Forbes: Goulet Pen Company $13.8M In 2019

[Estycollector]

Ironicallly, I have no experience with this vendor, but I am pleased anytime a busness can survive.

 

My recent experience might be germane. a local restaurant has reopened with patrons inside and take out. I walked up to the take out area with mask on and asked to place an order. I was told I needed to call in the order. When I called in the order, the person said I would have to give my debit card # over the phone. When I said I was not comfortable doing so, he apologized, but offered no alternative. While I would like to support this favorite business, I do not think I should have to possibly have my card number stolen. Therefore, if this pen company takes my card and I am to trust them to eventually honor my trust, it's just too much trouble.

 

I do have this pressure to be more understanding/flexible as businesses struggle knowing there are low wage earners depending on the doors to stay open. How much risk and inconvenience is still something I have not fully reconciled.

Edited May 29, 2020 by Estycollector

[sirgilbert357]

Ironicallly, I have no experience with this vendor, but I am pleased anytime a busness can survive.

 

My recent experience might be germane. a local restaurant has reopened with patrons inside and take out. I walked up to the take out area with mask on and asked to place an order. I was told I needed to call in the order. When I called in the order, the person said I would have to give my debit card # over the phone. When I said I was not comfortable doing so, he apologized, but offered no alternative. While I would like to support this favorite business, I do not think I should have to possibly have my card number stolen. Therefore, if this pen company takes my card and I am to trust them to eventually honor my trust, it's just too much trouble.

 

I do have this pressure to be more understanding/flexible as businesses struggle knowing there are low wage earners depending on the doors to stay open. How much risk and inconvenience is still something I have not fully reconciled.

 

 

This makes no sense. You were there, in person, asking to purchase their product and they told you to call it in, simply because you were taking it to go instead of getting a table to eat inside? You literally could have provided your order in the time it took to have that face to face conversation. While others sat inside and ate their food? Did those inside have to call in their order and pay over the phone too? Highly unlikely.

 

I'm sorry, but that is just silly.

[katanankes]

 

 

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...

 

Isn't Appleboom from The Netherlands? If so, difficult comparison... we all know that there are regional discrepancies in pricing and USD dollar strength is another factor at this moment.

[Mew]

 

Isn't Appleboom from The Netherlands? If so, difficult comparison... we all know that there are regional discrepancies in pricing and USD dollar strength is another factor at this moment.

I think it may be about options. When you have a $400 something option, why go for a $600 something option? And with appelboom you usually get delivery within 4-5 days maximum in normal conditions. I think appelboom was shipping orders all the time when goulet wasnt.

If I do buy an off the shelf pen, I tend to look for the best possible deal. From this thread and their website, they seem to be severally lacking in the good deal department. For almost everything that they sell, there is another cheaper option.

[TSherbs]

 

Isn't Appleboom from The Netherlands? If so, difficult comparison... we all know that there are regional discrepancies in pricing and USD dollar strength is another factor at this moment.

 

The comparison is simply dollar to dollar for the same product (from the US consumer's point of view). It is an easy comparison. The buyer saves $211, or 31%. What is difficult about that comparison?

 

If you are in a country other than the US, both those prices might be different. But again, for each consumer where they live, the price comparison is not "difficult".

[Seney724]

 

The comparison is simply dollar to dollar for the same product (from the US consumer's point of view). It is an easy comparison. The buyer saves $211, or 31%. What is difficult about that comparison?

 

If you are in a country other than the US, both those prices might be different. But again, for each consumer where they live, the price comparison is not "difficult".

$211 will buy you a lot of Tootsie Pops, self serving advice and sickie sweet smiles.

[welch]

It has nothing to do with Tootsie pops. It probably has everything to do with a rule by Pelikan that a vendor into the US must buy product from Chartpak, Pelikan's US distributor, and Pelikan sets prices.

 

As a test, check on the price of a Pelikan 800 special edition brown-black at Vanness or at Fountain Pen Hospital. Both sell the pen for about $639. That seems to be the legitimate price in the US as set by Chartpak.

Edited May 29, 2020 by welch

[welch]

 

Isn't Appleboom from The Netherlands? If so, difficult comparison... we all know that there are regional discrepancies in pricing and USD dollar strength is another factor at this moment.

 

That's most of it, and has nothing to do with USD strength or the Euro. It has to do with distributorship. It is most likely that Pelikan's US distributor, Chartpak, has set a price below which Goulet cannot discount, and that Pelikan will punish any retailer that sneaks behind Chartpak to take product from Europe into the US.

