New Australian Made Fountain Pen Ink At Justwrite

[cedargirl]

I believe the Australia Post packaging requirements for oversees shipments is at least one of the issues, maybe insurance cost is another. Add that to the international freight costs and a cheap container of ink becomes mighty expensive.

[Drone]

In Jakarta where I'm based now it is a veritable ink desert. So I'm pretty familiar with shipping ink internationally.

 

The likes of a parcel pack or small box (EMS, DHL, FedEx, even most Postal systems offer them) have a fixed size and maximum allowable weight (or an equivalent volumetric weight if you use your own packaging) - which can usually accommodate a fairly generous amount of ink in a single shipment for a FIXED COST.

 

The weight of the bottles does come into play but as there is a fixed maximum weight, as long as you don't hit the threshold you're golden. Plus, with a little bit of care in packing the bottles ensure the ink arrives intact.

 

As for the ink bags, I'm more concerned. The problem comes from how Customs opens packages for inspection. In Jakarta I regularly get packages with deep box-cutter slashes that take place in customs. Marking the box Fragile at the origin does help most times though, but not every time.

 

Where required, International shipping and insurance costs DO add a significant amount to the ink purchase, but that's the case for ANY ink shipment - With other words; whether I buy the ink from the U.S., Malaysia, or (hopefully) Australia, the high international shipping, insurance, import duty, & tax costs exist for each shipment. Only how far the point of origin is affects the shipping cost. For the most part, all the other costs are the same.

 

Some examples:

 

A box that can hold six or eight bottles of ink costs about $30-$35 USD to ship from my freight forwarder in Florida to Jakarta, usually via DHL Express. The shipment takes three or four days. The same sort of thing (DHL or FedEx) from Malaysia runs about $11 USD per box (from PenGallery for example). I would imagine that unless something is seriously amiss, The cost to ship from Australia to Jakarta would be somewhere in between those two examples.

 

So, as I stated in the last paragraph, unless there's something special (i.e., wrong) about international shipments coming from Australia, I would think having a international shipping option can only enhance your new Australian ink business.

 

We use Courier Services for most International shipments in my business (not pens and ink). The courier companies make sure dealing with them is a simple low overhead affair. It's all automated online these days. You send them the shipping order from your computer or handheld device and magically someone shows up and picks up your boxes the same day. Payment is online with your bank or by credit card. Record keeping, real-time tracking, etc. is impeccable.

 

Anyway - that's my experience...

 

Best Regards, David

[Seele]

Interesting thought: overzealous customs inspector, sharp box cutter, and a half-litre plastics pouch of BSB... ouch. He'd have to endure smurf jokes for weeks.

Edited February 5, 2014 by Seele

[Albinoni]

 

Pretty harsh indeed. I think it's a great idea. Easy to pack and send, keeps costs down - and you can't complain about the prices. You can refill old bottles instead of potentially sending them to landfill. Win win all round I say.

 

And the inks are great

OK if it is harsh I'm sorry and didn't meant to take offense, but I would not feel safe to have a bag of ink in my bag or what ever just in case it splits of breaks and that would be it. And assume if one fills up a old glass bottle of ink with it is the bag resealable.

[JustWrite Pen Company]

I have had a lot of enquiries from US FPN members interested in buying Toucan inks so I thought I'd post an update here in case other members were also interested.

I'm currently talking to some US retailers who have expressed an interest in selling Toucan Inks in the US. I think this would be the ideal situation but if it doesn't pan out I will look into alternatives to Australia Post to see if there is some way to ship them to the US at a reasonable cost.

The main problem is the cost of postage from Australia to the US.

For example, using Registered Mail (Signature on delivery but no tracking) or Pack and Track (Online tracking but no signature on delivery):

14 x 30ml ink pack: $33.95
14 x 60ml ink pack: $48.55

I've actually packed up the ink packs and taken them to the Post Office to confirm these rates were correct.

Part of the reason it's so high is Australia Post's packaging requirements for liquids:

The packaging for liquids that are non-dangerous goods must comprise:
* a leak-proof primary container made of glass, metal, plastic or similar material
* a strong outer box made of metal, wood, strong plastic or strong corrugated cardboard with a lid that cannot easily work loose
* an absorbent material, such as cotton wool, to be placed between the primary container and the outer box and of sufficient quantity to absorb all liquid if the primary container fails.

