $5 extra for us to ship via USPS Priority Mail if you're in a hurry (and want to be sure that we'll use Priority Mail instead of a likely slower -- possibly days slower, depending on circumstances -- alternative allowed by the terms of this listing).Please note that we are referring here to "USPS Priority Mail", not the much more expensive "USPS Priority Mail Express" service (formerly known as "Express Mail"). And that's $5 extra no matter how many of these you buy from us in a single transaction to all ship to a single address!
  If you do choose this Priority Mail upgrade option, we'll make a more than customary effort to ship the same day as paid, even though per the terms of this listing, our standard turnaround time to ship between date of payment, and the next business day, is one business day; e.g. you pay on a Tuesday, we'd ship no later than the next day (Wednesday); or if you pay for an item here on a Friday, we'd ship no later than the next "Business Day" which, unless the following Monday is a legal holiday, would mean we'd ship by the following Monday though, as noted earlier, we can sometimes ship as early as the same day as paid.
  RETURNS IN GENERAL:Please be sure to save all shipping and packing materials (box, padding, etc.) for the length of the potential return period, in the event a return is to take place. If you have any questions at all about the condition of the materials, however, please contact us first to confirm that we would authorize you to re-use those materials in returning an item to us, since sometimes those materials get chewed up enough during initial delivery that they need to be repaired or replaced before being re-used.
  If the item arrived in damaged condition, please immediately send us photos of the packaging and of the item inside the packaging showing the condition in which it was received.
  BUYER NO-FAULT RETURNS: 30 calendar day return time, running from date of first attempt at delivery by the chosen shipper to your verified shipping address, if you return these for any or no reason in the same condition as sent (e.g., new, sealed in original box, undamaged unless you can show it was damaged during transit), at your expense. The photos you see in this listing are of the specific items being sold, in the condition they'll be shipped in, using proper shipping materials and methods based on our over 20 years experience as an seller and thousands of shipments. So if you open a sealed box (even if the contents inside remain sealed), or if you do something that causes one of these to fail in use, e.g., if you spill your drink into a printer using any of these and the printer shorts out and dies, damaging one or more components of any ink ribbon being sold here in the process, that is a good example of something that would not qualify as a basis for a "NO-FAULT RETURN".
  CLAIMED SELLER FAULT RETURNS: lets you return almost anything within 30 days after receiving it, if what was purchased is not what the listing represented it to be, no matter what limitations a seller may try to put on the reasons for return (and many do). Please see exact details as provided by at the top of this listing. To the extent that allows it, you must use a shipping class and type that costs no more than what we used to ship your item(s) to you.