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Three units of the Faber-Castell Neo Slim metal fountain pen in “black with rosegold” are (or were, last I looked) available from the Dymocks George Street store in Sydney CBD for AUD $40 each. Two units with EF nibs, and one with an F nib. When I inspected one of the former on Saturday, it looked perfectly fine, no signs of cosmetic wear, and the snap and fit of the cap, either when the pen is closed and when the cap was posted at the end of the barrel, were crisp and tight.
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Milligram is having another sale; some offers on LAMY fountain pens are decent I guess
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
Milligram sent another marketing email today to let me know it's offering a “further 20% off” items on clearance in the outlet section of its website/business. In Kaweco I'm not really interested (unless the effective price is ≤25% of the local retail price, and with free delivery or in-store collection), but I suppose some of the offers on LAMY fountain pens are decent. For example, I see a LAMY 2000 in brushed stainless steel for AUD $239.60 (and qualifies for free delivery within Australia). I haven't been tracking the prices of and offers on LAMY Dialog 3 models, but $287.60 with a choice of finishes and nib width grades would be among the lowest from authorised retailers of the brand in Australia, I guess? -
untilhttps://melbpenshow.com.au Whether you are interested in pens, inks, paper or notepads, writing or calligraphy we are sure you will find something to interest you at this year's Melbourne Pen Show.
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When I checked my Junk Mail folder just now, I saw Bunbougu.com.au is having an End of Financial Year sale. Funny what Outlook decides to toss aside as junk mail, when I'm a repeat customer of Bunbougu (who only hit it when good discounts are on offer). (You don't need me to give you the applicable discount codes, when they're posted on the site's home page.) I had a quick note, and while there aren't really good offers for ink and fountain pen friendly paper products that I could spot at a glance, these caught my eye: the discontinued Pilot Petit1 fountain pens — even though the discounted price is still significantly higher than the product's retail price in the Japanese domestic market, back when it was easily available, for now it's lower than any price you'd see on AliExpress for such, once shipping from China (and tax, if applicable) is taken into account I think there are 17 units left in stock, across three colours, in total Sailor Shikiori Amaoto, or ‘Sound of Rain’, in the darker of two greens is discounted to half-price, making it competitive with the (fluctuating, and sometimes here-today-gone-tomorrow) lowest discounted price for it I've seen on Amazon.com.au Platinum #3776 Celluloid ‘Koi’ is half-priced, making the offer competitive with the lowest offer for it I've seen on Amazon.com.au in the past three years two units with F nibs remain — although it's the only #3776 Celluloid variant I don't yet have, and the discounted price is much cheaper now than its current retail price in the Japanese domestic market, I didn't pick one up the Pilot Capless in matt blue, with a choice of F or M nib, is decently priced after the discount on offer, and rather less than what I paid for mine some years ago the Lamy 2000 in brushed steel is I supposed decently or competitively priced, after applying the 30% discount, given the pricing adjustments over the past 12 to 18 months; but I haven't been (and still aren't) interested enough to have paid closer attention to know for sure
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Pilot Petit ink cartridges for A$1.98 per 3-pack at Dymocks George St (Sydney CBD)
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
If anyone here from Sydney still uses the discontinued Pilot Petit1 fountain pens, and dread the day when it's no longer possible to buy new/replacement cartridges for the model (even if just for refilling with one's inks of choice; cartridges shell don't last forever), Dymocks on George Street in the CBD is selling off its remaining stock of Pilot Petit cartridges at 50%-off, bringing the price to AUD $1.99 for a 3-pack. When I left earlier this afternoon, there were still seven or eight 3-packs in red or orange in the bucket, alongside maybe four Pilot Petit3 brush-tipped pens also at 50%-off (which, I guess, makes them $2.99 each). -
Sailor Pro Gear Slim Mini in three colours at 50%-off at Bunbougu
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
