Akkerman Inks From The Netherlands

[SamCapote]

Got my bank wire done today for the 3 bottles. BTW, the USA bank I deal with needed more address information than I got from Paul. Four phone calls and 30 mins later, we finally figured everything out. I gave him a line by line of what our bank transfer form needed by email. If anyone else is thinking of ordering and you don't get extra address info for his bank and Akkerman's store, you can PM me for it. It was only because I knew the bank manager that they jumped through extra hoops to find the information with more detailed research resources they had access to, some of which they had to call New York to get.

Interesting...I also got wire done today. However they were able to work with what Paul had sent me...Bank name, acct# and IBAN number are the key issues... out of curiousity what else did they need? (Feel free to PM if you don't think you should post any potentially sensitive bank info of theirs). I do often have to wire money to Europe and have a Banker I work with so maybe they just did all that you had to do but without my knowledge???

 

Well it may be a case of my local branch of Citizens Bank being a "Wire Transfer Newbie," but it seems large enough with 1500 branches. She said they have a new wire transfer system that did not work for whatever reason. She had to go back to their "old system," and make phone calls after initially telling me I would have to come back after I got their full company (Akkerman) address (street, city, postal code, country) and phone number. Likewise I needed the full bank name and complete address. None of them could figure out what the parts of Paul's first line meant, specifically "ABN-AMRO nr" and the "t.g.v." The "BIC" was not a term they were familiar with either...which turned out to be what they call the "Bank Routing Number/Swift Code" They claimed the full bank's name was "ABN Ambro Bank N V ABNANL2A" which is different from what Paul gave me.

 

It was puzzling that even the person in their main wire transfer office that does the actual transfers around the world claimed to not understand the two lines as Paul gave them, and my branch person repeated them 3 times to two different people in that main wire office. Eventually after long delays, and the bank manager's prodding, they came back with what information she needed to use for the forms.

[WOBentley]

Got my bank wire done today for the 3 bottles. BTW, the USA bank I deal with needed more address information than I got from Paul. Four phone calls and 30 mins later, we finally figured everything out. I gave him a line by line of what our bank transfer form needed by email. If anyone else is thinking of ordering and you don't get extra address info for his bank and Akkerman's store, you can PM me for it. It was only because I knew the bank manager that they jumped through extra hoops to find the information with more detailed research resources they had access to, some of which they had to call New York to get.

Interesting...I also got wire done today. However they were able to work with what Paul had sent me...Bank name, acct# and IBAN number are the key issues... out of curiousity what else did they need? (Feel free to PM if you don't think you should post any potentially sensitive bank info of theirs). I do often have to wire money to Europe and have a Banker I work with so maybe they just did all that you had to do but without my knowledge???

 

Well it may be a case of my local branch of Citizens Bank being a "Wire Transfer Newbie," but it seems large enough with 1500 branches. She said they have a new wire transfer system that did not work for whatever reason. She had to go back to their "old system," and make phone calls after initially telling me I would have to come back after I got their full company (Akkerman) address (street, city, postal code, country) and phone number. Likewise I needed the full bank name and complete address. None of them could figure out what the parts of Paul's first line meant, specifically "ABN-AMRO nr" and the "t.g.v." The "BIC" was not a term they were familiar with either...which turned out to be what they call the "Bank Routing Number/Swift Code" They claimed the full bank's name was "ABN Ambro Bank N V ABNANL2A" which is different from what Paul gave me.

 

It was puzzling that even the person in their main wire transfer office that does the actual transfers around the world claimed to not understand the two lines as Paul gave them, and my branch person repeated them 3 times to two different people in that main wire office. Eventually after long delays, and the bank manager's prodding, they came back with what information she needed to use for the forms.

