Forbes: Goulet Pen Company $13.8M In 2019

[Seney724]

I very rarely post on here and even more rarely chime in on a thread which appears to have hit so many nerves. However, I do feel compelled to put my two cents into this discussion.

 

I'm a loyal, albeit hardly exclusive, customer of Goulet. I am a regular consumer of their video offerings, and unabashed admirer of their business practices. I am also a professional in a niche industry which is subject to becoming marginalized and commoditized by pricing pressures. I always maintained that I am not a "vendor," and I have never considered Goulet, Anderson, Vanness, or Pendemonium to be vendors either. They provide services, the value of which is amplified by their years of experience, knowledge of the products, and access in the industry.

 

To the OP's point, I would note that unlike several of the other small retailers mentioned in the post, the Goulet's have a large number of non-family employees. Most of them are younger, with small children of their own. The Goulet's have long made it known that their business model is to remain debt free - not to leverage or - as is often the case of businesses - to become economically dependent on lenders, investors, or shareholders. In my book, this is highly commendable. I would also note that unlike some other retailers mentioned who are in somewhat more remote locations, Goulet is near Richmond Virginia and may have greater risk factors than many other places. They decided early on to send all of their employees home, allowing those who could to do whatever work they could remotely. They continued all on salary, continued health insurance benefits for all ( how many of the others even offer health insurance to their employees? TBH I don't know). Orders continue to be taken - they are not selling "blue sky" but rather allocating actual physical inventory items. The only thing that is different is that shipping is postponed until it is safe for their employees to go in and pack and ship items, interface with delivery drivers, and send a pen or ink on its way to us. They are still providing a service, but also keeping themselves and others safe during this pandemic.

 

A lot of this response is driven by watching Ford factory and Meat Packing workers choking back tears when they explain that they are afraid to go back to working conditions which have not properly mitigated avoidable risks, fear bringing a communicable disease back to their homes and families, and that they are doing so ONLY because of economic desperation. As an employer, I always wanted to be "there for clients/customers when they needed me." However I also knew the importance of protecting my employees from undue risk of harm, and the importance of prioritizing what is important in each of our lives. Much as we might like to think otherwise, few of us are essential workers, and if we're on FPN, odds are that another bottle of ink or the latest color of a pen we have 3 other versions of is hardly a "need." Truth be known, we all probably have to many pens and too much ink anyways. There'll be time to acquire more when/if this is all behind us.

Thank you. Your points are all clear, well taken and most importantly not directed in a mean spirited, personal way. On another pen forum this same conversation quickly devolved into a s**t-storm which was really unnecessary.

 

In the end, we will need to agree to disagree. I'm ok with that and hope you are, too.

 

First, one thing is for sure. We have all been impacted by this pandemic. Goulet has made decisions about what he will and will not do. So have you. So have I. So has everyone else reading this thread. What differs is geography, local infection rates, family circumstances and the law. Lots of variables which turn this debate into a complicated mathematical equation.

 

So, let me address the points where we disagree as objectively as I can.

 

To quote you, above, "If we're on FPN, odds are that another bottle of ink or the latest color of a pen we have 3 other versions of is hardly a "need." Truth be known, we all probably have to many pens and too much ink anyways. There'll be time to acquire more when/if this is all behind us." You are incorrectly assuming that your pen collection and ink supply is similar to mine. I doubt that..... I have done a lot of writing with my (few) pens during this time of self quarantine and I was close to running out of ink. I needed more; happily, Sam & Frank (Pendemonium) were there for me. I had it in 3 business days from the time I placed my order.

 

To quote you, above, "Unlike several of the other small retailers mentioned in the post, the Goulet's have a large number of non-family employees." In my town there are several family businesses. Probably the same in your town, too. Here, they may not sell pens but their business setting / model is very similar to the Goulets. And, yes, they have kept money in their employees pockets even though they have not been coming to work. The difference between them and Goulets is in the businesses I speak of here, the family has continued to do the work. They believe they are no more at risk of infection being together at their place of business than there are in their home. They are working very hard to keep their business open and to have some revenue stream to help offset what they are giving their employees during this challenging time. Many of them are frustrated because the hours are long and they are not as quick or as efficient as when they have all hands on deck, but they are there busting their butts trying to do so. Has the Goulet family done anything similar to keep their business afloat and their loyal employees whole?? Or have they build up enough cash reserves (from their pen & ink sales) that it has not necessary for them to have to do so?? This is not a rhetorical question, we all know it is the latter. In return for their premium, white glove, Tootsie Pop & fancy paper service, they have realized enormous profits. Hey, I'm a free market capitalist, I'm not being critical. Just making a point which seems to have been lost in this thread where so many have wished to defend the Goulet business practices as being altruistic and not self-serving.

