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In my hunt for Phileas fountain pen bargains, I naturally glance through eBay occasionally. The number of $199 price tags on black Phileas pens tell me that the sellers are feeling bullish (optimistic) about the price of that model. FP experts might call this irrational overpricing, but the buyers have the final vote on what the pen is really worth. Phileas "Kultur" pens are an inexpensive version of the more costly Phileas. They lack the gold-plating and have no hefty brass tube inside the handle. The Kultur models have a slightly different tip on their cap, but appear to be cast from the same mold as a conventional Phileas. Every Kultur I have seen is made of transparent—and often colorfully tinted—plastic instead of the Phileas' signature opaque colors. I prefer Phileas, but I notice the Kultur have been selling for $20-40 lately. This morning, I came across this listing on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/WATERMAN-PHILEAS-TRANS-BLUE-DEMONSTRATOR-FOUNT-PEN-MED-/130484388789?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6179c3b5 See anything missing? The photo shows a transparent blue pen with no gold plating and no brass tube inside. Look at the name. It is called a Phileas "demonstrator"; the word "Kultur" is nowhere in sight. I myself bought a crystal clear Phileas "demonstrator" last year, thinking it would be an interesting novelty. Only later did I realize it is the same pen as the more colorful Kultur. I paid about $35 last year and today's pen has a "buy now" price of $67.....about what a classic used Phileas sells for. I don't know this particular seller and they would probably say I am making much ado over a simple omission. I'll grant that. But as the true Phileas pens become increasingly rare, will we see more Kulturs being presented as a full-fledge Phileas? And is that truth or truth-stretching? So what do you think? Is it fair to label such a pen as a "Phileas" without adding "Kultur"? BTW, what does "demonstrator" really mean? Is that a designation that Phileas uses? Or is it the seller's way of saying the pen has been extensively handled and perhaps used in a store?

I was just on eBay, scrolling through the "fountain pen ink" listing when I came across a seller advertising a "1950's Style" pen and ink. Well, out of curiosity I decided to look more closely. The seller was nice enough to show some up-close pictures of the nib from top and bottom. The pen looks like one of the Hero Parker 51 knockoffs with a squeeze filler. Okay, that's not so bad, except for the off center feed AND nib. The price was only $15.95 plus reasonable shipping. What was truly sad was when I looked at the ink and saw that it was Higgins India Ink. OOOOPS! Pardon me, but anyone buying the pen & ink package and then using them together is in for a little surprise. Being the good Samaritan that I am , I sent off a message thinking, maybe this person doesn't know pens that well and this is a mistake. Well, further scrolling reveals about 10+ additional packages of he same set up with different colored pens. What are your thoughts about that situation. Should I have just skipped over it and forgotten the whole thing. I'm not looking for you to say I'm right or wrong, because I handled it the way I felt best. I'm still curious as to what others might have done in that situation. Finally, have you ever run into similar situations? What did you do?

I just had very bad transaction experience with one ebay seller, toshi_g . I bought two fountain pens from him in Aug. One is Nakaya, the other is platinum. http://www.ebay.com/itm/141030854314 http://www.ebay.com/itm/141033281283 The platinum fountain pen is urushi pen, according to the platinum co. catalog, issued in 1975, retail price was JPN10000(in 1975). I was happy when I won the auction, because this fountain pen is new, and the price is good. I got both fountain pens on Aug 20, I was very disappointed. Both pens are used. The condition of Nakaya briar fountain pen is acceptable. But the platinum fountain pen, name-engraving on the section(Japanese name, Kato Kaori[Kaoru], on the other side that he didn’t took photo), some abrasion, one small cut wound on the barrel. Ok, this platinum fountain pen is rare, maybe someday I might find one new nib/section for it. So I asked the seller if he can give me partial refund? The answer was no. Fine, I decided to send the platinum fountain pen back. I asked the seller, Does full refund include my shipping fee from Hong Kong to USA?(because he lied in the description of the pen.) The answer was as below “Returns Policy Your satisfaction is our first priority. No replacement or refund will be made. No returns accepted." You saw high quality pictures of the pen and we sent it without damage. I still offered you the refund because my boss really like this pen and He wanted to keep it. He was sad when you bought it. So I'm still giving you the opportunity to refund the pen. For the shipping cost please read our refund policy at the ebay page. You can find there who pays the return shipping cost." You said the pen is new, but this pen is second-hand with name-engraving. Then you give me the opportunity to refund the pen!!!! YOU CHEATED ME, THEN YOU GIVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO REFUND THE PEN!!!! Such words really made me angry. Should I say “thank you, God, thanks for giving me the opportunity to refund the pen”? No, nobody can cheat others first, then speak loudly.......I give you the opportunity....... If this guy really wants to do apology, refund me half(platinum pen). His answer was NO. Then he confessed that he bought this pen from ebay, he doesn’t know the Chinese words, he thought such name-engraving is original!(hey, man, you are a pen-seller!!) Bought 2nd-hand pen, but sold it as NEW. IT IS REALLY GOOD PEN BUSINESS. So I left the negative feedback(for this platinum fountain pen) Take care if you want to buy fountain pen from this toshi_g.