Fountain Pens in Sydney, Australia

[iamchum]

Agree with all the sentiments raised here. It is so expensive to buy any mid to high range pens that you are better off just getting them from the US and courier over as well as take the risk of getting a dud that you might have to return. I try to support the B&M stores buy buying ink and some pens from them ( i have bought a Lamy Al-star and a noodle's Ahab) but overwhelmingly I buy from overseas (an get ink at the same time).

 

Another thing that ticked me off was the lack of service provided by agents. I bought a Lamy 2000 from overseas recently had some issues initially with the pen so I called up the local representative and they told me it would cost me $45 + plus postage and handling to look at the pen! Plus any parts and labour that was not deemed to be a manufacturing fault. Needless to say I declined their offer and after acquiring a loupe and some nib tuning tips on FPN I was quickly able to get the slightly misaligned tines aligned and it is one of my best writers now.

 

This kind of why I was forced to learn how to at least do minor repairs (of which I am able because, as an ex film techy I have a bunch of tools at home ) on my pens because it was getting slightly ridiculous at how difficult it was to get service here.

[Tom Aquinas]

Agree with all the sentiments raised here. It is so expensive to buy any mid to high range pens that you are better off just getting them from the US and courier over as well as take the risk of getting a dud that you might have to return. I try to support the B&M stores buy buying ink and some pens from them ( i have bought a Lamy Al-star and a noodle's Ahab) but overwhelmingly I buy from overseas (an get ink at the same time).

 

Another thing that ticked me off was the lack of service provided by agents. I bought a Lamy 2000 from overseas recently had some issues initially with the pen so I called up the local representative and they told me it would cost me $45 + plus postage and handling to look at the pen! Plus any parts and labour that was not deemed to be a manufacturing fault. Needless to say I declined their offer and after acquiring a loupe and some nib tuning tips on FPN I was quickly able to get the slightly misaligned tines aligned and it is one of my best writers now.

 

 

This kind of why I was forced to learn how to at least do minor repairs (of which I am able because, as an ex film techy I have a bunch of tools at home ) on my pens because it was getting slightly ridiculous at how difficult it was to get service here.

 

 

 

 

 

So true, and the shops howl with hatred against on line shopping and will not accept it is their attitude and Attila the Hun pricing attitudes which is causing the trend to shop overseas, where generally the service is better.

[iamchum]

lol a la gerry harvey

I met the guy when I used to work for him. His wife is the one that is usually behind all of his decisions lol

[xianyen]

I tried to buy several Montblanc pens from an Australian online seller but every pen was at least a third dearer then other sellers from overseas & as I had contacted him he did not have any EBay fees to pay.Ebay has ment that a universal market is at our figure tips & yet some sellers are still not prepared to acknowledge this with their pricing

[Eyedoc]

I have found Pen Ultimate at Chiffley to be lovely and without exception, helpful. The cost of pens though in any store in Australia seems to be excessive.

 

So, speaking of the great exchange rate working for you, check out Iguanasell.com. They are based in Spain, but have an Australian registered site. Incredible prices. Incredible service. Incredibly happy. Need I say more?! And no, I have no affiliation with them other than being a very satisfied customer.

[iamchum]

I went into pen-ultimate in the QVB yesterday, and, as always, exorbitant pricing. At least 1 of the two salespeople were helpful, but the other one just kept telling me how good everything was without qualifying it, and it was another case of look don't touch, test, or try. What is the point of a B&M if I can't physically manipulate anything?

 

I could only afford to get a couple of bottles of ink, although they were of the very best iroshizuku kon-peki and chiku-rin.

[iamchum]

Additional, apparently MB prices have gone up again this year by a further 6.5% from their already outrageous prices here. Who distributes them?!! And how does this reflect any pricing anywhere else in the world, currency trends, inflation or even the prices of the materials used to make them (i.e. plastic and gold??).

Edited January 11, 2013 by iamchum

[RobW]

A lot of the fault rests with the importers who, because of our relatively small population, apply greater mark-ups than those in larger economies (eg USA). I read yesterday that a couple of our larger retailers have realised that the only way they can combat the internet is to used their buying power to force distributors to cut their prices. Hopefully this will catch on to include pens.

[Tom Aquinas]

Australian traders have used the importation racket for years to rip us off. It is now only with the advent of internet trading we can get products at a reasonable price. One of my CBD B&M shops stocks a couple of brands of pens and is competing with the on line traders and doing a good trade.

[iamchum]

which pen store is that pray tell

[iamchum]

also the logic that we have a smaller population hence need greater markup is such a fallacy. If we have a smaller population, the profit margin is inevitably smaller. There is no point attempting to reap the same benefits as distributors who have access to markets that number in the hundreds of thousands possibly millions, as that simply artificially deflates our market and it is essentially shooting yourself (as the distributor/importer, whatever) in the foot. But then again a business person doesn't necessarily have to have an understanding of economics, do they....

[wyldphyre]

I have found Pen Ultimate at Chiffley to be lovely and without exception, helpful. The cost of pens though in any store in Australia seems to be excessive.