Two Three out of the six first (re-)release colours of the Sailor Professional Gear Slim Mini, in the since-discontinued design with the external thread at the end of the barrel (for securely posting the cap without scuffing the barrel's glossy finish), are on 50%-off offer at Bunbougu.com.au. The discounted price is AUD $172.50 each, and just one would qualify for free delivery (to Australian addresses). That isn't a bad price at all for local stock. I was absolutely chuffed to be able to secure yet another colour of that old design, when I was in Tokyo earlier this month. If I didn't already have the two three colours on this offer from Bunbougu, I wouldn't be posting about it now, but would have already snapped them up; they were obviously my first choice colours, already bought at just under US$100 each, three years ago. -
(Limited selection of) TACCIA Ukiyo-e inks at 50%-off at Bunbougu
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
Four colours of TACCIA Ukiyo-e inks are (still) available from Bunbougu.com.au at 50%-off for Black Friday, bringing the price down to AUD $14.75 each. The minimum (discounted) total spend on an order to qualify for free shipping is a fairly low bar. It kinda bums me out a little that I bought a bottle of Asahanada from them at an earlier sale this year for just under $20. Oh well. I've just ordered another four bottles (not Asahanada) last night, but asked to change one of those to Benizakura (which was least interesting to me, on account of its nil water resistance; but it's just the colour I don't already have) this morning, not realising it's the only bottle Bunbougu had in stock. The customer service I received was prompt, courteous, and no-nonsense. -
Hobonichi Plain notebooks (with ‘graph’ grid ruling in various colours) on Amazon AU in stock and…
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
I believe these are the last Hobonichi products to use the ‘old’ Tomoe River 52gsm paper produced on Tomoegawa's since-decommissioned ‘machine number 7’, as stocks of the paper are being run out: Compared to ordering direct from Hobonichi: and there is a maximum of ten units per product per order — which means, even with ten of the A5 and ten of the A6 Plain notebooks, the total order value of $300 would still fail to qualify for free shipping to Australia. Shipping charges are $42 for one book, $52 for ten A6 books, $58 for ten A5 books, and $66 for the two lots of ten books.
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N.B. These are prices in Australian dollars, of course. Sailor Hocoro dip pen with 2.0mm Italic nib (and built-in ink trough/underfeed) — $12.13 which is probably the lowest I've seen anywhere so far Sailor Kiwaguro ink, 50ml bottle — $17.85 dropped to $15.05 overnight, which is the lowest I've seen which is a good price for a standalone item, although I've seen multi-buy/combo deals recently that would have brought the effective price slightly lower than that Faber-Castell e-motion Pure Black fountain pen with F nib — $139.27 Faber-Castell e-motion Pearwood Black fountain pen with chrome trim and F nib — $144.24 LAMY Aion in Dark Green with F nib — $65.36 which is probably a good price (and I ordered one just now) and cancelled, on account of the next item I just found LAMY Aion in Black with F nib — $56.57 LAMY Studio in (shimmery) Dark Drown with EF nib — $78.47 which is a decent price, but it's a shame I can't reconcile with the grip section on that pen model LAMY Lx in Rose Gold with F nib — $49.40 LAMY Accent in aluminium with black rubber grip and M nib — $73.15 I'm not actually sure how good the price is, given this very underrated pen model seems not so easy to find these days; seems decent, but it'd be pretty pointless if one cannot readily buy more of the interchangeable grip section shells
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My wife surprised me this morning by being the one to break the news to me that Pensive Pens is having a closing down sale, when she's an avid fountain pen user but not really a hobbyist, and she never shops for pens and inks since I do all the shopping and handling in that regard. So, following Pendamonium's closure only a couple of months ago, another Australian retailer known to the hobby scene bites the dust. Not much appears to be left to buy except for Pilot Iroshizuku inks. If you're after any of the three more recently released colours, the 50ml bottles are A$19 each. There are also some boxed sets with four 30ml bottles each in different colours. More than ever, at this point I probably wouldn't even bother with the “random” multi-packs of KWZ Ink and Robert Oster inks; the average per-bottle price isn't that good, and the remaining stock from which the packs would be “randomly” picked would probably be the least popular colours that Pensive Pens just couldn't sell on their own.
