Safari For $11.5? M405 Stresemann For $215?

[OCArt]

Just an update to say that the order I placed on Dec. 12 was delivered to my home in California today. All was as expected with the exception of the thickness of the box the M600 orange came in-- it seemed a little thinner than my others. I think another thread discussed that these boxes had to be purchased by the dealers. The pen was certainly legitimate and I don't use the boxes anyway. IMHO a very good deal.

 

Edited for clarification, the box was more the size of an M200 box. It did contain the white "pleather" pouch and instructions.

Edited December 16, 2018 by OCArt

[A Smug Dill]

But not everything is exceptionally cheap - example:

Pelikan Souverän M405 Fountain Pen in black, with EF nib:

• Endless Pens US$248.75 (approx. A$346) including shipping to Australia
• Cult Pens £148.50 (approx. A$260) including shipping to Australia

and I've bought from Cult Pens in the past and trust them.

[alexwi]

I perused the site and it was eerily similar to web sites that sell fake Rolex watches and other counterfeit products.

 

If it's legit, I sincerely hope that the low prices are a temporary means to establish themselves. There's no better way to destroy an industry than by selling barely above wholesale (i.e. cars, electronics). Regardless, having been in retail, their prices are definitely below wholesale (wholesale prices are normally 40-50% below list price).

 

alex

[Eric2018]

Hesitated.... LOL

 

I see many good prices there, but are the prices too good?

[clear1]

Just an update to say that the order I placed on Dec. 12 was delivered to my home in California today. All was as expected with the exception of the thickness of the box the M600 orange came in-- it seemed a little thinner than my others. I think another thread discussed that these boxes had to be purchased by the dealers. The pen was certainly legitimate and I don't use the boxes anyway. IMHO a very good deal.

 

Edited for clarification, the box was more the size of an M200 box. It did contain the white "pleather" pouch and instructions.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience!

[Dickkooty2]

I just ordered a Caran d'Ache bright red mechanical pencil. Price $10 from $18, shipping $3.99 to US address. Seems right. I have a few models of vintage CdA pencils which I won't carry in my pocket to check off my to-do list. This seems a colorful answer. I'll post some feedback when i get it. They take PayPal so easy order.

 

Ordered on Friday, 14 December. Delivered by USPS to my front step at 3pm Monday, 17 December. Fast and with a weekend in there. In a proper company box, well sealed. A hand-written thank-you note inside written on a proper company note card. The pencil was in a Caran d'Ache box,

 

All together, a very satisfactory buying experience!

[A Smug Dill]

Prices are indeed very attractive. However postage is crazy high: $23.00 for a $9.00 ink bottle?

I must say I am tempted by its asking price for a Pelikan Souverän M600 Vibrant Orange Fountain Pen with F nib, but I'm more wary of Pelikan's idea of how broad a F nib is than I am of Endless Pens as an 'unknown' (to me) online retailer. I do note that they charge a premium if the customer selects an EF nib for that pen.

 

Pass.

[clear1]

they charge a premium if the customer selects an EF nib for that pen.Pass.

Quite annoying matter. But it’s Pelikan’s policy, not their’s. Pelikan’s Perch reported about this a while ago.

[A Smug Dill]

But it’s Pelikan’s policy, not their’s.

Cult Pens in the UK does not charge a premium for EF nibs, and so it is the first place I look by default. La Couronne du Comte sometimes don't charge a premium for EF nibs, and that's the second place I look (and it's often cheaper for certain brands of pens).

[clear1]

Cult Pens in the UK does not charge a premium for EF nibs, and so it is the first place I look by default. La Couronne du Comte sometimes don't charge a premium for EF nibs, and that's the second place I look (and it's often cheaper for certain brands of pens).

 

Well, I'm no expert, but here's the article.

 

https://thepelikansperch.com/2018/10/02/pelikan-us-ef-price-increase/

 

EndlessPen is located in US, so perhaps that's the case?

[clear1]

All together, a very satisfactory buying experience!

 

Good for you! Maybe I should've bought a thing or two. Alas, my wallet is thin now..

[mke]

> low prices are a temporary

 

Such sellout is quite common in Japan. And no premium on Pelikan EF.

 

I bought a black and a green Pelikan M1000F for $300 each.

[antichresis]

I'll try to supply some info. The shop is a partnership between a Philippine seller (a medical student, if I understand correctly; an active member of the pen community here in Manila) and an unnamed supplier. He has been selling pens locally under this arrangement since early last year (maybe April?). Haven't personally bought from him since most of the pens are out of my price range but it seems to be good business and the feedback is positive. He usually did group buys and pre-orders before he started this shop. He shifted to the Endless Pens trade name late last month (November).

[Dickkooty2]

 

Good for you! Maybe I should've bought a thing or two. Alas, my wallet is thin now..

 

Putting my limited money where my much larger mouth is and based on my pencil buying experience, I have just ordered a Lamy Studio. I would like to replace the 'M' nib with a 'B'. Anyone have any ideas how?

[A Smug Dill]

I have just ordered a Lamy Studio. I would like to replace the 'M' nib with a 'B'. Anyone have any ideas how?

Buy a Broad nib, then manually swap it with the Medium nib that is in the pen?

https://www.google.com/search?q=lamy+studio+nib+replacement+site:www.fountainpennetwork.com?

[Honeybadgers]

I must say I am tempted by its asking price for a Pelikan Souverän M600 Vibrant Orange Fountain Pen with F nib, but I'm more wary of Pelikan's idea of how broad a F nib is than I am of Endless Pens as an 'unknown' (to me) online retailer. I do note that they charge a premium if the customer selects an EF nib for that pen.

 

Pass.

 

Expect a broad medium from a pelikan F.

 

Expect a fine medium from an EF.

 

For your tastes, any pelikan gold nib should be purchased with an extra $50 set aside for having it ground to an actual EF.

[Honeybadgers]

 

Putting my limited money where my much larger mouth is and based on my pencil buying experience, I have just ordered a Lamy Studio. I would like to replace the 'M' nib with a 'B'. Anyone have any ideas how?

 

 

nibs pull straight off. easiest way is to put a piece of scotch or other gentle (not duct) tape on the nib to help slide it straight off. Buy a nib from any online retailer. Lamy B nibs are quite nice. If you want an EF, I recommend actually getting one of the counterfeit nibs on eBay (you can pick them out because they're $1-2, not $10-15) because those nibs are proper EF's and I find the QC on them to be better than lamy. I don't trust any lamy Z50 nib narrower than an M anymore. That nib is in dire need of a redesign on the grind.

 

Honestly, unless I'm getting a pen for a STEAL, I don't mind spending another hundred so that I can support a company like Goulet (whom doesn't even offer the M1000 but they will special order it for me when I'm ready) and also have the peace of mind that my pen will have full warranty coverage.

 

That said, I did kind of pull a "sneaky bugger" on a conklin nozac that I bought for $25 from amazon warehouse that was far worse than described, but despite it definitely not qualifying for warranty work, Claire from Yafa is incredible and took the pen back and replaced it for nothing more than the cost of shipping it to them. So I got a new nozac for $35 total (nice pen, but the piston knob is stupidly slick and tiny)

 

But folks at anderson pens, goulet, vanness, kevin from nemosine and birmingham pens have all done so right by me that I just can't justify the savings on most purchases, and consider the extra cost as just doing my part in supporting companies that support their customers. Goulet has spent probably $200-300 on me as a customer in returns, refunds, and just outright freebies (they gave me an $80 2 pen visconti case completely unsolicited when I returned my visconti homo sapiens for exchange) and I've returned that loyalty probably two or threefold by now with no intent on stopping.

 

The only company I'm a little iffy on is Jetpens. The service was reasonable, they even let me work on my nib to try to make it better, but when I returned it when it was evident that there was still some severe baby's bottom, they gave me a little resistance on resolving it (initially just telling me "we think it's fine, let's just send it back to you" but after me just saying "I included a writing sample with the pen and another pilot stub that had no problem, indicating this nib is in fact the issue. that solution is unacceptable" they refunded me with a little bit of sass, implying that maybe I should just stay away from pilot stubs. I was just a little annoyed and think I'll take my business elsewhere.)

Edited December 19, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Dickkooty2]

Thank you, esteemed readers, for your sound and practical advice! I have ordered a Lamy 250 from a reliable supplier. I didn't realize that they were so interchangeable. I am obviously not a nibmeister but I am, rather, a nibsrschloch. I will report back on the outcome depending on delivery times and my own limited skills. Thank you all again!

[A Smug Dill]

For your tastes, any pelikan gold nib should be purchased with an extra $50 set aside for having it ground to an actual EF.

Alas, none of:

• Cult Pens in the UK
• La Couronne du Comte in the Netherlands
• Pen Gallery in Malaysia
• Komamono Honpo in Japan

offer nib customisation as an additional-charges-apply option, and sending a pen overseas after I received it in Australia to one of the several nibmeisters/nibsmiths that (more vocal members of) the FPN user community seem to hold in such high regard will cost more than $50 in (one-way) postal charges. Even if Endless Pens' asking price for the Pelikan Souverän M600 Vibrant Orange fountain pen (without the EF nib 'surcharge'), plus shipping to Australia, only amounts to US$292.75, slapping a US$150 expense on top (and several months' waiting) in the name of customising the nib to a 'true' EF would make it very uneconomical. For US$150, I could get two Japanese pens fitted with properly Fine nibs that I trust I would enjoy using right out of the box – after inking it first, of course.

 

I haven't yet heard of any good nibsmiths operating out of Australia.

[alexwi]

 

 

...

But folks at anderson pens, goulet, vanness, kevin from nemosine and birmingham pens have all done so right by me that I just can't justify the savings on most purchases, and consider the extra cost as just doing my part in supporting companies that support their customers. Goulet has spent probably $200-300 on me as a customer in returns, refunds, and just outright freebies (they gave me an $80 2 pen visconti case completely unsolicited when I returned my visconti homo sapiens for exchange) and I've returned that loyalty probably two or threefold by now with no intent on stopping.

 

Convictions and personal finance, I have found, play a constant game of tug-of-war in which the former, more often than not, are sacrificed.

 

I often equate this sort of thing to a parable I came up with:

 

There was a wall made of beautiful stones surrounding a city.

The stones were so pretty that everyone who saw the wall took one as a memento.

It didn't take long for the wall to fall.

Not one person felt it was their fault.

 

Whenever I hear someone complain about the disappearance of mom-and-pop shops I ask them how much they've spent on amazon and other online purchases before this happened.

 

I'm 1,000,000% with you.

 

Alex