Is Martemoderne Still Around?

[ChrisPaul]

Hi all,

 

I bought a number of Delta pens on Ebay from an Italian dealer named Martemoderne a while back and wanted to buy some more, but I can't find this dealer on Ebay anymore. They used to get some exclusives from Delta and had great prices. Does anyone know if they're still in business? Thanks!

 

Best Wishes,

Chris

[Chrissy]

If you do a search for that seller on here you will find several recent threads about them. I believe that they now have their own web-site.

 

It's Martemodena by the way not Martemoderne

[ChrisPaul]

Thanks! I found their website. Maybe they've reduced their Ebay presence -- and maybe I'd have better luck finding them there if I spelled their name correctly!

 

Thank you again, Chrissy.

[Barkingpig]

Once you reach their site, if you register there, you will then be on their mailing list & receive regular electronic message updates about new products & auctions, pending. I just deleted perhaps my third message in a week or so, today; I did sneak a peek prior to doing so & found perhaps 4 auctions for a Visconti pen I admire, The Divina Desert Springs. one of which sold recently @ a very reduced price. With four auctions pending, one could hope it might happen again!

[Smithman]

They sell their own branded pens, made by various pen companies for them, both on the site and through their own auctions. Also sell several other brands . Rare to find Delta anymore, I suspect lack of product availability.

Many pens on auction regularly. Always one or more of their models and usually some Pelikan, Visconti, and Mont Blanc (including some fancier models with reserved prices). Make sure you read descriptions carefully so you know exactly what the pen is and what nib comes with it. Some auctions allow you to choose nib size. Also check shipping cost; it can be high (mostly $15-50 USD), so you need to figure that into what you bid. Still, I just won auction for a Visconti Opera Metal that with shipping was still barely more than half of best discount price I found elsewhere.

[jekostas]

  On 8/29/2017 at 8:05 PM, ChrisPaul said:

Hi all,

 

I bought a number of Delta pens on Ebay from an Italian dealer named Martemoderne a while back and wanted to buy some more, but I can't find this dealer on Ebay anymore. They used to get some exclusives from Delta and had great prices. Does anyone know if they're still in business? Thanks!

 

Best Wishes,

Chris

 

Their eBay page very clearly states that they're on vacation.

[Bill P]

One issue I have with Martemodena is that they offer items for sale on their site AND in their auctions (Ebay and their OWN site) that they do NOT have in stock WITHOUT placing any advice with the item they are offering for sale to that effect, on their site or on ebay.

 

So you win an Auction on ebay or on their site and then wonder several days later why it hasn't shipped...make an inquiry only to receive a reply that they are waiting for the item to arrive from the manufacturer...I have experienced 3 weeks to a month delay in shipment...Had I known up front the item wasn't in stock I may or may not have bid/purchased.

 

Additionally , having already sold the item that they don't have in stock...they continue to offer the same item as an auction item, again with no advice that it is not in stock...so this is not because they have had some unexpected increase in the sale of the item(s) and they unexpectedly ran out of inventory....only ONE person wins an auction...this is a conscious decision to continue selling items they don't have in stock.

 

Most vendors tell you up front if an item is out of stock...Martemodena doesn't do that.

Edited August 31, 2017 by Bill P

[Theroc]

They changed their eBay name to italycollectors

Also they've been on vacation throughout August.

[PaganArcher]

  On 9/1/2017 at 11:31 PM, Theroc said:

They changed their eBay name to italycollectors

Also they've been on vacation throughout August.

Interestingly, the link to ebay now says they are no longer a registered user.

[Bill P]

Waited over 30 days for the Fountain Pen that I won at Auction from the Martemodena Auction site...

 

No Pen, No ship date, nothing...and they continue to offer the Pen for sale on their website...as an Auction item.

 

I know of at least two other FPN members who purchased their Pens earlier then me...who also have not received the Pens that they paid for long ago.

 

Looks like you do business with Martemodena at your own risk...(no longer with the ebay protections)

 

On ebay first they changed their name to italycollectors...and now shortly thereafter they are no longer a registered user on ebay..

 

There may be a good reason(s) for their above changes on ebay

 

italycollectors (9318)

No longer a registered user

97.6% positive feedback

When you treat customers poorly it is usually only a matter of time before it begins to impact your business...

Edited September 25, 2017 by Bill P

[sketchstack]

Wow, if you look at the feedback for the last 30 days it shows over 50% negative transactions (7 negative out of 12 total feedback) and two of the negative feedback were for undelivered pens priced at $1,824 and $5,200...

 

Maybe Ebay finally got tired of paying out for unfulfilled transactions and pulled the plug.

