Where do members here purchase most of their fountain pens?

[PhiloPlume]

Just curious if someone had a favorite fountain pen vendor. Mostly, I keep bouncing back between Franklin-Christoph (mostly for pens with cursive italic and their SIG nibs), Fahrney's, GoldSpot, Goulet Pens, and sometimes Amazon.  Not sure which is my favorite.  But I tend to stay away from vendors like JetPens that don't focus mainly on fountain pens and take forever to get an order out of the door.  F-C is by far the quickest.  Sometimes I think if I want to get a company off their butt I have to pay for FedEx type shipping 🙂

 

[inkstainedruth]

I'm all over the map.  Goulet Pens, Anderson Pens, Pen Boutique, Cult Pens, various vendors on eBay, various vendors at pen shows; various estate sales & antiques shops, Fountain Pen Hospital (when they were still on Warren St. in NYC, I'd sort of make an annual pilgrimage there -- although I may never have actually bought a pen there), the Lamy Soho store in NYC, and Bromfield's in Boston (before they got bought out by Appelboom).

But then, a lot of the pens I buy are vintage, so a good chunk of the stash were finds at estate sales, antiques shops, and eBay....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Oh I forgot about Vanness, but in their case it's mostly ink because they have one of the biggest ranges of brands I've found.

[Sh.Andrews]

8 minutes ago, PhiloPlume said:

take forever to get an order out of the door.

Really surprised to hear this - they have always shipped quickly on my numerous orders with them.  Distance is the only problem for me but they get it out the door.  I receive Vaness orders normally the next day only because they are the next state over.

 

To answer your question, think it depends on what you are buying.  Don't beleive there is one vendor fits all.

[Ceilidh]

Interesting. I haven't had any problems with JetPens - in fact, placed an order with them today. I also like Cult Pens, when I have enough to avoid the international shipping charge. However, my favorite for years has been Anderson Pens. Sadly, they will be closing soon.

[Driften]

1 hour ago, PhiloPlume said:

Just curious if someone had a favorite fountain pen vendor. Mostly, I keep bouncing back between Franklin-Christoph (mostly for pens with cursive italic and their SIG nibs), Fahrney's, GoldSpot, Goulet Pens, and sometimes Amazon.  Not sure which is my favorite.  But I tend to stay away from vendors like JetPens that don't focus mainly on fountain pens and take forever to get an order out of the door.  F-C is by far the quickest.  Sometimes I think if I want to get a company off their butt I have to pay for FedEx type shipping 🙂

 

 

Add Pen Chalet and Atlas Stationers to that list. Pen Chalet gets orders out quick. I haven't used Faheney's yet but have all of the others. I think I've spent more money with Pen Chalet then the others this year.

[Dillo]

PenBoutique is one I get from a lot. The service is generally good, and they pack very well.

Jetpens is generally very good as well, but if you are getting free shipping, the shipping and packing are going to be slower. Their service is generally very good.

Cultpens has good communication. They take a little longer than Jetpens to pack and ship in my experience. They have gone lengths to find products for me and stock them. They have one of the best selections I can think of. I see them quite similarly to Jetpens.

MissingPen is in Germany. The service is very friendly and shipping is quick. I get a lot of German pens from them and their used pen offerings are very nice.

Giardino Italiano is one of my favorites for Italian pens. They are in Italy. They have very nice service.

There is also Appelboom. They can take longer to ship, so check the shipping estimates, but packing and communication was excellent.

Pen Venture in Romania has very good communication and great service.

Tylee Pens in Taiwan is one of my favorites of all time. The service is very good and the packing is excellent

 

If you are looking for gifts, PenBoutique, MissingPen, Giardino Italiano, Appelboom, and Tylee Pens are my top picks because of the way they pack their packages. I'm only new to Pen Venture, but things are excellent so far. After a few more interactions and orders, I'll be likely recommending them. The others I have made many order with over the years. Cultpens and Jetpens tend to almost always use mailers, but things generally arrive in good condition.

 

iPenStore has small selection, but the service and packaging is also great. If they have a pen you like in their selection, I would not hesitate to get it from them. I buy from them occasionally if they have what I'm looking for.

 

I had several interactions and transactions with Goulet during their opening in 2009 that made me feel that they are a not a good fit for my buying and needs. Other stores or people I had some trouble with are not really that notable.

[SpencerianDream]

Goulet, AliExpress, eBay, Amazon, Anderson… I mostly buy ink and paper from “pen places” and buy the pens wherever I can get them cheapest. 