Interesting, and the extra information may well have been needed due to the need to use the older syatem (???) I believe the ABN-Ambro nr (etc.) is the unique bank identifier (and the Bank is ABN-Ambro I am pretty certain with nr (number) being the branch number. BIC is I believe equivalent to Swift code, and IBAN is usually all that is needed by the system (meaning I think they don't usually need Swift and IBAN, but I could be wrong), but I give my bank both so perhaops they just never tell me they use it too!

Oh well, looks like all's well that ends well! Now if we can only get some unbroken ink bottles!

[GeeTee]

This site has a lot of info on IBAN and BIC numbers. http://www.ibanbicservice.nl/

You can also translate a dutch bankaccountnumber (usually nine digets) to a IBAN number with the correct Bic code.

 

BIC is indeed the Swift code, but that last term isn't used by European banks anymore afaik.

[steersbylitning]

I would definitely buy some of this ink if someone in the US imports it!

 

Debbie

[pen2paper]

why I love FPN..

btw, the bottle is as interesting, (or more), than the ink..

factors into the price per ounce, shipping, etc costs.

Have Rachel, Brian, been following this thread - likely watching for initial reviews???

[wykpenguin]

I was told by their staff that the caps leak, so I couldn't put it in my luggage. They offered to sell me the bottle for a small discount. In retrospect, I should have taken both and poured the ink out into another bottle. Anyway, now I have the bottle but I am still not sure what type of ink I should put in it. The volume is just so large. I wish they sold the small ones.

[USMCMom]

I traveled by plane with a bottle/jar (not ink) that was to supposedly leak. I used plastic wrap, pulled firmly over the opening, screwed the top on tightly, put the bottle/jar into a plastic bag and had my fingers crossed the entire trip. I arrived with no leaking. I've done this twice now. The container was in my suit case in the cargo area, not a carry on.

[GouletPens]

why I love FPN..

btw, the bottle is as interesting, (or more), than the ink..

factors into the price per ounce, shipping, etc costs.

Have Rachel, Brian, been following this thread - likely watching for initial reviews???

 

Yup! We're here, stevlight PMed me on it and I just read through the whole thread. If you guys think importing a couple of bottles is tough, getting large quantities like what's needed for retailing is a whole other matter because customs gets involved. I'm not sure what kind of tariffs, duties, customs fees, insurance, etc would be necessary for a US company like us to start carrying these inks (if Akkerman is even willing to wholesale them). I'm definitely going to wait to see some more reviews of the ink before pursuing anything, if it turns out to just be repackaged Diamine or something then I highly doubt it would be worth the trouble to import it to the US. I'll keep my eye out on this thread and do a little investigating of my own. Thanks for an interesting thread and for letting me know about it stevlight!

[SamCapote]

This site has a lot of info on IBAN and BIC numbers. http://www.ibanbicservice.nl/

You can also translate a dutch bankaccountnumber (usually nine digets) to a IBAN number with the correct Bic code.

 

BIC is indeed the Swift code, but that last term isn't used by European banks anymore afaik.

 

Right, we figured that out after initially being told to go home and get all the detailed information, and the manager stepped in, 30 minutes later, and 4 phone calls to various wire transfer departments. The information Paul gave me was not matching up to any of the forms and terms this 1500 branch Citizens Bank was using. It is understandable that there are incompatibilities between international banks, so I brought this up to save others the hassle I went through.

[Jimmy James]

why I love FPN..

btw, the bottle is as interesting, (or more), than the ink..

factors into the price per ounce, shipping, etc costs.

Have Rachel, Brian, been following this thread - likely watching for initial reviews???

 

Yup! We're here, stevlight PMed me on it and I just read through the whole thread. If you guys think importing a couple of bottles is tough, getting large quantities like what's needed for retailing is a whole other matter because customs gets involved. I'm not sure what kind of tariffs, duties, customs fees, insurance, etc would be necessary for a US company like us to start carrying these inks (if Akkerman is even willing to wholesale them). I'm definitely going to wait to see some more reviews of the ink before pursuing anything, if it turns out to just be repackaged Diamine or something then I highly doubt it would be worth the trouble to import it to the US. I'll keep my eye out on this thread and do a little investigating of my own. Thanks for an interesting thread and for letting me know about it stevlight!