 

Here is an example we all learned ten years ago, and discussed here on FPN.

 

About 2010, Pilot released their Iroshizuku line of inks, the first "luxury" inks, ahead of Edelstein. My local store, the beloved but, sadly, gone Art Brown's International Penshop, sold Asa-Gao for about $31 a bottle. An on-line store in the US sold Iroshizuku inks for about $21. I asked Marilyn Brown about it. She said, "Yes, they sell it for less, but they are bypassing Pilot USA. Pilot will soon stop it." Later, she said that Pilot had declared than anyone sneaking the official channel through Pilot USA would be cut off. "Otherwise, Pilot will not have a distributor in the US. From now on, retailers can discount to $28, and must buy from Pilot USA. If a retailer violates the rule, Pilot will refuse to let them sell any Pilot product. No fountain pens, no inks, not even the cheapest mass-market ballpoints or rollerballs".

 

And that's how it was.

 

More than a few people came to FPN to whimper that Pilot was being unfair, but Pilot stuck to their decision.

 

Perhaps Applebooms sell so little into the US that Chartpak does not care and, therefore, Pelikan does not care. If Applebooms hurt Chartpak's business, then Pelikan would probably care very much.

[Seney724]

 

That's most of it, and has nothing to do with USD strength or the Euro. It has to do with distributorship. It is most likely that Pelikan's US distributor, Chartpak, has set a price below which Goulet cannot discount, and that Pelikan will punish any retailer that sneaks behind Chartpak to take product from Europe into the US.

 

Here is an example we all learned ten years ago, and discussed here on FPN.

 

About 2010, Pilot released their Iroshizuku line of inks, the first "luxury" inks, ahead of Edelstein. My local store, the beloved but, sadly, gone Art Brown's International Penshop, sold Asa-Gao for about $31 a bottle. An on-line store in the US sold Iroshizuku inks for about $21. I asked Marilyn Brown about it. She said, "Yes, they sell it for less, but they are bypassing Pilot USA. Pilot will soon stop it." Later, she said that Pilot had declared than anyone sneaking the official channel through Pilot USA would be cut off. "Otherwise, Pilot will not have a distributor in the US. From now on, retailers can discount to $28, and must buy from Pilot USA. If a retailer violates the rule, Pilot will refuse to let them sell any Pilot product. No fountain pens, no inks, not even the cheapest mass-market ballpoints or rollerballs".

 

And that's how it was.

 

More than a few people came to FPN to whimper that Pilot was being unfair, but Pilot stuck to their decision.

 

Perhaps Applebooms sell so little into the US that Chartpak does not care and, therefore, Pelikan does not care. If Applebooms hurt Chartpak's business, then Pelikan would probably care very much.

In my experience, it does not take too many $211 discounts for a company like Chartpak to get its lawyers lined up and ready to go.

It's more than that........

 

Appleboom is not a grey market dealer; they are a Pelikan AD. In this day and age of global economics it is stupid to ignore the opportunity to get so much bang for your buck. I get the concept of supporting your "local family business" and I have done so on a near daily basis........but Goulet is anything but a local family business. They have proved that quite conclusively over the past 2 months.

[praxim]

Given I am in Australia with only about 24.999M other people I am often in the position of comparing prices from larger markets. Taking the Pelikan M800 brown/black as an example, landed prices are just a few $ more for that pen from Europe (LCdC) compared with a local distributor (shout out to larrypost.com.au). Those prices are more than 20% cheaper than from US dealers (nothing special about Goulet there). By its nature, that is currency-equivalent comparison.

 

It would appear from some of the discussion above that Chartpak (hence Pelikan) is enjoying anti-competitive practices unavailable to them in other markets. That does not appear to be Goulet's fault but rather related to American commercial law or practice, or simply exploitation of insularity, people suspicious of buying from the great outside world (I have noticed that occasionally in other threads here).

[TSherbs]

The internet is the wild wild west (www).

[welch]

In my experience, it does not take too many $211 discounts for a company like Chartpak to get its lawyers lined up and ready to go.

It's more than that........

 

Appleboom is not a grey market dealer; they are a Pelikan AD. In this day and age of global economics it is stupid to ignore the opportunity to get so much bang for your buck. I get the concept of supporting your "local family business" and I have done so on a near daily basis........but Goulet is anything but a local family business. They have proved that quite conclusively over the past 2 months.

 

It has nothing to do with buying from your local store, whether it is a mom & pop or not.

 

If Appleboom US is an authorized Pelikan dealer, then it, and not Appleboom home-company in NL, must buy Pelikan product from Pelikan's US distributor.