 

So, speaking of the great exchange rate working for you, check out Iguanasell.com. They are based in Spain, but have an Australian registered site. Incredible prices. Incredible service. Incredibly happy. Need I say more?! And no, I have no affiliation with them other than being a very satisfied customer.

 

Never used Iguanasell so I can't comment on their service, but I just had a look at the Australian website and I can't say that their prices impressed me, though admittedly the only pens they have whose prices I'm familiar with are the Pilot Custom 74s.

 

Pilot Custom 74 Black Smoke Demonstrator

www.richardspens.com (and most US online sellers): $160

iguanasell.com.au: $215

[murfie]

I don't buy any pens or inks from local Australian retailers. We live in a country where the importer, distributer and retailer all want 100% markup (they probably need it to pay the rents demanded). The GST argument is just obfuscation. It is still cheaper to buy offshore even if GST was applied (but then we would wait 6 months to collect the goods from Customs).

 

For many years, retailing has been a Koala (for overseas readers - that is a protected species). Little was said when manufacturing diminished due to off-shore competition. Now it's the retailers turn to compete, and they don't like to have to work for a living like the rest of us have had to do for many years since the effects of a "Global Economy" kicked in.

 

And another thing that irks me - I can get a parcel from Japan, trackable and EMS for LESS than the cost of an unregistered, untrackable parcel from Brisbane. And the Japanese sourced product gets here quicker! Australia Post is making record profits from parcel deliveries. They must think they are a retailer ...

 

Pelikan M805 - Pen City, Melbourne A$595; Pen Gallery, Kuala Lumpur US$379

Pelikan M1000 - Pen City A$895; Pen Gallery US$470

 

$A = US$1.055

 

The prices say it all!

Edited January 12, 2013 by murfie

[Eyedoc]

I may have struck it lucky with Iguanasell, but my enthusiasm comes from getting a Pelikan Majesty M7001 for $AU850 plus $16AU UPS express post. That was easily the best price I could find on the web, but if someone knows better, please let me know!

 

That was less even than the cost converting from the US dollar price on their site - they have a registered site in Australia as I said, so offer local dollar price, with the exchange rate being overly favourable. In fact, since I paid just before Christmas, the price has gone up on their site to $AU870. They had the M625 for considerably less than I paid last year from Montgomery's pens in NY. Typical!

 

Anyway, I can't comment on all the relative pen prices as that's as far as I have bought and compared. Hopefully others will find bargains there too. Regardless, their service and responsiveness is truly admirable, and I will be happy using them again for that reason alone.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Eyedoc

[wyldphyre]

I may have struck it lucky with Iguanasell…

 

A good deal is a good deal. Even places that don't regularly have good prices can still have good deals from time to time. It's good to know there is another site out there.

[wyldphyre]

…

 

And another thing that irks me - I can get a parcel from Japan, trackable and EMS for LESS than the cost of an unregistered, untrackable parcel from Brisbane. And the Japanese sourced product gets here quicker! Australia Post is making record profits from parcel deliveries. They must think they are a retailer ...

 

…

 

Time to deliver for the Australian postal system is something that irks me from time to time. It's not like it's horrible (in my experience), but you can't help but wonder at what the process looks like when you can get a book delivered from bookdepository.co.uk (as an example of typically speedy delivery) in 6 business days at no cost and yet it can take maybe 2-3 days for a similar sized package to arrive just from the other side of the country. This happened just this past week, and I had to pay $10 for delivery for the local package as well.

[Tom Aquinas]

which pen store is that pray tell

 

 

It is not Sydney but north of Tweed Heads....and extremely hot today. I bought a Waterman Hemispere jotter for my vest pocket diary a few weeks ago. Very Cheap.

[yamborghini]

The pens stores in Australia are horribly overpriced. I only buy small stuff like cheap inks and converters from them. I paid $313 for a visconti divina while pen city had them selling for $900 at the time. There may be better service at the brick and mortar shop and what not, but for an extra $600? There definitely is no competition. Much better to buy online.

 

They are however good for urgent inks or notebooks, basically things that you don't want to wait 2-3 weeks for to arrive from the us or UK. Bulk ink orders are much better online though. (got my caran d'ache set from the writing desk in the uk)

 

Oh also the cheapest ink I've found in melbourne is surprisingly at the melb uni bookshop for 5.95 for parker quink lol.

 

Also officeworks have started stocking Lamy Safaris and Tipos in Melbourne. A bit pricey at $50 a pop though.

[murfie]

Also officeworks have started stocking Lamy Safaris and Tipos in Melbourne. A bit pricey at $50 a pop though.

 

That's nearly double the going price off-shore.

[Tom Aquinas]

Also officeworks have started stocking Lamy Safaris and Tipos in Melbourne. A bit pricey at $50 a pop though.

 

That's nearly double the going price off-shore.

 

 

Some importers, and distributors work on a 800% mark up. Profiteering is rarely looked at by corporate watch dogs. As a consequence the growing popularity of on line purchasing and the recognition that we live in a world community. The service I have received from certain US on line venues is an epiphany, the merchants actually strive to please, and are jealous of their reputation. There are some small Australian merchants who have taken up the challenge and doing a good job.