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A Web search last night for which retailers still had bottles of Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho and/or Tsukushi — not that I really want more of the latter — somehow or other led me to Pendamonium, from which I've never ordered anything before, and in any case doesn't actually have those inks in stock. … or much else, for that matter, other than assorted Noodler's Ink colours and a couple of Waterman inks in bottles, all offered at nominally 50%. It was like walking into a store that is closing down and trying to sell off the last of the stock on hand, minus any crudely posted signs to signal to all that the end is nigh. The Noodler's Ink bottles, with the discount, are cheaper than I've ever seen them offered on Amazon.com.au. I put a few in the shopping cart, but encountered some weirdness for certain numbers/combinations of product that made the selection of shipping method disappear, effectively meaning that I could not complete the order at that point. It wasn't some straightforward sort of minimum set on the total order value, though; either taking one bottle off or adding another bottle made the delivery method selection available again. (Playing around with it some more just now, it appears that any combination of four items in the cart will trigger that strange condition.) Anyway, after mulling over it for about 24 hours, I finally went ahead and placed an order an hour ago. Only after payment was made, and the order was confirmed, was I notified (in the order confirmation email) that Pendamonium is in the throes of a “closing down sale” and, “stock will be removed from the site as it is sold out”. There are some 4.5oz bottles of X-Feather black, Heart of Darkness, and Lexington Gray at A$19.50 each. Most of the 3oz (or 90ml) bottles are $14.98 each, although Kung Te-Cheng and the series with the Russian names are priced a little higher. I guess I'll find out in a day or two whether Pendamonium can actually fulfil my order. Some of the product listings contain contradictory information between listing title and body, which does not give me too much confidence that the remaining listings are well-maintained and accurate. All of the items I ordered continue to appear in the online shop's catalogue and available to be added to the cart, when I tried just now; that may or may not mean the system does not keep an up-to-date stock count for each item that is automatically decreased as new orders are received.
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Pilot Kaküno with F nib, pink cap, and off-white barrel currently on offer at A$11.48 on Amazon.com.au, sold and shipped by Amazon AU. That's probably as low a price as I've seen it, and one of the cheapest ways to get a genuine, made-in-Japan Pilot steel F nib that can fit onto a number of different Pilot and Chinese (Wing Sung, Pali, PenBBS, etc.) fountain pen models.
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Hi everyone! I'll be going to the Melbourne Pen Show in a few days time, and as it will be my first pen show, I'm reaching out to the community for some tips and advice. Can I bring my own pens? Are we allowed to negotiate prices with certain stallholders? How should I store my purchases? I'll put it out to you if you have anymore suggestions.
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Herbin Perle Noire ink, 500ml bottle for A$46 on Amazon.com.au
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
Amazon.com.au just dropped the price on 500ml bottles of Herbin Perle Noire ink, sold and shipped by Amazon UK, to $45.92. Includes free delivery to Australia to Prime members here. OK, that isn't cheaper than I could have scored from La Couronne du Comte before it went out of business, with stacked discounts, no GST paid, and (as part of a large enough order) free international shipping; but it comes pretty close. With LCdC now gone, I don't think I can do much better in the near term ordering from any other retailer. -
Milligram 'Spring Frenzy' - 50% off selected Lamy, Kaweco, Rhodia, Clairefontaine, etc.