 

However, if Appleboom is buying product in Europe and shipping to the US, then it is a grey market channel into the US. Appleboom has an affiliate of some sort in the US, which they list on their Dutch website, but that does not make Appleboom an authorized Pelikan dealer in the US. It looks like they have a back channel around Chartpak.

 

It also means that Goulet and Vanness are probably following a price set by Chartpak, and Appleboom is probably a gray market retailer in the US. Pelikan needs a US distributor. Applebooms in the Netherlands is irrelevant.

[Seney724]

 

Appleboom is probably a gray market retailer in the US. Applebooms in the Netherlands is irrelevant.

Wrong.

Just wrong...........

 

When one places an order with Appleboom, a well recognized world-wide Pelikan Authorized Dealer (AD), said buyer receives a factory fresh pen straight from an AD. And, that pen comes with a full 3 year Pelikan warranty so signified by an official Pelikan warranty card which has been duly authenticated, stamped and dated by Appleboom, an authorized dealer.

 

Just because Chartpak might not do the warranty work does not mean Appleboom has sold you a grey market pen.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Seney724

[praxim]

Wrong.

Just wrong...........

 

When one places an order with Appleboom, a well recognized world-wide Pelikan Authorized Dealer (AD), said buyer receives a factory fresh pen straight from an AD. And, that pen comes with a full 3 year Pelikan warranty so signified by an official Pelikan warranty card which has been duly authenticated, stamped and dated by Appleboom, an authorized dealer.

 

Just because Chartpak might not do the warranty work does not mean Appleboom has sold you a grey market pen.

Correct, which one can show also by examples using other companies outside the US, e.g. LCdC or Larrypost, the two I happened to mention. They are not grey-marketing. They are selling to people who choose to purchase from their AD stores in NL and AUS respectively, and those people are free to be living in USA, Botswana or New Zealand at the time. It is their choice.

[katanankes]

Ju

 

I think it may be about options. When you have a $400 something option, why go for a $600 something option? And with appelboom you usually get delivery within 4-5 days maximum in normal conditions. I think appelboom was shipping orders all the time when goulet wasnt.
If I do buy an off the shelf pen, I tend to look for the best possible deal. From this thread and their website, they seem to be severally lacking in the good deal department. For almost everything that they sell, there is another cheaper option.

 

Just a question since I am not based in the US. In the US a 400 USD dollar package from Europe is not liable of any import duties?

[N1003U]

Ju

 

 

Just a question since I am not based in the US. In the US a 400 USD dollar package from Europe is not liable of any import duties?

Generally speaking, packages containing goods that are otherwise legal to import with values of under $800 rarely get attention from the US Customs Service. So no, a $400 package not for re-sale would normally not be subject to import duties.

 

Furthermore, the last time I looked at the US tariff schedule, fountain pens were only subject to a duty of under 2% (something like 1.56%, but I don't remember anymore), so unless it is a VERY expensive pen, the duties payable would not be all that much.

[mongrelnomad]

Being in the UK, I have not used Goulet very much. However, every time I have purchased from them it has been a most pleasurable experience!

 

Well done to Brian and all who help him keep Goulet Pens running!

In the UK (and previously in Israel) so same limited experience, though Ive had about a dozen interactions over the years.

 

Conclusion: Goulet are among the good guys. Their success is well earned.

[Mew]

Ju

 

 

Just a question since I am not based in the US. In the US a 400 USD dollar package from Europe is not liable of any import duties?

I dont think so, but I am not in US either. But I have had multiple items delivered over the years, most of which were more than $1000 and they came in without requiring any payment on delivery.

[katanankes]

Generally speaking, packages containing goods that are otherwise legal to import with values of under $800 rarely get attention from the US Customs Service. So no, a $400 package not for re-sale would normally not be subject to import duties.

 

Furthermore, the last time I looked at the US tariff schedule, fountain pens were only subject to a duty of under 2% (something like 1.56%, but I don't remember anymore), so unless it is a VERY expensive pen, the duties payable would not be all that much.

 

That's a very cool situation.

[Olya]

Generally speaking, packages containing goods that are otherwise legal to import with values of under $800 rarely get attention from the US Customs Service. So no, a $400 package not for re-sale would normally not be subject to import duties.

 

Furthermore, the last time I looked at the US tariff schedule, fountain pens were only subject to a duty of under 2% (something like 1.56%, but I don't remember anymore), so unless it is a VERY expensive pen, the duties payable would not be all that much.

That's insanely generous.

Other countries charge already starting at around US$20.