[Theroc]

They basically collapsed this summer. Most pens they sold after June never got delivered. At first I though it was only Visconti pens, but then you started seeing negative feedback for undelivered MBs and other brands too. Only their own MarteModena-branded pens got delivered.

I myself bought two Viscontis from them in late July, they never got delivered. They blamed a change of management at Visconti, the summer holidays etc etc. For a while I believed them and gave them every benefit of a doubt. When I started to see their negative feedback piling up, however, I asked for a refund. They immediately issued it, but the transaction failed and eBay refunded me my money in the end. A few days later they were no longer on eBay.

Unfortunately, however, I had also returned a 3rd pen, bought earlier this year, for repair. I have tried to contact them about it through eBay and through their website... Not a single response to date. I guess I have to write that one off as a complete loss.

 

BTW, if you are considering buying something directly from their website, they do accept PayPal. However, they will charge you a 10% fee and you have to email them for approval first.

I haven't tried buying from their website and wouldn't dream of it at this point.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Theroc

[Theroc]

  On 9/25/2017 at 2:39 PM, Bill P said:

 

Waited over 30 days for the Fountain Pen that I won at Auction from the Martemodena Auction site...

 

No Pen, No ship date, nothing...and they continue to offer the Pen for sale on their website...as an Auction item.

 

Can I ask what make the pen you bought was?

[Bill P]

  On 9/30/2017 at 10:01 AM, Theroc said:

 

Can I ask what make the pen you bought was?

Yes, I purchased a Visconti from Martemodena on 8/24 from their auction site...they just kept putting me off as they didn't ship the Pen..I requested a refund...nothing.

 

After my purchase I learned of others here on FPN who had purchased their Pens WEEKS before I did who also hadn't received their Pens...

 

This week I finally lost my patience and had to file a dispute with paypal, which paypal immediately escalated to a claim...I know there are several others here on FPN who have had similar, if not exact experiences.

 

I won't do business with them again,and I clearly can't recommend them for anything.

[PaganArcher]

  On 9/30/2017 at 9:50 AM, Theroc said:

...

 

BTW, if you are considering buying something directly from their website, they do accept PayPal. However, they will charge you a 10% fee and you have to email them for approval first.

I haven't tried buying from their website and wouldn't dream of it at this point.

This, if I'm not mistaken, is a violation of the PayPal TOS. They seem to love breaking rules from what I can see.

[sketchstack]

  On 9/30/2017 at 4:35 PM, PaganArcher said:

This, if I'm not mistaken, is a violation of the PayPal TOS. They seem to love breaking rules from what I can see.

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. As a tourist I usually see "3% fee for credit card" because a small resturant is trying to pass the Visa per-transaction cost on to the customer (which is against Visa rules).

 

Not sure why it became a higher "10% transaction fee" for this pen vendor ...maybe they just decided to round up.

[Chrissy]

  On 9/30/2017 at 5:21 PM, sketchstack said:

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. As a tourist I usually see "3% fee for credit card" because a small resturant is trying to pass the Visa per-transaction cost on to the customer (which is against Visa rules).

 

Not sure why it became a higher "10% transaction fee" for this pen vendor ...maybe they just decided to round up.

 

I'm not at all surprised to read that this vendor would charge a 10% transaction fee for PayPal.

 

Personally, I wouldn't buy anything from this seller. They break too many rules and overcharge everywhere they possibly can, while not worrying about shipping items out that they have received payment for.

[Theroc]

  On 9/30/2017 at 5:21 PM, sketchstack said:

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. As a tourist I usually see "3% fee for credit card" because a small resturant is trying to pass the Visa per-transaction cost on to the customer (which is against Visa rules).

 

Not sure why it became a higher "10% transaction fee" for this pen vendor ...maybe they just decided to round up.

 

I think it's to actively discourage you from using PayPal. Even at their peak, this is seller has always acted as if being held accountable was beneath them.

It's plain arrogance.

[sketchstack]

  On 9/30/2017 at 10:07 PM, Theroc said:

 

I think it's to actively discourage you from using PayPal. Even at their peak, this is seller has always acted as if being held accountable was beneath them.

It's plain arrogance.

 

 

Yes, never mind all of these corroborated stories about transaction issues, I was initially turned off simply by the attitude in the feedback profile.

 

Whenever I see Ebay seller replies to negative feedback that are written in ALL CAPS !!! with exclamation marks (blaming the customer, usually), it really turns me off. This goes for all vendors, or even shops or restaurants on Yelp.

[KreepyKen]

Sad to see this happen. I bought two Delta pens from him quite a while ago (April 2016), and both transactions went off without a hitch. I wouldn't call his shipping time "speedy," but it was reasonable.