Great Prices On Some Sailors & Pilots And Iroshizuku At J-Subculture

[miatagrrl]

(I'm not sure if this is the right place for this topic, so you can let me know if I should post elsewhere.) I haven't seen mention of J-Subculture here as a shopping site for fountain pens, so I thought I would. I have gotten all my Pilot Iroshizuku inks there because of the great prices (less than US $10 - $13 for most colors), but whenever I've searched for fountain pens, only really low-end ones came up. Just today I went to the site again, and this time I found quite a few mid-range and even a couple of high-end Sailors and Pilots.

 

A couple things I've learned: Approximate shipping prices are listed alongside the item. However, that price is for if you were to order just that one item. But if you fill up your shopping cart with several items and then click "checkout," the next page will give you various shipping options, and you'll see that the total shipping price is much less than if you were to add up the approximate shipping fees for the individual items in your cart. If you go one step further and fill in your address, the shipping fee might actually go down (it always does for me; probably depends on where you live). I just ordered 2 pens and a couple of very inexpensive, lightweight waterbrushes, and the cost for expedited shipping to Seattle was $12. They had two other slower options that would have been $5 and $8.

 

One other thing I should mention is that the search function is really sucky (not unlike Engeika and other Japanese shopping sites!). Make your search as inspecific as possible (such as "Sailor," not "Sailor Profit" or "Sailor 1911") to find the most items that you might actually be looking for. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending on your perspective!), when you put in "Sailor," you will also get a bunch of girls wearing sailor cosplay outfits, but if you put in "Sailor fountain pen," some pens will get missed. Anyway, their stock of fountain pens isn't huge, so even if you have to go through the entire inventory, it's not too bad, and you're more likely not to miss what you're looking for.

 

I've ordered from them several times and have had no problems at all.

[Sridhar]

Seriously low prices (maybe the lowest I have seen both on product and shipping) ....on some pens about $50 less than what you would get from Japanese sellers ...i only wish I had not spent so much recently....and you are right - the search function is lousy

[Dr.Grace]

Thanks, this is hard to beat. I just placed an order.

[rockydoggy]

Just placed an order as well.

Thanks for the information.

[churl]

These prices are unbelievable. For those folks who are ordering, I'd appreciate an update on how it went!

[Dr.Grace]

I ordered a Custom 74 (amazing price!) and a bottle of Iroshizuku Asa-gao. I chose the premium postal option. It took j-subculture a few days to ship, but they sent the correct items, and the package arrived fairly soon thereafter.

[miatagrrl]

On Jan. 12, I ordered a Sailor Profit Standard with zoom nib and chose expedited service to the U.S. On Jan. 15, I received a shipping notification with tracking number. On Jan. 20, I received the pen -- nicely packaged and with a cute note and origami crane in the package. I have ordered from them previously using the cheapest shipping option, and even then, my order was received in a little over two weeks, I think.

[hypnostene]

Thanks for the feedback, I was considering an order myself.

 

Not only do they have great prices at their store, but you can order through them from amazon.co.jp and other Japanese stores - with similarly great prices. This allows you to find nib grades they don't offer in their own store. I am amazed.

[joehill]

I ordered a Pilot CH 92, with the FM nib that's generally not available in the US, last week on Thursday evening. With the expedited service, it was delivered in Massachusetts yesterday morning, so it took less than a week from the order (by several hours, anyway). It was well wrapped, and with a note and the origami crane, too. (The crane was slightly flattened.)

[Earthdawn]

If you guys has not confirmed it was real I would have just thought it was a scam ...

 

Those prices are unbelievable ....

 

Thanks, I think ... wow I guess I will be shopping there for a little bit while it lasts.

 

I mean those prices kill Engeika

[maverink]

well the shop has been giving us:

 

1. japan street prices( engeika, rakuten etc)minus 8% consumption taxes hence they are unbeatable

2. they give us choice over shipping both cheaper and expensive shipping options unlike rakuten which goes for EMS

 

miatagrrl thanks for posting this link.

[katerchen]

Is that an Amazon shop? The similarity is pretty striking (nevertheless my Amazon login didn't work)

 

-k

 

Also : M1000 for $450 ???

[miatagrrl]

J-Subculture is an Amazon Marketplace vendor -- that's how I first heard about them. I had ordered some Iroshizuku ink at a really good price, and it turned out to be from them. Then from Amazon I clicked the link to find out more about the vendor, and that's what led me to its direct shop. I, too, did notice that the shop's interface looks suspiciously similar to Amazon (especially the buttons!), but I won't fault them for that if they keep offering those prices.

[Calabria]

Um, how do you switch the language on Amazon.co.jp to english??

[katerchen]

Um, how do you switch the language on Amazon.co.jp to english??

 

Not sure you can ... I just use Chrome's built in translation feature. It's good enough to do price checks.

[oshizemi]

Thanks for sharing this!

[hypnostene]

Unfortunately it seems their stocks are limited, and some pens and nib grinds disappeared over the last days.

[TheSacredSoul]

Whoa the items go out of stock really fast. Shall try again next week. Thanks for the link!

 

EDIT : Actually, no. The link you provided is http://shop.j-subculture.com/. And the pen I searched for earlier is still available there. But not at http://www.j-subculture.com/ which I find strange. Still getting it though. Thanks again!

Edited January 28, 2015 by TheSacredSoul

[HollyGolightly]

Oh, thank you! Thinking about picking up a Prera- not sure if I want the demonstrator model or one of the solid colors. The pink seems too magenta for my personal tastes so it's either the pink demonstrator or the white. The prices are too good to be true. It almost makes me just want to get two.

[Jeff_H]

HollyGolightly.....at those prices you should try an even higher end pen. One with a gold nib maybe. Once I tried a gold nib, I kicked myself for waiting so long. Don't get me wrong, there are great steel nibs out there, but gold does have a different feel.... unless you already have one.... then I'll just go about my own business.