 

Brian, I knew you were the guy up to this task if there were one! I am sure it's a challenge because unlike other items you stock, you would have to take on the aspects that a distributor handles as well (or find somebody -- Luxury Brands, perhaps? -- to take the distribution plunge with you). I have to say that if these are quality inks that can be sourced in quantity, it sounds like the prices could become attractive enough with larger order shipping for them to be a hit. If Pilot thinks they have a hit with the Iroshizuku bottle, this bottle blasts them right out of the water.

 

I appreciate the openness to the possibility of this. Things like this make clear that you love your business. I guess time will tell how Akkerman works out.

Edited January 29, 2011 by Jimmy James

[saintsimon]

The BIC (Business Identifiier Code) is a synonymous for SWIFT code (see ISO 9362), which identifies the Bank (and its branch) in our case. I would expect from a bank employee to be trained to recognize ABNANL2A as a BIC/SWIFT code without making phone calls. Also ABN Amro is a major bank, a banker should have heard about it.

Sometimes the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is sufficient, sometimes the BIC is required, too, but that's routine for bankers, IMHO.

The IBAN starts with the country code and a checksum, then contains the legacy bank codes of each country and the account number, This information in itself identifies each global bank account number, where the system is in use.

 

I'm surprised some banks still offer 19th century level standard banking for their customers. :blink:

Edited January 29, 2011 by saintsimon

[WOBentley]

why I love FPN..

btw, the bottle is as interesting, (or more), than the ink..

factors into the price per ounce, shipping, etc costs.

Have Rachel, Brian, been following this thread - likely watching for initial reviews???

 

Yup! We're here, stevlight PMed me on it and I just read through the whole thread. If you guys think importing a couple of bottles is tough, getting large quantities like what's needed for retailing is a whole other matter because customs gets involved. I'm not sure what kind of tariffs, duties, customs fees, insurance, etc would be necessary for a US company like us to start carrying these inks (if Akkerman is even willing to wholesale them). I'm definitely going to wait to see some more reviews of the ink before pursuing anything, if it turns out to just be repackaged Diamine or something then I highly doubt it would be worth the trouble to import it to the US. I'll keep my eye out on this thread and do a little investigating of my own. Thanks for an interesting thread and for letting me know about it stevlight!

Brian,

I have 5 different colors coming:

#5 (Shocking Blue)

#10 (Akkerman IJzer Galnoten bl/zw the iron gall black)

#18 (Geruda Rood) Red

#23 (Bekakt Haags) Brown

#27 (Bezuidenwoudgroen) Green

If they arrive safely (I can PM you when they do, or contact you via your website), and you wanted to send me 5 of your little vials, I would happily send you a sample of each to try for yourself. That way you can evaluate firsthand and know exactly what you would be buying (or decide not to buy!).

Dave

[saintsimon]

...

#10 (Akkerman IJzer Galnoten bl/zw the iron gall black)

...

Dave

Dave, that "bl/zw" stands for "blauw / zwart", blue-black.

It will be interesting to know, if #5 is Diamine Majestic Blue.

Edited January 29, 2011 by saintsimon

[SamCapote]

The BIC (Business Identifiier Code) is a synonymous for SWIFT code (see ISO 9362), which identifies the Bank (and its branch) in our case. I would expect from a bank employee to be trained to recognize ABNANL2A as a BIC/SWIFT code without making phone calls. Also ABN Amro is a major bank, a banker should have heard about it.

Sometimes the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is sufficient, sometimes the BIC is required, too, but that's routine for bankers, IMHO.

The IBAN starts with the country code and a checksum, then contains the legacy bank codes of each country and the account number, This information in itself identifies each global bank account number, where the system is in use.

