Upcoming retail price hikes for Pilot and Sailor fountain pens announced

[A Smug Dill]

(Secondhand news, but links to official announcements.)

 

• https://www.pilot.co.jp/information/01/2024/08/01/post_211.html
   (effective 1/10/2024)
• https://www.platinum-pen.co.jp/news/12577/
   (effective 1/9/2024) — only affecting ballpoint pens and multi-pens, not fountain pens
• https://sailor.co.jp/important_news/product-price-change_2024/
   (effective 1/9/2024) — only affecting models with (Naginata) Special Nibs, and King Of Pen grade models 

[Echolane]

Ouch.  I am disappointed to see this news as I am at the beginning of my pen hobby and at the moment mostly interested in the Japanese pens.  I already find them quite pricey and I doubt it will be possible to entice me into buying another at these more elevated prices. I only have one Sailor pen so far, a particularly pricey one, and I’d like more.  I am in love with the many gorgeous color choices, especially those in the Pro Gear and Pro Gear Slim lines.  I’d love to fill my basket with a Sailor Yuzuyu, a Sailor Manyo Plum, a Sailor Autumn Sky, a Sailor Suiu, and probably more!

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, Echolane said:

I already find them quite pricey

 

Well, Japanese pens with gold nibs are significantly cheaper than European with gold nibs, and because of the sinking value of the yen, they're now cheaper “than ever” if you're sourcing it from sellers (not excluding Amazon Japan) operating and shipping from the Japanese domestic market to fulfil overseas orders.

 

4 minutes ago, Echolane said:

and I doubt it will be possible to entice me into buying another at these more elevated prices.

 

Famous last words? 🤣

[lascosas]

There is often quite a delay between these Sailor announced price hikes (I know less about the market for Pilot & Platinum) and what you can find on the internet.  What is does tell you is that the long term price direction is going to be up, but not exactly when.  I just feel sorry for authorized US dealers.  They are the ones who will see this price hike first, making their prices even less conpetitive with sellers like Amazon Japan.

[Karmachanic]

36 minutes ago, lascosas said:

What is does tell you is that the long term price direction is going to be up,

 

 I remember gas at $.0,25 a gallon. But in those day most people had one pen.

[ElPlacerDeLaEscritura]

Auch, that's it's painful. 

 

I wonder if the strong japanese exporting industry can get better nibs not so dependent of gold price. 

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, ElPlacerDeLaEscritura said:

I wonder if the strong japanese exporting industry can get better nibs not so dependent of gold price.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

 

Pilot and Sailor already make plenty of (widely considered to be) good steel nibs not so affected in themselves by the market price of gold as a material. Pilot uses such nibs in the Kakuno, 78G+, Lightive/Explorer, Cocoon/MR, and Prera models; and Sailor uses such nibs in the Procolor 500 (by any other name, e.g. Shikiori HIsakata) and Profit Casual models. I don't think there's any real call for improving them as for as writing performance goes.

 

For those who want the “next step up”, they want gold nibs, and there is no reason to not “exploit” the sales opportunity and charge those consumers both for the price of gold and for satisfying that want of something “better”. Those who don't consider the improvement “worth” it will deny themselves the satisfaction of that want eyes wide open, and there is nothing to demand Japanese pen manufacturers “come to the party”.

[Karmachanic]

4 hours ago, ElPlacerDeLaEscritura said:

I wonder if the strong japanese exporting industry can get better nibs not so dependent of gold price

 

No.  Because even if they are made of steel we still get to enjoy the debasement of currency.  Popularly referred to as inflation.  Which is why the price of gold, and pretty much everything else, is rising.  Buy more stuff now!

[Echolane]

I can understand prices rising due to inflation.  That is certainly nothing new.  My.  I am now well into retirement so inflation means a lot more than when I was working.  That means I have to be more careful how I spend my money.  I have been buying only pens with gold nibs.  Now I’m wondering,  might I be just as happy with a well tuned steel nib?

seriously, it often sounds like the biggest difference in nibs comes from the way they are tuned.  Since I’ve never tuned a pen, I can’t answer that question but I’d love to know.

[Karmachanic]

11 minutes ago, Echolane said:

might I be just as happy with a well tuned steel nib?

 

Possibly/probably. Most modern nibs are nails, so gold/steel no difference in that regard. Both use the same tipping. That said there are gold nibs which are softer/bouncier than steel. Pilot FA nibs for instance.

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, Echolane said:

Now I’m wondering,  might I be just as happy with a well tuned steel nib?

 

That depends on specifically, or exactly, what you want out of that nib (or, by extension, pen). The polished steel EF nib on my first Diplomat Aero is great, so I'd struggle to find a reason not to be happy with it; and that pen cost me more than some of the gold-nibbed Sailor and Platinum fountain pens I subsequently bought.

[mke]

On 8/9/2024 at 2:07 PM, Echolane said:

 Now I’m wondering,  might I be just as happy with a well tuned steel nib?

 

I would say that most of the people will not be able to find differences between writing with gold and steel nibs - in a blind test. (Of course, nearly everyone will tell you otherwise.)

 

If you want to try good steel nibs, go to aliexpress.com and search for pens from Hongdian, Majohn, Jinhao and I was told Asvine too. That sets you down about $30 USD per pen.

If you want to buy good gold nibs, go to Amazon.com and check for Sailor, Platinum or Pilot. As already set, very cheap outside of Japan.

