Pelikan is in Trouble

[sirgilbert357]

  On 8/11/2021 at 1:24 PM, TSherbs said:

Because of Covid? What can that possibly mean? 

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The response I got is that too many packages were getting lost or taking too long to arrive. They'd rather just not ship to the USA.

 

*Shrug*

 

I give up, I guess. I'm not willing to pay more than about 500 USD delivered for a Stressemann. That prevents me from buying it from the other vendors mentioned previously in this thread, and I just don't feel comfortable ordering from eBay for this purchase. I set up alerts with Appelboom and Cult Pens to notify me when it's back in stock. If Pelikan flops and I never get one, oh well. First world problems. I can find a different "birthday present to myself".

 

There's a pen show in my city on Sept 24th, so I can look for one there too. I'm betting they'll cost more than I'm willing to spend though...we'll see.

[N1003U]

  On 8/11/2021 at 12:38 PM, sirgilbert357 said:

 

zc77.de is refusing to ship to the USA because of Covid. They canceled my order. LOL.

 

Alrighty then...maybe I'm not supposed to get a Stresemann after all.

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I am very surprised to hear that.

 

I am traveling at present, but when I have a moment, I might inquire as to the detailed reasons for not shipping to the USA.

 

sheesh…what does it take to buy a Pelikan these days?…

[sirgilbert357]

  On 8/11/2021 at 3:42 PM, N1003U said:

I am very surprised to hear that.

 

I am traveling at present, but when I have a moment, I might inquire as to the detailed reasons for not shipping to the USA.

 

sheesh…what does it take to buy a Pelikan these days?…

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Well, for an M805 Stresemann, apparently about 736 USD...if you want to get one from Nibsmith.com.

 

If you don't mind taking your chances with eBay sellers, they can be had for mid 500's up to 700 bucks...

 

I guess I just don't want one THAT bad.

 

 

[gyasko]

  On 8/11/2021 at 3:49 PM, sirgilbert357 said:

 

Well, for an M805 Stresemann, apparently about 736 USD...if you want to get one from Nibsmith.com.

 

If you don't mind taking your chances with eBay sellers, they can be had for mid 500's up to 700 bucks...

 

I guess I just don't want one THAT bad.

 

 

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Not worth it.  They aren’t that special.  

[NickUK]

  On 8/11/2021 at 3:42 PM, N1003U said:

I am very surprised to hear that.

 

I am traveling at present, but when I have a moment, I might inquire as to the detailed reasons for not shipping to the USA.

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I've seen a lot of companies take a similar stance with shipping recently.

 

I can only assume, due to staff shortages, extra precautions slowing things down, and lack of confirmation from the delivery company who are no longer asking for signatures due to Covid etc, it becomes very expensive to have to refund the customer over lost orders.

 

You then get people taking advantage of the situation, and it just adds to a really bad time for the retailer, who is already struggling.

 

@sirgilbert357 - You could always get it shipped to the UK, and then forwarded on to the US?

[1nkulus]

  On 8/11/2021 at 4:10 PM, gyasko said:

Not worth it.  They aren’t that special.  

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None of them are, they are all technically the same pen from their respective series M4x/6x/8x/10x.

 

OTOH, the Stresemann isn't even a LE apart from the M1005 variant.

 

The price is for the paint job, not for a different product/innovation. It is a similar case with Lamy LE's too.

[inkstainedruth]

  On 8/9/2021 at 6:25 PM, sirgilbert357 said:

I might just have to file this one under "Lesson Learned -- ask first, buy only after FPN has collectively advised."

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You should look at websites that do currency exchange rates.   The one I like is xe.com, and while they are giving the "best" exchange rates (such as for banks), it does give a pretty good ballpark figure.  You can compare a bunch of different currencies against the dollar, and vice versa.  That's how I figured that ordering a pen from Cult Pens in the UK was way cheaper than ordering from a US vendor and paying the US distributor markup prices (such as that of the Chartpak markup on Pelikan pens).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ethernautrix]

  On 8/11/2021 at 1:24 PM, TSherbs said:

Because of Covid? What can that possibly mean? 

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That's the reason Nanami Paper wouldn't ship to Poland -- packages spend too long a time in customs. (Yeah, about three, four weeks.)