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
https://milligram.com/collections/spring-frenzy 50% off some Lamy products including Dialog 3 fountain pens and Z57 (and Z56?) gold nibs, Kaweco fountain pens of different models (Supra Brass, AL/Skyline/Classic Sport, etc.), Rhodia and Clairefontaine paper products, among others. Free delivery within Australia for orders ≥$69 after discounts. -
Pens, Inks And Samples Pass-Around In Australia
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Pay It Forward, Loaner Programs & Group Buys
Not unlike how things are in New Zealand, postage costs in Australia are almost prohibitive for exchanges and giveaways even when just sending stuff domestically, especially when they involve pens, which Australia Post has explicitly stated are not to be sent by letter post, which is far cheaper, but must be sent in parcels (Parcel Post minimum cost A$7.95) that are not subject to being stomped on by automated mail processing machinery. A better way may be to pass around a box of surplus and not-my-cup-of-tea-but-may-be-someone-else's items of up to 3kg, using a flat-rate prepaid mailing bag – costing A$13.80 to ship between any two points in Australia – and let participants take from it and add to it as they wish. I would like to gauge the level of interest in such an exercise. I'd be happy to put the following into a box, pay for the first leg of its journey and kickstart the process: 3 new Hero 395 pens fitted with converters; these pens supposedly have semi-flex steel nibs, which is a feature I personally don't care much about2 three-ounce bottles of Noodler's Baystate Concord Grape ink – one new, one mostly full1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Prime of the Commons blue-black contract ink – mostly full2 three-ounce bottles of Noodler's Polar Green ink – one new, one mostly full1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Polar Brown ink – mostly full1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Kiowa Pecan ink – newseveral 3ml samples (in plastic pipettes) of the new Sailor Nano souboku pigment ink; I just received my three bottles in the mail yesterdaya few 3ml samples of Sailor Nano kiwa-guro and seiboku pigment inksand possibly: one or two 3ml samples each of some De Atramentis scented, Diamine, and Pilot Iroshizuku inks I have.I'm still waiting on my eBay order of plastic pipettes to arrive from China, so it may take another three or so weeks before I'm ready to get the samples ready for shipping. I don't personally intend to track the box's travels, or who has taken or added what to it, but if participants could just post in this thread: that they want to be the box's next stopwhat is in the box, after they have received it, taken what they wanted and perhaps added to it themselves; andtheir commitment to sending it at their expense on to the next interested partyI think that ought to be sufficient to keep things moving. What do you think? -
Pilot Elabo (aka Falcon) with metal barrel and SF nib for A$245
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
I see Milligram Outlet is offering eight units of the Pilot Elabo (aka Falcon) in black, with metal barrel and Soft Fine nib, for A$245 each. Shipping Australia-wide is $8.80 per order (with no ‘free shipping’ spend threshold and no other waiver available). Comes packaged with a CON-70 converter each; I can't say whether that is the newer CON-70N or actually the (older, discontinued) CON-70. Not a bad price, I suppose. Cheaper by >10% than buying from Mega Office Supplies, and I haven't seen Mega Office Supplies offer a ≥10% site-wide discount code for a long while. Cheaper also than buying on Amazon AU, Amazon.com (i.e. ordering from the US), or from PenSachi (i.e. ordering from Japan) at the moment, as far as I can see. Bookbinders Design AU is offering it for A$256 at the moment with free shipping. Well-known site-wide discount codes cannot be applied to bring the price down even further by another 10%–15%. -
Dymocks on George Street's seemingly never-ending ‘Pen Sale’
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
Disclosure / disclaimer: I do not work for Dymocks, directly or indirectly, and am not otherwise affiliated with the company or its owners. I just walk past it several times a week when heading uptown or on the way home, so I'm just putting a word in for a local business. Dymocks on George Street in Sydney CBD is offering a selection of fountain pens (of different brands and countries of origin) at 30% off their regular prices, in the name of a ‘Pen Sale’ for which the sign hasn't been taken down since the height of COVID-19 related restrictions on movement in NSW. I didn't take note of them all, because brands like Cross, Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, Kaweco and Retro 51 that were also there just don't capture my interest, but I did see six units of the Platinum Procyon (PNS-5000) including one Persimmon Orange (F nib), one Citron Yellow (F nib) and two Deep Sea (M nibs), which are priced lower than the Turquoise Blue ones sitting