 

To quote you, above, "Orders continue to be taken - they are not selling "blue sky" but rather allocating actual physical inventory items. The only thing that is different is that shipping is postponed until it is safe for their employees to go in and pack and ship items, interface with delivery drivers, and send a pen or ink on its way to us." This may be legal but to me but it just feels wrong. Case in point, nibs.com is also closed. They, too, will gladly take your order BUT they will not charge your card until they are ready to ship the pen. During the time in between the order and the shipping date who ought to be getting the interest (albeit paltry) on the money? The buyer or the seller? Given the choice, I'll keep my money in my account, thank you very much!

 

I am very open to anyone who can speak to the contrary but I was standing in a small group at a Pen Show last year (DC, I think) and I heard Mr. Goulet respond to a question. He wanted to make the point that he was still learning about pens & ink, too. To make his case, he offered he was different than most of the other sellers at the Show. He was a business man looking for a business and fell into pens. Most others, he said, were pen collectors who fell into a business. There were a number of people around who heard what he said, too. Maybe I misunderstood? Have others heard something similar? If yes, I think it explains a lot, especially as relates to how he leverages his business savvy in his business such as seen in the immediate charge to the customer's credit card. Now before anybody thinks I am being critical let me make an important point: I believe Goulet deserves great credit for being very customer focused and customer centered. There are far too few businessmen and businesswomen who bother with being so passionate about customer focus these days. But, make no mistake about it. It's his business strategy which is driven by his business savvy. No different than his use of his customers money to make money for his business during a time when both he and the customer know there will be no delivery of the purchase. Of the two models, I prefer nibs.com's approach.

 

Finally, with regard to whether the law did or did not prohibit the Goulets from going to their place of business and doing any work, the State (Virginia) law is very clear:

(With thanks to sgphoto, who posted this on another site):

 

"For the record, Goulet Pens is in Virginia. Work was never prohibited by the Governor. From the Executive Order 55 (2020) 'Individuals may leave their residences for the purpose of: f. Traveling to and from one’s residence, place of worship, or work; Post Offices remained open."

[ERdept]

I remember their first few vids on youtube.

 

 

I thought, Oh that's nice, this young guy has some sort of dream about selling fountain pens. But, It'll never work out, as this is a niche business and who is he?

 

 

But bam!

 

I just bought a Pilot Custom Urushi from them. It was IN STOCK!!

[praxim]

To all of you members who read & write English as a second or third (or more) language, thank you!!

All of your English is excellent. Very clear and well constructed.

And, very much appreciated.

If all of us who speak only English tried to understand and participate in some language other than English, it would be a disaster!

We are very grateful!!!

txomsy, I second Seney724's reply.

[txomsy]

txomsy, I second Seney724's reply.

Thank you a lot, and I think, specially from all non-native english speakers in the forum, but in my case, seeing as to how I disgrace English, maybe neither of you should.

[Arkanabar]

I do very little actual purchasing. But I point people at Goulet if they can't get to Origami Ink because of all the really great services they provide. It's not just the videos and ink samples and Tootsie Pops and personal notes from the expediter; it's also the really detailed dimensional information they provide on EVERY SINGLE PEN. I love them for that. Nobody else is as good as they are about that. Who else weighs the barrel and cap separately, and posts that information on their site? And few others post diameter both for grip and barrel.

I've never had an issue with any product I've purchased at Goulet. But from what Honeybadgers has said, Brian and Rachel set the "make it right" customer service benchmark that (for example) Kevin at FPRevolution works to hard to hit, and largely with success.

I measure prices in hours of work (I get paid an hourly wage). If it will save me a couple hours of labor, I would probably shop for price over service. But lately, none of the pens I've wanted have been available at Goulet. But even so, most of us don't worry too much about price once we've made the purchase. A month or a year later, our thinking is usually "This is a really awesome [x] and I'm glad I bought it" and not crowing "I got such a deal on this [x]!"

