Any Website To Buy Second-Hand Japanese Fps?

[yongsheng]

Being a self- claimed collector of fountain pens, recently I'm more and more obsessed with Japanese limited edition fountain pens. I used to buy them from taobao.com, basically a Chinese eBay, but it has two problems. First retailers selling these limited edition Japanese pens are more or less gray market, so they just set the price *they* see fit. Second, to protect their source they tend to use jargons instead of original Japanese names or its translation, so that I can't search for relative information. So do you guys know any website that I can buy second-hand Japanese FPs?

[25_15_3]

yahoo auctions, kingdom note, eurobox. 1st and 2nd will need a proxy shipping site. think eurobox will ship overseas from what ive read.

[Freddy]

Fountain Pen Hospital in New York City..In Backroom...

 

https://www.fountainpenhospital.com/backroom/index.asp

 

And Vintage Pens Catalog.....Gopens..com Check out the most recent catalog first..#87

 

https://gopens.com/

 

Both have a sterling reputation.

 

Fred

[stan]

Are you seeking any specific brands, models, types, or pens from a specific time period? You mention Limited Editions so I suspect you seek modern pens.

 

Best resources are in Japan. If looking for the myriad Sailor models, Japan. Same for Pilot and Platinum. Japan.

 

Keep an eye on what is sold on Yahoo Japan and check Rakuten regularly. That will be your best resource. Kingdom Note sells overseas. Good possibility. But, you have to check in regularly. Special pens move very quickly. There have been links posted to many smaller shops that have Limited Editions. Check in periodically. Try Nagasawa. Am not sure if they sell overseas. Try anyway. Sailor has a page listing their Limited Editions. All are sold in Japan only and at specific shops. Still try contacting the shops. Here's one pen I really like: http://www.sailor.co.jp/limited/sapli_kokurasanen. It is a REAL limited Edition.

 

Other links have been posted here on FPN for the special editions available at Mitsukoshi. Go to the Mitsukoshi website. Some may be still available. They are purchasable through an online proxy service.

 

Or, just Google 'Sailor pen Limited Edition'. You'll find 100s of ads for so-called Limited Editions. If that is what you are looking for

 

Most of the so-called Limited Editions sold in America were limited quantities reserved for this market. You won't find too much. Making 5000 pens is not a Limited Edition. All it means is thy are limiting production to 5000 pens. The better Japanese LE are made in runs of 50-500. Many, less.

 

Some LEs make their way to pensinasia.com. FWIW, Japanese companies tend to cater to the southeast Asian market. Pricey!

 

Should you want the real Limited and Special Edition models that were really made in limited quantities for a limited market, you need to focus your attention on Japan. Perhaps, you can use a proxy service to purchase from Maruzen or Itoya. Full price! But, better than nothing.

 

If seeking bargain prices on real Limited and Special Editions, keep looking. Most collectors here and in Japan know their value. Sometimes they can be found on Yahoo Japan or Kingdom Note. You need to look every day to find them. If they are 'Buy It Now' items, some don't last very long. If at auction, just hope the price does not go too high.

 

This is probably not what you seek but, they do exist online.

https://www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/78558

 

Good luck.

Being a self- claimed collector of fountain pens, recently I'm more and more obsessed with Japanese limited edition fountain pens. I used to buy them from taobao.com, basically a Chinese eBay, but it has two problems. First retailers selling these limited edition Japanese pens are more or less gray market, so they just set the price *they* see fit. Second, to protect their source they tend to use jargons instead of original Japanese names or its translation, so that I can't search for relative information. So do you guys know any website that I can buy second-hand Japanese FPs?

[hellokloh]

If you want Sailor LEs, your best bet is to be patient on the secondary market, or figure out which ones you like from the Sailor page peerless1 linked... then try to Google your way to finding an online source. One of my Sailor Pro Gears was an edition of 25, but sold by some department store with a hard to find website... they were available online for months (I have one, another US based friend also has one, they weren't hard for us to get).

 

Also, Pen Sachi sells a bunch of the harder to find Sailors, but fairly marked up, and I don't think they get many of the smaller runs.

 

As to where to look for second hand, if you're looking for modern, I'd keep an eye on the classifieds here, r/pen_swap and FPG. Quite a few also show up in the Penaddict Slack group. (I've personally purchased at least half a dozen Sailor LEs second hand from there)