[gyasko]

  On 8/11/2021 at 4:36 PM, 1nkulus said:

None of them are, they are all technically the same pen from their respective series M4x/6x/8x/10x.

 

OTOH, the Stresemann isn't even a LE apart from the M1005 variant.

 

The price is for the paint job, not for a different product/innovation. It is a similar case with Lamy LE's too.

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Absolutely.  I couldn't agree more.  Once you have the nibs you want, who needs more holders?

 

LEs from any manufacturer are a ridiculous gaming of the consumer.  I won't have anything to do with them. 

[carola]

  On 8/11/2021 at 3:42 PM, N1003U said:

sheesh…what does it take to buy a Pelikan these days?…

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A brick and mortar store nearby.

I think I saw an M805 Stresemann when I got my M205 Petrol Marbled a few days ago. Didn´t enquire about the price though, as I own one already. They had an M800 Burnt Orange for (I think) € 490,- and a M805 Blue Dunes for (I think) € 525,- so I suppose the Stresemann would be around the same level. 🤷‍♀️

No idea if they would want to ship anything to the US though.

 

My own experiences with USPS in times of Covid-19 are mixed, to put it nicely. 2 packages going to Australia instead of Austria, waiting months on end for anything to arrive with the packages spending at least one month at some facility in Chicago. Not funny at all.

[TSherbs]

  On 8/11/2021 at 3:49 PM, sirgilbert357 said:

 

Well, for an M805 Stresemann, apparently about 736 USD...if you want to get one from Nibsmith.com.

 

If you don't mind taking your chances with eBay sellers, they can be had for mid 500's up to 700 bucks...

 

I guess I just don't want one THAT bad.

 

 

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Yikes, that's a lotta dough.

 

Yeah, might as well practice some letting-go ..... 

[TSherbs]

  On 8/11/2021 at 6:40 PM, ethernautrix said:

 

That's the reason Nanami Paper wouldn't ship to Poland -- packages spend too long a time in customs. (Yeah, about three, four weeks.)

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What does that have to do with COVID? Does this make sense to you? Are there fewer workers on shift? 

[N1003U]

  On 8/11/2021 at 4:32 PM, NickUK said:

 

I've seen a lot of companies take a similar stance with shipping recently.

 

I can only assume, due to staff shortages, extra precautions slowing things down, and lack of confirmation from the delivery company who are no longer asking for signatures due to Covid etc, it becomes very expensive to have to refund the customer over lost orders.

 

You then get people taking advantage of the situation, and it just adds to a really bad time for the retailer, who is already struggling.

 

@sirgilbert357 - You could always get it shipped to the UK, and then forwarded on to the US?

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All excellent points.

[inkstainedruth]

Additionally, there have been all sorts of supply chain issues in the past year -- and not just due to COVID.  There was also that cargo ship which got stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking other ships from getting through for I think a couple of weeks until the cargo ship was dislodged.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[sirgilbert357]

  On 8/11/2021 at 5:24 PM, inkstainedruth said:

You should look at websites that do currency exchange rates.   The one I like is xe.com, and while they are giving the "best" exchange rates (such as for banks), it does give a pretty good ballpark figure.  You can compare a bunch of different currencies against the dollar, and vice versa.  That's how I figured that ordering a pen from Cult Pens in the UK was way cheaper than ordering from a US vendor and paying the US distributor markup prices (such as that of the Chartpak markup on Pelikan pens).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

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I have to convert currency for work related reasons, so I'm familiar with that piece. It was finding alternate retailers that have the pen for sale that I should have waited for.

 

I really do need to just bookmark every pen seller's website I come across so I then have a "database" of sorts to search when I want to buy something. I am currently limited by my memory. And I had never even heard of that Denmark seller.

 

In the end, it didn't matter, since they won't sell to the USA. Oh well.

[sirgilbert357]

  On 8/11/2021 at 6:41 PM, gyasko said:

 

 

Absolutely.  I couldn't agree more.  Once you have the nibs you want, who needs more holders?

 

LEs from any manufacturer are a ridiculous gaming of the consumer.  I won't have anything to do with them. 