My Dad used to tell us, "You pay for what you get, whether you want it or not." When you buy a MontBlanc pen or a Rolex watch or a Lexus instead of a Toyota with 95% parts in common, part of what you're paying for is the cachet that the brand holds. If that has no value for you, then you'd be a fool to pay for it. When you shop at Goulet, part of what you pay for is their service level and the time they spend making sure that so much detailed information is readily available to you, even if you're thousands of miles away. Because that has value to me, I like to shop with them. If those things have no value to you, then don't shop with them, and don't waste their server resources and bandwidth.

 

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.

 

@bogiesan: I remember seeing the Lamy carousel at B&N. My guess is that the US LAMY distributor rented floor space from B&N, and when the lease was up, could not come to an agreement for renewal. I can readily imagine that B&N demanded too big a cut. Or too many people bought a Safari FP, carried it over to the in-house Starbucks to journal, had issues, and demanded returns after opening the blister pack and inking the pen inside. Or who knows why. It's just a bit of a shame.

 

Keep in mind the $13.8M figure was revenues, not profits. The Goulets may be doing OK (in fact I hope they are, why not?) but they are not necessarily getting rich.

 

@BlueJ: I was going to point that out, as well. A grocery store's profit margin is usually 1% or less. A boutique like Goulet should do better, but they have to invest in the business if they want to grow.

 

I understand that over the course of the past couple of horrible months every business needed to make the best decision for themselves, their families, their employees and the people they serve. I respect the decision of those who felt the need to shut down. I realize it was not easy for any of them to shut down but surely it was easier for some than for others. Congrats to Goulet for having built up sufficient enough reserves over the past few years so they could afford to shut down.

 

Well, even though one cannot possibly justify calling fountain pens or ink as "essential" if you are dealing with the general public, to those of us here, they are!!

 

In this regard, I found it noteworthy that over the course of the pandemic, several of the other "small" pen & ink businesses mentioned on this thread (and some notable others like Pendemonium) have been able to meet our needs whereas others, like Goulet, have not. I'm ok with that too but I cannot understand how Goulet could justify their being "closed" yet they continued to take orders.... which included instantly charging the customers' credit cards. They were most certainly upfront about the fact that they were going to take your money but not make the shipment for the foreseeable future, I'm not claiming they were deceptive in this practice, but it just did not seem right to me.

 

Meanwhile, the others who remained open did all they could possibly do to meet our needs. I believe that part of exceptional customer service is being there when you are needed. Much more so than making up pretty packages with upscale wrapping paper, Tootsie Pops & cute drawings.

 

As others have already opined in this thread, the relationship between the seller and the buyer is a two way street. In the future if Goulet has something I need and none of the other "small" businesses can source it for me, I will gladly deal with Goulet. But this awful pandemic has shown me which of the small businesses 1) Really do need my business and 2) Really do care about me. Moving forward, they are going to get my money, not Goulet.

 

@Seney724: Instantly taking payment could be a function of their shopping cart software, and possibly not something they are able to easily change -- what software people call a "nontrivial task." I'm glad they were up front about it, and there's a good chance that this was their equivalent of the "If you love us and want us to be able to re-open, buy our gift cards to keep us afloat!" spiel I've seen elsewhere.

Clearly some other retailers don't have this issue, but we can't tell from here what shopping cart software each of them has. As for me, I'd be inclined to prefer the Goulet model, because I might forget about the purchase and not have the funds when the shop opens back up.

One of the more interesting ways to get a discount online is to log into a site, fill your cart, and then kill the browser window. Often, you'll get an email with a discount code within minutes.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Arkanabar

[whichwatch]

To all of you members who read & write English as a second or third (or more) language, thank you!!

All of your English is excellent. Very clear and well constructed.

And, very much appreciated.

If all of us who speak only English tried to understand and participate in some language other than English, it would be a disaster!

We are very grateful!!!

 

This is one of the finest and most true things anyone has written anywhere! I absolutely agree. I only wish it were recognized more widely and said more often!

[ibrahim]

While some men are busy hoarding pens and getting too picky about the buttery nib like me, others are smarter getting down to work and making millions!

[A Smug Dill]

Regarding Goulet itself, I am sure they are a wonderful firm for those near enough to use their apparent service without prohibitive postage costs on top of their already ample prices. They have no relevance for me.