Quoted from Australia Post's Dangerous and Prohibited Goods and Packaging Post Guide.

We stopped selling overseas about a year ago because of the high postage costs and also because we simply cannot compete with US based websites on product prices.

I will make another post when I have some definite news about a US retailer.

[Drone]

"Part of the reason it's so high is Australia Post's packaging requirements for liquids:"

 

Sigh... You might be mistaken for trying to send some deadly nefarious substance. This is Big Government acting solely for the sake of Big Government.

[amberleadavis]

Hmm.... So what if we did another group buy. Say 50 sets of the 14 30 ml packages?

[Cyber6]

Hmm.... So what if we did another group buy. Say 50 sets of the 14 30 ml packages?

 

Amberlea.. do tell me when you get your sample set. I ship it last Friday.. from New Hampshire.

[amberleadavis]

Yes it arrived. I inked up! Thank you! I had forgotten about it coming. The orange died along the way, but another nice FPNer sent me some. THANK YOU! I will review away.

[Cyber6]

Yes it arrived. I inked up! Thank you! I had forgotten about it coming. The orange died along the way, but another nice FPNer sent me some. THANK YOU! I will review away.

 

Damn... and I even use silicon tape...

[amberleadavis]

 

Damn... and I even use silicon tape...

 

 

I'm just thrilled to get them!!

[Drone]

...The orange died along the way, but another nice FPNer sent me some.

 

Do you mean there was a leak in your shipment? If so, how was your ink shipped, in bottles or bags?

[Cyber6]

 

Do you mean there was a leak in your shipment? If so, how was your ink shipped, in bottles or bags?

 

They were samples vials I send to Amberlea. I use silicon tape on the caps, but obviously I did not do a good enough job.

 

I am glad only the orange died.

 

 

C.

[amberleadavis]

I'm enjoying the ink. I started with the bright green. It's very pretty.

[pagama]

Dear Kevin,

 

Can I get your details so that we can buy some of your inks?

I have friends not on this site that would like to buy and try it!

 

 

Regards

 

Paul

[amberleadavis]

If you are in the US, we may be trying to put together a group buy.

[Hewson]

Please make the black more saturated or release a deeper black!

Sydney customer here looking for a nice deep black!

[Nonsensical]

Another satisfied customer here. I ordered the inks on the 17th (granted, it took a while to get posted out - 7 days, but there was a disclaimer when I went to checkout, so I wasn't too worried about it). It arrived today, and I have to say, it was quite well packaged. The pouches had been snap sealed to prevent leakages, and everything arrived intact. I can't wait to try them out, and plan on writing up a few reviews. I purchased the bright blue, green and orange.

 

The only thing that I wanted to mention was that I no longer see the 150ml and 400ml pouches available for sale. Are they sold out, or are these options no longer available? (I haven't even used the inks yet, and I'm already thinking about how to get more someone get me some help).

Edited March 26, 2014 by Nonsensical

[AndrewC]

Regarding Penman Sapphire it is also one of my favorite colors, and I have a bottle I use every so often. You comment about it being toxic when it burns, and then the comment below made me think.

 

 

It's been speculated that the Penman inks used organo-metalic inks. If that's correct, depending on the metals the combustion products could be rather nasty.

I always wondered if Penman had azurite in it,or lapis lazuli, like the painters used to do for all those beautiful blues on Mary's skirts. Got a wild hair and googled "what happens when azurite burns"- got this and seemed possible...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrotechnic_colorant

The reason I used azurite is because I have some on my desk and it has little metallic flecks in it that make me think of the ink, where lapis does not so much, and it is the base for ultramarine. So, if you use some azureite and come up with the next Penman Sapphire, think of me and send me a sample?

I wish you the best with your inks. I love the idea of the bags, and am happy to see a local business serving the local pen populous. I visited last year (the solar eclipse) and am looking forward to visiting again. Especially if I know I won't have to worry about getting ink while there.

[JustWrite Pen Company]

Dear Kevin,

 

Can I get your details so that we can buy some of your inks?

I have friends not on this site that would like to buy and try it!

 

 

Regards

 

Paul

 

JustWrite Pen Co

7 Hill St Blackstone QLD 4304

Web Site: www.justwrite.com.au Email: info@justwrite.com.au