Expand  

 

I don't get caught up in the "Limited Edition" game, but I will pay for a different color or finish/materials. Sometimes that pen ends up being a L.E. (my Renaissance Brown is a good example -- I just HAD to have it, but didn't care at all that it was a L.E.).

 

I don't mind having multiples of a certain pen model in different colors or finishes, but don't make a habit of it either.

[BayesianPrior]

  On 8/11/2021 at 8:58 PM, sirgilbert357 said:

 

I don't get caught up in the "Limited Edition" game, but I will pay for a different color or finish/materials. Sometimes that pen ends up being a L.E. (my Renaissance Brown is a good example -- I just HAD to have it, but didn't care at all that it was a L.E.).

 

I don't mind having multiples of a certain pen model in different colors or finishes, but don't make a habit of it either.

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I'm on the same page as you.  I used to buy up M8xx models whenever I saw them for a good price, including a few LEs.  But I quickly realized there's no way I could ever fund a comprehensive collection of M8xx models.

 

So this year I began to divest and sold off my (at one time coveted) M800 Blue O'Blue and a spare 14c OB nib.  I now find myself with four M8xx pens (M800 Black, M805 Black, M800 Renaissance Brown, and M800 Grand Place) and I must admit it feels like I have at least two too many.  The nib variety is nice (true EF, juicy F, 0.6 CI, and 0.9 stub), but I don't need four holders as I rarely ink up all four pens at once (and if I did, that would be over 8ml of ink in circulation and I'd never go through that in a reasonable length of time).

[TSherbs]

  On 8/11/2021 at 4:32 PM, NickUK said:

 

I've seen a lot of companies take a similar stance with shipping recently.

 

I can only assume, due to staff shortages, extra precautions slowing things down, and lack of confirmation from the delivery company who are no longer asking for signatures due to Covid etc, it becomes very expensive to have to refund the customer over lost orders.

 

You then get people taking advantage of the situation, and it just adds to a really bad time for the retailer, who is already struggling.

 

@sirgilbert357 - You could always get it shipped to the UK, and then forwarded on to the US?

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Thanks. I missed this earlier.

[1nkulus]

  On 8/11/2021 at 6:41 PM, gyasko said:

LEs from any manufacturer are a ridiculous gaming of the consumer.  I won't have anything to do with them. 

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I agree but I am also supportive of the role LE buyers play in the bigger picture.

 

If the LE is successful, then the 'average' user can look forward to new models that he/she can afford.

 

  On 8/11/2021 at 8:58 PM, sirgilbert357 said:

I don't get caught up in the "Limited Edition" game, but I will pay for a different color or finish/materials. Sometimes that pen ends up being a L.E. (my Renaissance Brown is a good example -- I just HAD to have it, but didn't care at all that it was a L.E.).

 

I don't mind having multiples of a certain pen model in different colors or finishes, but don't make a habit of it either.

Expand  

 

  On 8/11/2021 at 9:26 PM, BayesianPrior said:

I'm on the same page as you.  I used to buy up M8xx models whenever I saw them for a good price, including a few LEs.  But I quickly realized there's no way I could ever fund a comprehensive collection of M8xx models.

 

So this year I began to divest and sold off my (at one time coveted) M800 Blue O'Blue and a spare 14c OB nib.  I now find myself with four M8xx pens (M800 Black, M805 Black, M800 Renaissance Brown, and M800 Grand Place) and I must admit it feels like I have at least two too many.  The nib variety is nice (true EF, juicy F, 0.6 CI, and 0.9 stub), but I don't need four holders as I rarely ink up all four pens at once (and if I did, that would be over 8ml of ink in circulation and I'd never go through that in a reasonable length of time).

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Lovely selection of nibs.

IMO, you should keep them all purely for the nibs as there would be no mileage in selling just the body.

An ink used with a 0.9 stub isn't the same with an EF.

 

It is better to possess a few that are well used and enjoyed rather than own many 'drawer queens'. Quality over quantity.

I too will, eventually, follow this route.

[brokenclay]

  On 8/11/2021 at 5:24 PM, inkstainedruth said:

You should look at websites that do currency exchange rates.

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When I highlight a price in a foreign currency on a web page, my browser (Opera) shows the USD equivalent. Other browsers may provide this functionality as well.