 

As with praxim, I'm glad to see Goulet rewarded with surely well deserved commercial success, but as a retailer it has no relevance to me.

 

I personally don't subscribe to the beliefs that invariably "large soulless companies treat their customers with indifference at best and often outright contempt," or that "if a retailer sells something to you at below market average prices, there must be a reason to which the customer would object if he knew upfront, and/or come to regret when he discovers its consequence," which appear to be in the mindset of many of those who rationalise and preach that there is virtue in "supporting" small businesses from whom it costs the customer more to buy commodities.

 

I've bought many pens and inks from Amazon (US, Australia, and even Japan), primarily based on consideration of total out-of-pocket costs to me, but also often because I feel safe buying from the retail giant. While it won't and can't provide me with either personalised or specialist customer service, or tune or even just inspect the nibs before dispatch, etc. the number of times Amazon has "fixed" any problem at all promptly and generously (often a full refund and no requirement to return the item even if it's still largely functional) is just incredible. Not to mention that the company also served me well in other areas of my consumer interests, over the years and continue to do so now. There is no reason why I wouldn't want Amazon to continue to flourish, including becoming one of the key sellers to pen users worldwide and in the US, too.

 

I also bought repeatedly and often from La Couronne du Comte in the Netherlands, Cult Pens in the UK, EndlessPens in the US, Milligram in Australia, and occasionally Fontoplumo (NL), Pen Chalet (US), Pen Gallery (Malaysia) and Pensachi (Japan). I'll assume they're all relatively small businesses. I'm a repeat customer because they individually won me over on price (and/or total cost to me) the first time I bought from each one, and demonstrated to me that their customer service is between good enough and great with the first two or three orders; but it wouldn't have happened if they didn't have at least one product to sell me that beats everyone else price-wise.

 

Someone mentioned differences in shipping charges, earlier in this thread, as something that ought not to matter. To me, of course it does. If every retailer (including Amazon US these days, for what it sells on Amazon Australia but ships from the US by DHL) above -- except Pen Chalet -- can offer me free shipping past a certain spend threshold, then overlooking >US$22 in shipping charges on an order is a big ask. Not that it is an impossible barrier to overcome; Pen Chalet offered big enough discounts from time to time to make the shipping charge worthwhile, and Nibsmith includes nib work/service as part of the purchase price on high-end pens (but I still feel a bit ripped off being hit with a shipping charge >US$60 for a single pen last time, although I made an informed choice to proceed anyway).

 

I have yet to find that one thing Goulet offers to me as a consumer and pen buyer that other retailers don't, given there is no free shipping threshold and no quantifiable value-added service (such as nib work). The closest I've seen is its store-exclusive turquoise Diplomat Aero.

 

I think where Goulet does very well is make itself highly visible by publishing lots of useful information for hobbyists. I haven't found the Nib Nook that useful to myself as a prospective buyer, but I often referred to it when researching and answering questions in forum discussions, especially when someone elsewhere in the world (say, India or South America) wants to know how certain nibs compare and local retailers (or other resources such as hobbyist get-togethers) are scarce. Credit where credit is due, I do my best to point out where the information came from, and hopefully access to the information directly leads some shoppers to overlook the total costs and reward Goulet with their custom all the same.

 

But I wouldn't downplay just how much information I also got, in my due diligence as a shopper myself, from Amazon as well as the other "small business" specialist pen/ink/stationery retailers, so from my perspective I can't say Goulet "served" me better in information provision than others, such that the price differences are reasonably accounted for by services already rendered.

[TSherbs]

This page is loaded with thoughtful responses. Thanks, all!

[TSherbs]

A couple incredibly thoughtful and thorough posts on how they see the Goulet Pen Company have spurred me to take the time and do the same rather than my occasional pot shots when others bring up aspects of their apparent business model or operating procedure with customers.

 

First, I congratulate them on their success, and I wish them more. Success is good. And their success has been good for the collection of persons interested in fountain pens and other related products, especially in America.