 

[Echolane]

On 8/12/2024 at 5:16 PM, mke said:

 

I would say that most of the people will not be able to find differences between writing with gold and steel nibs - in a blind test. (Of course, nearly everyone will tell you otherwise.)

 

If you want to try good steel nibs, go to aliexpress.com and search for pens from Hongdian, Majohn, Jinhao and I was told Asvine too. That sets you down about $30 USD per pen.

If you want to buy good gold nibs, go to Amazon.com and check for Sailor, Platinum or Pilot. As already set, very cheap outside of Japan.

 

I am quite sure I could identify my Pilot pens with gold nibs even if blindfolded..  They really stand out as ultra smooth writing pens.  They have pretty much spoiled me.  But I have so little experience it would not be right to say I prefer pens with gold nibs because I only have six pens.  My first two pens were both under $35 and they have steel nibs.  My other four pens all have gold nibs and are all far more expensive so it is not a good comparison, at least not if being judged  by price.  But I have heard that some very inexpensive pens write superbly.  Since I like ultra smooth and I dislike spending a lot I need to get acquainted with more steel nibbled pens.

[Karmachanic]

2 hours ago, Echolane said:

I need to get acquainted with more steel nibbled pens.

 

And then there's titanium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaBSUADlF20

[kabbyr]

Very interesting to see these increases, especially for Pilot. I wonder how much this will close the Japan/USA pricing gap we see, especially for their higher-end pens like the Pilot Custom Urushi/845. 

[inkstainedruth]

Depending on where the pens are being bought from, even the price hikes might not be as bad as thought.

For the longest time, Pilot only sold half the colors of Decimos in the US (and of course not EITHER of the colors I wanted -- Dark Blue or Light Grey).  I even contacted their US distributor and was told "Its a marketing decision..."  So in order to get the color I wanted the most (the Light Grey) I was able to track one down with the nib I wanted from a seller on eBay in Japan.  And even with the exchange rate and an additional $13 for Economy Air Mail from Japan to the US, I saved money over the US distributor markup.  It took less than two weeks -- even with the seller warning me that it might be longer due to the time of year (I ordered the pen around Thanksgiving).  I was able to track the package through Japan Post until it reached stateside, then (once it zoomed through US Customs in the greater NYC area) through USPS until it was out for delivery, until the mailman was knocking at my front door because I had to sign for the package.   Sadly, I haven't seen any recent offerings from the seller, but let's just say that at the time, the seller didn't lose the 100% positive rating ONE IOTA....   I would not HESITATE to buy from that seller again, if it was something I wanted (and even had a good laugh with Pierre Miller at his table at a pen show a few years ago, when someone was saying "I don't know how to pick 'good' overseas sellers on eBay; Pierre said he had a good seller in Japan and I said I did too -- and it turned out he and I were BOTH talking about the same seller (I may be misspelling the screen name now, but it was something like "pistooke2005").

Ironically, now 5-6 years later, Pilot USA did finally start selling the light grey Decimos in the US....  And all I can think of is the old TV ad when Levi's started making 501s in women's sizes, back when I was in college in the late 1970s-early 1980s (which shows a woman sitting on the front of an old western wagon/stagecoach, looking at some old prairie farmhouse, and going "Jesse!  You're years too late!"

Ruth Morrison aka inkstainedruth

[Penguincollector]

On 8/8/2024 at 10:07 PM, Echolane said:

I can understand prices rising due to inflation.  That is certainly nothing new.  My.  I am now well into retirement so inflation means a lot more than when I was working.  That means I have to be more careful how I spend my money.  I have been buying only pens with gold nibs.  Now I’m wondering,  might I be just as happy with a well tuned steel nib?

seriously, it often sounds like the biggest difference in nibs comes from the way they are tuned.  Since I’ve never tuned a pen, I can’t answer that question but I’d love to know.

 

  The secret is to buy second hand at reputable stores in Japan. My favorite is Kingdom Note because they video record each pen to show the condition and how it writes. Buyee, the proxy buying service is well integrated and the process is super easy and well explained. Eventually, you’ll get to know your specific niche of pen and be able to suss out pen conditions well enough to explore auction sites, which use the same proxy buyer so that end will be set up. 

[mke]

19 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

My favorite is Kingdom Note

* Kingdom Note is good as long as you don't have to sell them a pen. I was warned that they could teach Amazon how to squeeze. Don't know the percentage they offer but it is said to be very low.

* Their selling prices are lower than the usual used pen prices of other shops.

* Caution: when they publish their new daily offers, good offers are sold nearly immediately.

* Surprisingly, they have a lot of interesting pens. So, people still sell their pens to them.

[Penguincollector]

6 hours ago, mke said:

* Kingdom Note is good as long as you don't have to sell them a pen. I was warned that they could teach Amazon how to squeeze. Don't know the percentage they offer but it is said to be very low.

* Their selling prices are lower than the usual used pen prices of other shops.

* Caution: when they publish their new daily offers, good offers are sold nearly immediately.

* Surprisingly, they have a lot of interesting pens. So, people still sell their pens to them.

  My collection is a black hole of acquisition, nothing ever reemerges back into the market.  I’ve never had to sell a pen. They do have a nice selection of pens at good prices. 

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah, that sounds like my pen stash as well....  

Other than having lost a few over the years, of course.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth