Forbes: Goulet Pen Company $13.8M In 2019

[NumberSix]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/2020/05/12/forbes-small-giants-25-companies-that-believe-smaller-is-better/

 

I had no idea we were talking about that kind of money. I guess they have developed the kind of customer loyalty and visibility that had people continue ordering from them during this period, even though theyre only just now shipping March orders and were very upfront about that fact.

[langere]

They deserve every penny.

 

Erick

[Estycollector]

Good for them!!

[mulrich]

About what I expected based on what they share on videos. Good for them and I hope that they do okay through the shut down.

[GreenMountain]

Furthermore, if we want boutique retailers to stay in business, then we should give them our business instead of to the "big box" internet giants.

I really hate reading that people go to Goulet or other really nice websites, then head on over to another site to make their purchase. So what if you save $3 in shipping?

[inkstainedruth]

I am all for supporting small businesses whenever possible.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DrDebG]

Well done Brian and Rachel and the whole Goulet crew!

[markofp]

I am all for supporting small businesses whenever possible.

 

 

What happens when they stop being small?

 

Believe me, I'm pleased for Goulet, a true American success story. I order from them, but at the same time I see a real possibility of them becoming the Amazon of our little hobby, and that ain't good. I know of at least one other small mail order pen seller that shut down because they couldn't get any traction against them. So, free Tootsie Pops aside, I also order from Anderson's, Fahrney's, Pen Chalet, Niche, and many others. The last order I made was from Laywine's. I try to spread my money around hoping to support everybody.

[taimdala]

 

What happens when they stop being small?

 

Believe me, I'm pleased for Goulet, a true American success story. I order from them, but at the same time I see a real possibility of them becoming the Amazon of our little hobby, and that ain't good. I know of at least one other small mail order pen seller that shut down because they couldn't get any traction against them. So, free Tootsie Pops aside, I also order from Anderson's, Fahrney's, Pen Chalet, Niche, and many others. The last order I made was from Laywine's. I try to spread my money around hoping to support everybody.

I like Goulet Pens, too. I called in with a question and Brian himself answered the phone. Whoa. That personal and personable touch is one of the reasons I am a repeat customer.

 

However, there are so many other small pen businesses that I've come to love that I shop with these others, too. I haven't shopped at Niche, but Anderson's, Fahrney's, Pen Chalet have all been great to me with products, purchases, and shipping. Pen Boutique, iPen Store, and Karas Kustom are some others I've shopped at.

 

I've also gone to brick-and-mortar stores in my state: Crazy Alan's Emporium in Chapel Hill NC and Origami Ink, Biltmore Village, Asheville NC. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they survive the quarantine. Now that my state is slowly opening up, I hope to visit them soon. I am especially worried about these two businesses, as the first supplements income by selling in the pen show circuit--which is cancelled everywhere at the moment--and the second has to pay rent on retail space in a ritzy area of an expensive city, in addition to being a very small store where social distancing might be hard to implement.

 

This is defintely one of those times I wish I had won the lottery so I can just hand a chunk of my lottery winnings to several small businesses to tide them over. (Hey, as long as you have a lottery fantasy, why not do something nice with it?)

Edited May 17, 2020 by taimdala

[Pensei]

I find that amazing.

[WLSpec]

Seriously impressive.

[TSherbs]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/2020/05/12/forbes-small-giants-25-companies-that-believe-smaller-is-better/

 

I had no idea we were talking about that kind of money. I guess they have developed the kind of customer loyalty and visibility that had people continue ordering from them during this period, even though theyre only just now shipping March orders and were very upfront about that fact.

 

They also pay for priority Google search result placement (Brian said so). That's huge, especially for newcomers.

[TSherbs]

I really hate reading that people go to Goulet or other really nice websites, then head on over to another site to make their purchase. So what if you save $3 in shipping?

 

What's wrong with caring about total cost to the consumer? To me, that's like when a car dealer says, "Why do you care about this $150 delivery fee? We have to drive it from a lot in New Hampshire." Screw that. I'll go somewhere else, even if I've let you butter me up for a week and I've driven five of your models. I'm the guy that will be out test-driving a car from one lot and I will call a different dealer from the car and ask for a better price. It's my money. I count and care for every penny. I aqm on the side of consumer empowerment, not retailer empowerment.

[jchch1950]

They have work very hard to achieve it. They began with ink samples,now they are dealers for a wide range of pens. They have a very good set of values within the company and also in their family life.Congratulations to the Goulet family.

[NumberSix]

 

They also pay for priority Google search result placement (Brian said so). That's huge, especially for newcomers.

 

That's how I found them. When I got curious about FPs, I had been bullet journaling for a few weeks. Out of curiosity, I googled something like "Fountain Pen Stores". Found them as the first result. Spent some time browsing the site and watching videos, and then ordered three Pilot Varsity pens. A few weeks later, I order a Metro, some Pilot carts, and a Rhodia dot pad.

 

And that's how I got started in this hobby: Goulet.

 

It wasn't long before I found more shops. I have ordered a lot from Pen Chalet and Vanness, as well as at least one order from EndlessPens, Jetpens, Goldspot, Pure Pens (UK), Dromgoole's, and a few ebay stores.

[bogiesan]

I do wish there was someplace in my town to buy pens and inks but the last few fully stocked stationers and small art supply shops are long gone although we still have Quality Art Supply for students and teachers and, I suppose, we need to include the bookstore at the university but they only stock materials specific to professors’ curricula. There was a Lamy carousel/kiosk on the floor at Barnes and Noble a few years ago. The Lamy kiosk sold out quickly but has sadly not reappeared.

 

I never shop on price alone and I’m happy to buy from Goulet, Pen chalet, Jet Pens, others, and even Endless. I’ll try to find pen shops when traveling (but who does that?).

[Honeybadgers]

I'm proud that I've helped (as a customer) make Brian and Rachel's company so successful. They do literally everything right when it comes to business (apart from their employee wages, which I do not know, but I sure hope they pay very competitively)

 

I found them via their youtube presence. I like that they stay so involved with the community, and that even as a multimillion dollar entity, Brian still takes time every week to sit down for about an hour and just talk about things.

Edited May 17, 2020 by Honeybadgers

[inkstainedruth]

I try to spread my money around hoping to support everybody.

 

Oh I'm with you on that. I have very large spreadsheets, for instance, of what company has which ink(s) in stock and how large their samples are (2 ml/3 ml/4 ml) and then figure out which company is the most cost effective for any given time/order. Which is why last spring I had orders coming in from three DIFFERENT companies at the same time....

It's the same with pen shows and getting repairs done: "Oh, I need this pen re-sacced, and the piston knob on that one has frozen up, and I just got another Snorkel...." And I'll end up going to three or four tables. Again, spreading the wealth (what little of it I have ) around and hope that EVERYONE stays in business.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Miskatonic]

I'm on the side of consumer empowerment, not retailer empowerment.

Understandable that we consumers seek the best price, but that pursuit taken to the extreme can have detrimental, far reaching consequences. In the examples mentioned, shoppers often take advantage of retail outlets that go to the trouble and expense to build trained sales staff who can assist customers only to have those customers -newly enlightened- go to a discount retailer to save a few dollars. Rewarding retailers who keep prices low is certainly a win for consumers, but the pursuit of price above all punishes retailers who went to the expense of customer support with a trained sales staff and you end up with Walmarts and dead high streets.

 

Rewarding a retailer who can beat all comers on price alone might mean you or your town only have one source for your goods (that doesn't usually end well for the consumer), and the victor will not be local, nor will be the investment of the lion share of profits. A retailer who can beat everyone on price and convenience and sells pretty much everything imaginable may very well smother all other outlets.... everywhere. The world has never seen that before. I for one am very much worried about that version of the future.

[Honeybadgers]

 

What's wrong with caring about total cost to the consumer? To me, that's like when a car dealer says, "Why do you care about this $150 delivery fee? We have to drive it from a lot in New Hampshire." Screw that. I'll go somewhere else, even if I've let you butter me up for a week and I've driven five of your models. I'm the guy that will be out test-driving a car from one lot and I will call a different dealer from the car and ask for a better price. It's my money. I count and care for every penny. I aqm on the side of consumer empowerment, not retailer empowerment.

 

It's a double edged sword. Pure, unfetterd capitalism begets abuse that winds up being anticonsumer because the big get bigger and can afford to undercut the competition, build a monopoly, and then start jacking the price once there is no more competition, as well as stop innovating when there's nothing to compete with. See american internet service providers for an abjectly perfect example.

 

There is a difference between tacking on little costs here and there just to nickel and dime you for extra profit, and there's charging a price that lets you invest in your company and people. Again, one thing Goulet does is charge a little more for the benefit of everyone. They can afford to pay their employees well, make enough money to be an attractive retailer for brands (they did just pick up Sailor, who is famously a hugely stingy piece of (bleep) brand to deal with) and it lets them be aggressively generous with customers. You're paying a bit more for that customer service and guarantee that they'll make your issue right above and beyond what cheaper retailers would. Jetpens has very aggressive pricing but they also will screw customers over on the most arbitrarily small dollar amounts. Goulet has straight up given me a $100 visconti pen case when I had to exchange my homo sapiens and coles of london told me to pound sand. And they exchanged nib sizes. And tested it at my request. I've had a bunch of little issues with products I bought from them like creased or miscut notebooks, or that awful monteverde monza cracking, and every time they said "keep the item and feel free to use it, keep that free bottle of ink from the deal, you can have either a full refund or we'll ship you a new one right now"

 

I like a lot of retailers. Vanness, peyton street, FPnibs, etc. They honestly mostly all have great service, and we're lucky for that, so I don't feel very bad if I do occasionally have to price hunt, but if the price difference is only about 10%, I'll pay the extra for Goulet every time because they've treated me just so right as a customer.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Honeybadgers