 

Second, the Goulet’s “deserve” nothing. I hear this often, and do not understand the claim beyond being sentimental. No one “deserves” success more than anyone else, and the world sure does not dole out money according to who “deserves” it. Could you imagine if that actually were true in any substantial way? Like, if, the most morally good or the hardest working or the most just and prudent were given the most financial reward?? Ha! What a revolution would occur! From my observations, the Goulet company is not “more deserving” of consumer money than any other; they are “owed” nothing from anyone. Their success is not a result of the world or the pen market working as it should (there is no “should”, there is only what we “wish,” or “hope for” or “would like to be true”).

 

I came to the Goulet web site in early 2012 when I went looking for new Sheaffer ink cartridges. They did not have any, but their company came up toward the top of my search results page. A couple clicks in and I had a Noodler’s Creaper and a bottle of ink on the way to my house. I had had no idea prior to this that the internet had fountain pen stores online. In my early days of learning more, Brian Goulet was my main source of information. I gobbled it up and I bought more things from him. The shipping costs were reasonable, the wait time was minimal, and the website was easy to navigate and use. Brian seemed down to earth and humble, and that is a sell to me.

 

Then other pen retailers popped up and I began to sample around. There was Scott, and Kevin, and Brian, and Brian and Lisa, and reviewers like Stephen and Dan and Matt and etc. There were web sites like FPN, fpgeeks, and reddit, where thousands of more reviews and pieces of information could be gathered. Amazon and ebay started loading up with more pens, inks, and papers for sale. Gouletpens became just one datapoint for me in an ocean of information. I still stuck with Gouletpens for a while and continued to give them some business.

 

But then two things happened for me:

 

1. I became more confident in my own ability to glean relevant and reliable information from a variety of sources.

 

2. I became turned off by the Goulet branding shtick and other business practices.

 

Once I became more confident and independent, I was not as reliant on Goulet info, which would only target products they sold. Yes, it is thorough. But it is limited. And once I became comfortable and had bought some products elsewhere, I concluded that they actually had not protected my packages nor given me better prices nor honored my purchases with better “service” than anyone else had ever done. They “said” so, but this was not the fact for me. I have been given grade-A service by every vendor from whom I have needed redress. No package, from anywhere in the world, has ever been lost or damaged en route to my house in Maine. I know that this is not true for some others of you. But it is absolutely true for me. Marketing claims have very little sway on me; I just go with what works or does not work in my experience.

 

And what started happening was that as Goulet pens started getting bigger, they started becoming less responsive--both in time and in quality--to my questions and needs.

 

First, they started taking away their sales and discounts, which I would always look at first. I try to save every penny I can when shopping. Price is absolutely top concern for me. At one point I became suspicious that certain “sale” items were not always showing up on my screen when I would land on the page, so I began to wonder if not all of us are “allowed” to see certain discounted items, or not at all times. I began to wonder if the website actually manipulated this information (witholding it or releasing it in controlled, specific ways), maybe even not treating all customers the same way. I asked Brian this twice for his early Q&As, but he never addressed this question. I even asked a tele-agent, but she said that she did not know and would pass along the question to Brian. I was not surprised not to hear back. I knew that I was asking about inside business information.

 

But here is the thing. I asked because Brian and Rachel both clearly projected the image of being transparent and wholesome family-oriented business managers, and this was not jiving with the signals that I was getting from my experiences. The Ink Drop was ended (this was because of cost, not lack of interest). Sales/discounts went away. Replies to emails started taking over 24 hours, and shipping notices would sometimes be three days after I put an order in (the slowest I have ever had from a US pen vendor). Shipping prices went up. Recyclable packing material was considered and passed over because it was not “cost effective” (I did get a reply to that question).

 

On top of all this, Goulet pens ratched up their branding and social media presence. Everything was turning “Goulet Blue” or “Goulet Exclusive,” Brian was all over social media platforms, the company moved into an even bigger building, and other workers were hired to be a social media presence. I did not react well to any of this. My sense of the humble Brian of those first years was gone. I sensed more ego, more self-congratulatory remarks from him with the more success he had. Now his mug, even aspects of his private life, were scattered across my feeds, and I don’t react well to this. I have the same reaction to the market materials like cards and stickers and candy put in my packages: that is just (bleep) and waste, plastered with Goulet branding (a form of corporate ego, if not also private ego since one’s name is now printed everywhere). I even tried to get Goulet to stop including that stuff in my orders. Twice, in the order comment box, I added the request that these materials NOT be included in my package. Twice my request was ignored or overlooked. What kind of customer responsiveness is that? Even the employees hired to have presence on social media were beginning to sound like worker-bots out to just keep people connected to the brand. Very few actual questions were being answered or explained. It is just chat on a corporate page, meant to develop brand recognition and loyalty and good will. Like clicking on their instagram choice posts. And who knows how much they are utilizing the data delivered through all those engagements with social media that we have? I can’t imagine that they would ever say. I was not answered when I asked.