 

I'm surprised some banks still offer 19th century level standard banking for their customers. :blink:

 

I'm looking at the form from the wire transfer. BIC is not listed. The form says "Routing Number/Swift Code" The name of the bank Paul gave was not a full name, and he spelled it ABN-AMRO nr instead of the correct name ABN-AMBRO BANK N V ABNANL2A. If the names don't match exactly, they don't send the wire transfer, since it is one way with no way to retrieve $$$ upon error. Paul gave no address for Akkerman's or the bank which were both required.

 

This is hardly banking standards from the 1800's. Where is the "USA is not worthy to exist on the same planet as Euro-ville " icon?

 

My bank officer has a standard form which is the only way the wire transfer is to be filled out and presented. They cannot guess or interpret what Paul might have meant. I would never rely on Wikipedia for anything important...in any case, I was in the bank office, not sitting at my computer able to look things up myself.

 

I know what all the codes and terms mean now after wasting 30 minutes. I posted about this to help any other Americans who may run into this issue....not to get into a Euro-superiority catfight.

[tfwall]

The BIC (Business Identifiier Code) is a synonymous for SWIFT code (see ISO 9362), which identifies the Bank (and its branch) in our case. I would expect from a bank employee to be trained to recognize ABNANL2A as a BIC/SWIFT code without making phone calls. Also ABN Amro is a major bank, a banker should have heard about it.

Sometimes the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is sufficient, sometimes the BIC is required, too, but that's routine for bankers, IMHO.

The IBAN starts with the country code and a checksum, then contains the legacy bank codes of each country and the account number, This information in itself identifies each global bank account number, where the system is in use.

 

I'm surprised some banks still offer 19th century level standard banking for their customers. :blink:

 

I've never had any trouble with international wire transfers. There are some decent banks Stateside, but as recent history has shown us, not all of them are competent or even above board.

 

I don't foresee these issues causing most interested buyers any problems. If you are thinking of picking up some of these inks, don't let the banking discussions stop you. It is a simple and painless process.

Edited January 29, 2011 by Chemyst

[epo]

I now have a bottle of the Akkerman Blue ink courtesy of Alex. It didn't leak in transit though for safety I would wrap clingfilm around the neck and bag it

 

The bottle seems huge, comes in a nice card box and is very attractive in the 'flesh', the filling procedure works a treat though decanting the excess back into the bottle while it is still full is tricky.

 

There will be a proper review to follow but in my Diamond Medal - from PenFisher, which has just come back from eckiethump - it is a very attractive light blue and a perfectly nice everyday ink, it dries fairly quickly. I also have a couple of bottles in transit from thoppen including the national colour, orange.

[saintsimon]

The BIC (Business Identifiier Code) is a synonymous for SWIFT code (see ISO 9362), which identifies the Bank (and its branch) in our case. I would expect from a bank employee to be trained to recognize ABNANL2A as a BIC/SWIFT code without making phone calls. Also ABN Amro is a major bank, a banker should have heard about it.

Sometimes the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is sufficient, sometimes the BIC is required, too, but that's routine for bankers, IMHO.

The IBAN starts with the country code and a checksum, then contains the legacy bank codes of each country and the account number, This information in itself identifies each global bank account number, where the system is in use.

 

I'm surprised some banks still offer 19th century level standard banking for their customers. :blink:

 

I'm looking at the form from the wire transfer. BIC is not listed. The form says "Routing Number/Swift Code" The name of the bank Paul gave was not a full name, and he spelled it ABN-AMRO nr instead of the correct name ABN-AMBRO BANK N V ABNANL2A. If the names don't match exactly, they don't send the wire transfer, since it is one way with no way to retrieve $ upon error. Paul gave no address for Akkerman's or the bank which were both required.

 

This is hardly banking standards from the 1800's. Where is the "USA is not worthy to exist on the same planet as Euro-ville " icon?

 

My bank officer has a standard form which is the only way the wire transfer is to be filled out and presented. They cannot guess or interpret what Paul might have meant. I would never rely on Wikipedia for anything important...in any case, I was in the bank office, not sitting at my computer able to look things up myself.

 

I know what all the codes and terms mean now after wasting 30 minutes. I posted about this to help any other Americans who may run into this issue....not to get into a Euro-superiority catfight.

No, dear Sam, this is not about Euro-superiority (not really :ph34r:). Rather about your specific bank. Standing in the branch is 19th century for a simple wire transfer, domestic or foreign alike. ..

 

Anyway, enjoy the inks, when they finally arrive.

 

EDITed to de-bloat my post.

Edited January 29, 2011 by saintsimon

[WOBentley]

...

#10 (Akkerman IJzer Galnoten bl/zw the iron gall black)

...

Dave

Dave, that "bl/zw" stands for "blauw / zwart", blue-black.

It will be interesting to know, if #5 is Diamine Majestic Blue.

saintsimon

I thought that it was Blue-Black (again based on my extremely rudimentary German (lack of!) skills), so I asked them and their response was that it was an iron gall ink that goes on looking dark blue but quickly turns essentially black. It will be interesting to see what it actually does.

Dave

Edited January 29, 2011 by WOBentley

[SamCapote]

The BIC (Business Identifiier Code) is a synonymous for SWIFT code (see ISO 9362), which identifies the Bank (and its branch) in our case. I would expect from a bank employee to be trained to recognize ABNANL2A as a BIC/SWIFT code without making phone calls. Also ABN Amro is a major bank, a banker should have heard about it.

Sometimes the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is sufficient, sometimes the BIC is required, too, but that's routine for bankers, IMHO.

The IBAN starts with the country code and a checksum, then contains the legacy bank codes of each country and the account number, This information in itself identifies each global bank account number, where the system is in use.

 

I'm surprised some banks still offer 19th century level standard banking for their customers. :blink:

 

I'm looking at the form from the wire transfer. BIC is not listed. The form says "Routing Number/Swift Code" The name of the bank Paul gave was not a full name, and he spelled it ABN-AMRO nr instead of the correct name ABN-AMBRO BANK N V ABNANL2A. If the names don't match exactly, they don't send the wire transfer, since it is one way with no way to retrieve $ upon error. Paul gave no address for Akkerman's or the bank which were both required.

 

This is hardly banking standards from the 1800's. Where is the "USA is not worthy to exist on the same planet as Euro-ville " icon?

 

My bank officer has a standard form which is the only way the wire transfer is to be filled out and presented. They cannot guess or interpret what Paul might have meant. I would never rely on Wikipedia for anything important...in any case, I was in the bank office, not sitting at my computer able to look things up myself.

 

I know what all the codes and terms mean now after wasting 30 minutes. I posted about this to help any other Americans who may run into this issue....not to get into a Euro-superiority catfight.

No, dear Sam, this is not about Euro-superiority (not really :ph34r:). Rather about your specific bank. Standing in the branch is 19th century for a simple wire transfer, domestic or foreign alike. ..

 

Anyway, enjoy the inks, when they finally arrive.

 

EDITed to de-bloat my post.

 

For what it's worth, Citizen's Bank is only the 20th largest bank in the USA, now owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, with only 1500 branches and a paltry $144 Billion in assets, so yes it must be a retarded institution stuck in the practices of the 1800's. I did have to leave my horse tethered outside, but as far as I could tell the horse trough had clean water, and most of the sawdust was cleaned off the floors. The various abacus in use appeared to be in good working order. Fortunately, I didn't stand for 30 minutes, but rather sat in a comfortable leather chair and was offered coffee. I will try to enjoy the inks, despite my enormous primitive obstacles.

 

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/pike444/Boulier1.jpg

[Professor Plume]

HAHAHAHAHA! Hilarious! Only on FPN! Thank you.