next to them in the same discounted goods cabinet near the front entrance. There were also: one unit of the Platinum #3776 Century Bourgogne with gold trim (PNS-13000#71) and F nib in the same cabinet. At the 30%-off discounted price, it's roughly comparable to ordering it from overseas, say Cult Pens today (inclusive of 10% Australian GST which it now adds to list prices expressly, the 10%-off discount code in play, and ‘free’ shipping to Australia), or from Japanese sellers on eBay once shipping charges are factored in; one Platinum #3776 Celluloid ‘Calico’ (or ‘Stone Celluloid‘) with F nib; and one Platinum #3776 Celluloid ‘Midnight Ocean’ (or ‘Ocean Blue’) with M nib. There were four Pilot MR Animal (if I'm not mistaken, two White Tiger and two Black Crocodile) pens on the same tray. Having owned more than half a dozen Pilot MR pens (including the oft-recommended Pilot MR Metropolitan), I just don't think they're good ‘beginner’ pens because of the step-down and the ineffective cap seal, and may give someone of little experience with fountain pens the wrong impression; and I'm confident fellow Aussies can order those more cheaply than $48.99-less-30% on Amazon.com.au, so they aren't really worth looking at either way. Also, a Porsche Design Tec Flex fountain pen, and a Visconti travelling inkwell at 30%-off, among other pens I don't recognise. There were two Lamy Scala in black, one Lamy Aion in red and another in silver (talking about fountain pens only; there were some Aion ballpoint pens next to them), in the adjoining cabinet that is also part of the 30%-off clearance campaign. A Cross Peerless 125 Darth Vader edition fountain pen, and the matching rollerball pen, too. All colours that remain in stock of Monteverde Portable Ink Capsules still at 50% off. I saw five different colours in the cabinet yesterday, but notably no more blues. -
LAMY 2000 in brown (55th anniversary L.E. gift set) for A$560
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
Milligram Outlet in Australia has just put up 11(?) units of the LAMY 2000 55th Anniversary Limited Edition gift set for A$560 each, with a $8.80 Australia-wide delivery charge per order that is not waived. That's effectively US$400 (excluding delivery charge) each. For Australians looking to get one quickly and/or “buy local”, that's not half bad for a retail offer, if a brown LAMY 2000 is what they're after. -
Peter's of Kensington official eBay store 20%-22% off today
A Smug Dill posted a topic in Market Watch
There's a eBay promotion in play for 26/9/2021 that gives any random Joe Punter 20% off the prices in Peter's of Kensington's official eBay store, or 22% off for eBay Plus members. Sadly, not much of interest to me personally (even if I were still in the market for pens and inks today), but I'll call out that: Monteverde 10-colour (Bloo, Emotions, Gemstone, and Noir ink collections) gift sets are now A$56 (or less) after discount Pelikan Souverän M605 Green-White fountain pen (different nib sizes still available) is now A$416.80 (or less) after discount That is much cheaper than ordering it from my normal go-to European retailers for Pelikan products, even after stacking discounts to get an overall 19%–20% off the regular price, and with ‘free’ international shipping by DHL. I personally wouldn't be able to get those items any cheaper anywhere else. -
Super5 Australia Pigmented inks made by Rohrer and Klinger fo Papierlabor . They are lightfast and waterproof and designed for sketching, just like the sketchINK by R&K. The naming of this line is a bit haphazard, you can judge for yourself: Atlantic Australia Darmstadt Delhi Dublin Frankfurt They also have line of pens. The pens have a very good seal and the inks don't dry out in them, from what I've read. They are a shade darker in my experience of their sketchInk counterparts. Australia is shade darker than Jule and wetter. Australia is a nice wet ink. Dry time is the same as sketchInk inks. Meaning, if you use broad/flex/wet nibs and ink resistant paper the dry time is about 30 seconds or more and if you use F/EF nibs then you’re good. The price, however, is three times the amount of sketchInk. Very expensive for what is. • Pen used: Lamy Safari – Broad nib both sides • Shading: Yes with wider nibs • Ghosting: None • Bleed through: None. • Flow Rate: Wet • Lubrication: Nice • Nib Dry-out: Depending on the pen. Needs well sealed pen. • Start-up: If not used it can dry out, in pens with high evaporation. • Saturation: Saturated • Shading With wide/ flex nibs • Sheen: Not rally. • Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None. • Nib Creep / “Crud”: None • Staining (pen): You might need a pen cleaner. • Clogging: Yes, if pen is not well sealed. • Water resistance: Waterproof • Availability: Only in bottle 30 ml bottles. Chroma: Midori Midori with an attempted sketch... The colour reminds of wine Broad nib full galore.... and inky experiment...on TOmoe River 68 gr Australia