 

This is all to say that I have come to see them, erroneously or not, as just another retail company with a specific money-making intentionality that has become a little full of itself. And as I said, I get turned off by that. The “value added” from their information sources is now long gone for me. I use other ink tools (I really like Anderson’s), and I have never found the static nature of the Goulet Nib Nook much use once more reviews put live action stuff on youtube. Goulet has grown, and I do not begrudge them that, but managing your corporate ethos, and keeping success and humility in balance are great challenges, and I personally have not always succeeded at this either. And I would never succeed at retail!

 

And that is my reflection on Gouletpens, just one point of view.

 

[welch]

Having read through this interesting discussion, I can say:

 

- It is fine that the Goulets have shut during the pandemic. It shows they care about their employees enough to turn away business to keep everyone as safe as possible. (Yes, they accept orders while warning that they will not be shipping yet. That amounts to losing some business.)

 

- When I returned to writing with a fountain pen, in 2007 or 2008, there were debates and flame wars on FPN about the ethics of walking into a pen shop, trying a pen, and then buying on-line. About then, Brian Goulet appeared trying to sell kit pens, I think. Early on, Goulet's was seen as a low-priced alternative to brick-and-mortar stores. Things have changed. A couple tears ago, Brian Goulet posted a video in which he mentioned that people seemed to be checking through their site, comparing pens or inks, and buying from cheaper on-line sites. Same thing: exploiting the information at Goulet's to buy someplace else. And, as best I have seen, no place is significantly cheaper than Goulet's or the on-line prices at the (few) remaining brick-and-mortar stores.

 

- Goulet's has a respectable revenue? Good for them!

[whichwatch]

This has been an interesting discussion to follow, and the Goulets obviously have both fans and non-fans, with plenty of each.

 

Personally, I am not a fan of theirs and prefer to buy from other vendors who better meet my needs. But one thing that stands out to me is that, love them or hate them, theirs is a classic success story. A dozen or so years ago this guy was turning kit pens on the balcony of his apartment. They successfully built from there and now they run a multi-million dollar enterprise that provides a better life for their family, employment for dozens of people, and presumably adds to the tax base of their state and country.

 

All I can say is good on them for that! Great job!

[Honeybadgers]

 

On top of all this, Goulet pens ratched up their branding and social media presence. Everything was turning “Goulet Blue” or “Goulet Exclusive,” Brian was all over social media platforms, the company moved into an even bigger building, and other workers were hired to be a social media presence. I did not react well to any of this. My sense of the humble Brian of those first years was gone. I sensed more ego, more self-congratulatory remarks from him with the more success he had. Now his mug, even aspects of his private life, were scattered across my feeds, and I don’t react well to this.

 

Since it's all subjective, I'm not criticizing at all, but Brian has kept up with doing his hour long little "what's going on with the company" and answering viewer questions despite running a large business.

 

And social media is what it is. You're gonna get harassed with things that are relevant to what you click on. I personally find that uncomfortable. I don't like my personal data to be a commodity bought and sold, so I deleted all my social media short of my youtube account, and quickly noticed that social media added literally nothing positive to my life. You could also turn off targeted advertising on some platforms, which is what I did with google/youtube to further minimize my data given to them, and while it's fine since I use adblocker on my PC for nearly every website (ones like FPN are whitelisted) I do find it a bit uncomfortable on my phone, that I traded sharing my data for excessive double ad rolls and a whole lot of hatespeak/scam/sexual/pornographic/spam/gambling/copyright infringement/flat out illegal ads which I guess are the discount cheapie ads that youtube doesn't give a rat's arse about moderating for legality or decency. But I'll take all the privacy I can get.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Honeybadgers

[TSherbs]

 

Since it's all subjective, I'm not criticizing at all, but Brian has kept up with doing his hour long little "what's going on with the company" and answering viewer questions despite running a large business.

 

And social media is what it is....