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I just thought I'd share the ‘opportunity’ with others who'd want to squeeze the last bit out of the changing landscape. Milligram in Australia is having a 30%-off sale for selected products, including several Sakae Technical Paper Tomoe River FP (paper pad, and 50- and 100-sheet packs of loose sheets) products. I didn't see any low stock warnings for any (white or cream, 52gsm or 68gsm, A4 or A5, etc.) product variant when I looked just now. (Yes, I think these are all made from the ‘old’ paper produced by Tomoegawa's paper milling machine no.7.) The ‘Friends For Life’ discount supposedly do not apply to these sale products, but in fact it does in the checkout process. I was prompted by an email from Milligram yesterday (with the subject "$40 gift from us to you - that's what friends are for!”) advising inconsistently that “we're changing our loyalty program” and “We've changed our loyalty program”. (It looks like the change has been implemented, and “For Life” and ”Forever” no longer mean what the average person would think the marketing expressions mean.) The voucher code can be applied to further bring down the total value of the order. Free shipping applies if the discounted total value of an order (i.e. payment due in real money) exceeds the relevant threshold. Given that Kobe INK Story has been taken off Milligram's catalogue, Robert Oster inks in selected colours are seldom individually discounted any more, and the shop's prices of Pilot Iroshizuku inks have gone up significantly all in the last year or so, there just isn't a whole lot to buy from Milligram at some cost-saving (compared to ordering from Amazon AU or overseas retailers) any more. Most of the heavily discounted clearance products are now shifted over to Milligram Outlet by default, where the loyalty programme discounts and free shipping offer do not apply. So, as much as I'm not a fan of Tomoe River FP paper, to take advantage of dying loyalty benefits before they are extinguished, I foolishly bought a few packs with no clear application in mind, and will probably end up giving away to kiddies on which to draw.
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Dymocks on George Street in Sydney CBD is offering the Monteverde Portable Ink Capsule product in all in-stock colours at 50% off their regular A$20 price at the moment. Each package contains 50ml of ink in a cylindrical clear plastic vial with a screw-on lid, as well as an empty 50ml vial of the same type. I saw these a few days ago in the discounted inks cabinet, asked if they were also offered at half-price, and was told no. I asked again today, when I saw a new sign posted on top of the cabinet to indicate otherwise, and confirmed that they are indeed half-priced; I was also pointed to a different sign in one of the glass cabinets mounted behind the counter attesting to that. The signs didn't say when the promotion ends, and I didn't ask. When I was there a few hours ago, there were at least six or seven different ink colours — including Horizon Blue and Capri Blue, as well as several that aren't blue — and multiple units of each in stock.
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Milligram has been offering its stock of black-covered Bloc Rhodia No.18 80g/m² lined (A4-sized, 7mm-ruled, with blue horizontal lines and a red vertical margin line) notepads on clearance for a week now, for A$5 each [/and/] with a “buy 3 for the price of 2” offer. The effective price is therefore A$10 for three, or $3.33 each when you buy in multiples of three on a single order, and that's if the purchaser is not eligible for any other discounts (such as the "Friends For Life" discount of 10% site-wide) that apply. I imagine it may be obstacle to some (or even most) prospective customers that the threshold for free domestic shipping on a single order is $69 (after discounts); without the FFL discount, one has to order 21 of those notepads at once to avoid the $5.99 delivery charge which would dilute the effective discount on the order, and 24 of them with the FFL discount. However, Milligram just announced today (a few hours ago) that it's offering free shipping for orders of $29 or more, for a limited time only. That means one can buy just nine of those notepads, delivery included, for a $30 outlay without the FFL discount, or get twelve notepads delivered for $36 with the FFL discount, if he/she uses an Australia delivery address. (Since Milligram delivers using Australia Post Parcel post service, Parcel Locker and Parcel Collection addresses are OK, as well as PO Boxes and physical/street addresses in Australia.) When I checked less than ten minutes ago, the maximum number of these notepads the system will accept on a single order is 426 — down from 472 three days ago — so I'll assume that's what Milligram thinks it has in stock and wants to clear. Rhodia paper fans, knock yourself out! Edit: Updated stock level
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Out they go... We are clearing our Diplomat stock with most items at half price. Stocks are limited and once they are sold we will not be restocking them. https://justwrite.com.au/Clearance