I know, and I'm over 60. I just don't like smirky grinning selfies and videos of people trying, ultimately, to extract my money and sell me something. You should see how I am in car stores. :/

 

And one other thing: I don't understand why pen retailers (it's not just the Goulets who do this) talk about the new pens that are coming in that they are going to buy for themselves. I find it insensitive, when, in principle, it is the profits made off the markups that they charge us that will buy them their pen, and many of us can't afford those same pens. I actually don't want to see Brian's cabinet-sized collection, nor do I want to hear Rachel opine on a new color that she will buy for herself. It's certainly nice to be able to afford something so whimsical as "I need this in blue." But then again, this sentiment permeates the fountain pen community. I guess it just irks me all the more when it is broadcast toward those folks who gave them the money to do it. I'd be more demure and private. But I know, it's subjective and this is mostly MY issue.

Edited May 21, 2020 by TSherbs

[Bibliophage]

I know, and I'm over 60. I just don't like smirky grinning selfies and videos of people trying, ultimately, to extract my money and sell me something. You should see how I am in car stores. :/

 

And one other thing: I don't understand why pen retailers (it's not just the Goulets who do this) talk about the new pens that are coming in that they are going to buy for themselves. I find it insensitive, when, in principle, it is the profits made off the markups that they charge us that will buy them their pen, and many of us can't afford those same pens. I actually don't want to see Brian's cabinet-sized collection, nor do I want to hear Rachel opine on a new color that she will buy for herself. It's certainly nice to be able to afford something so whimsical as "I need this in blue." But then again, this sentiment permeates the fountain pen community. I guess it just irks me all the more when it is broadcast toward those folks who gave them the money to do it. I'd be more demure and private. But I know, it's subjective and this is mostly MY issue.

On the flip side, there's the whole "Why should I buy it, when you won't use it yourself?" To truly sell something, it's been said, you have to believe in it.

 

[katanankes]

At one point I became suspicious that certain “sale” items were not always showing up on my screen when I would land on the page, so I began to wonder if not all of us are “allowed” to see certain discounted items, or not at all times. I began to wonder if the website actually manipulated this information (witholding it or releasing it in controlled, specific ways), maybe even not treating all customers the same way. I asked Brian this twice for his early Q&As, but he never addressed this question. I even asked a tele-agent, but she said that she did not know and would pass along the question to Brian. I was not surprised not to hear back.

 

 

I really wonder why they never answered... :-)

[Arkanabar]

Customer databases are trade secrets. They have every right to hide from people who could be their competition's agents what they collect and how they use it. But at least when it comes to the Goulets and other pen retailers, you're a customer.

 

When it comes to Google, Facebook, Instagram, et al, and even to some degree ebay and Amazon, you're the product.

[terim]

 

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

 

Hmmm, not always necessary if you are active participant in your pen community. We have awesome Google search results, and we don't pay a cent. But it's different if you are competing in the selling of the same basic inks or pens.

[sirgilbert357]

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?

 

 

Because it isn't always just three dollars?

 

I love Goulet and use them for as many of my purchases as I can justify (ink, paper, accessories, etc), but to be honest, I never buy pens from them. They almost never have competitive prices on anything I want. I've bought their special edition turquoise Diplomat Aero, but that's the only pen I recall ever having bought from them -- and only because it was not possible to get it anywhere else since it was a Goulet exclusive.

 

A random example I recently priced:

 

Pelikan M800 Brown Black, medium nib.

 

Goulet price -- $675.75

Appelboom -- $464.35

 

These are shipped prices. A difference of $211.40. I realize WHY Goulet has to price Pelikans, specifically, that high. But I've literally never found them to have the best price on any pen I've been interested in. And their prices are usually high enough that I just can't justify the difference in good conscience. I really like them and would love to buy more from them, but, especially when you are looking at Pelikans and Pilots (my preferred brands at the moment, subject to change at any instant, lol), there are just too many other vendors that give comparable levels of service and shipping care while being much lower in price. As always, YMMV, JMHO, etc...

[modernovervintage]

I don't get why 1. The goulet guy always touch his nose or forearm between handling pens in product videos. 2. Why he wears a glove only when handling 4800 bucks pen. 3. The questions he ask product representatives are not sharp or insightful for consumers,most sites have the info . I usually visit their site just to see product pictures in different angles.