[AmandaW]

I mostly buy from Australian online stores (Milligram,  BookbindersDesign, PulpAddiction, etc) often prompted by a sale to do so. The free shipping threshold, if not too high, makes them attractive too.

 

A few things from Amazon too, but less and less because I find their site to be manipulative in pricing and pushing Prime to be irritating (I was given a year of membership as a gift, but didn't watch a single video, plus my 'remote' location removes all faster shipping offers - I saw no benefit).

 

My overseas orders are down to almost nothing because the cost and speed of shipping has made it unattractive since the pandemic price hikes. I did get a bunch of pen parts from onlinepencompany recently because they had what I needed.

 

[Lam1]

In the last few years, for new pens it is mainly Fritz Schimpf (Germany) for MB and sometimes Pelikan, and Novelli (Italy) for Pelikan and Italian pens. Occasionally I have purchased from Atlas Stationers and Chatterley Luxuries. All are top notch vendors that I highly recommend.

 

Japanese pens I usually buy from e-sell Japan, on eBay. Again, an excellent vendor that I recommend.

 

I tend to be loyal, and if things go according to plan I stick with a seller (unless they don't have what I "need").

[Penguincollector]

    I tend to buy from trusted sellers on eBay, local stores (Oblation and Main Street Stationery awesome people who sell online as well), my pen club friends (Jessica Sall sells on Etsy as Modern Analog Pens- lots of tiny pens, ring tops,and restored vintage), JetPens (shipping to Oregon has been pretty quick), Pen Realm (I’m a Speerhead), Peyton Street Pens (Teri is amazing), and Amazon. I buy inks from Vanness and Lamy nibs from Endless Pens. I also buy from Smurti Pens (very well packaged for gifts), Lemur Inks, PenWorld in Belgium, and Anderson. 

[Surlyprof]

I've bought a pen from the SF Lamy Store (pricey but they were very helpful), one from a Lamy dealer in the Frankfurt Airport (great spot for Lamys), one from Vanness, one from Pensachi, one from Bungubox and a few pens from the cheapest sources when they had sales (Watch Warehouse and Endless Pens).  I also have bought all of my Lamy nibs from Endless.  When they have a good sale, the prices have been unbeatable and their delivery has been solid.

 

After accumulating these initial pens, I've gotten a lot pickier.  I cleaned out all of my pens before our recent vacation and decided I just want to buy a new pen if it offers a different writing experience than what I already own.  That requires trying before buying.  Therefore, all my recent pen purchases have been in stores or at shows.  We don't have many B&M stores in the Bay Area anymore so the only way I get to try new pens in person is traveling or waiting for the SF Show each summer.  The nice thing is that I know what the pen I'm purchasing will feel like to use before I buy it.  The nicer part of this plan is that whatever pen I buy becomes a momento from a trip or pen show.  After a couple of trips to Italy, our recent trip to Japan and the last SF Pen Show, I've been able to accumulate a few more pens by Leonardo and Sailor that I really adore and that bring back fond memories of those experiences.  I like some of my favorites such much that I brought 4 of them with me to Japan recently so I could compare them with pens I was trying out.  I still feel bad for the poor sales people at Shosaikan and Kingdom Note.  I tried so many pens at those places and didn't end up buying any.  I even got to try some Sailor Naginata Togis and Fudes that I had considered buying online but just couldn't warm up to those nibs.  And, even with the dollar doing so well against the yen, I couldn't bring myself to go all in on Pilot's new, Prussian Blue Custom Urushi (despite it being beautiful and delightful!).  My grail list has gotten shorter... and more expensive!

[senzen]

Mostly eBay.

[A Smug Dill]

1. Amazon (Australia)
2. AliExpress
3. Taobao
4. Milligram (when it offers stackable discounts, or “free money” such as birthday credit vouchers, etc.)
5. and, on the very odd occasion, Dymocks on George Street in Sydney CBD

La Couronne du Comte has long since gone out of business, and Cult Pens and EndlessPens have both fallen out of favour with me. PenGallery Malaysia's free shipping threshold to Australia has gone up to silly levels, and Iguana Sell surpassed even that (and long ago, too).

[Ron Z]

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

PenGallery Malaysia's free shipping threshold to Australia has gone up to silly levels,

 

Most shipping out of the USA and especially to  Australia went up to "silly" levels a long time ago.  On top of that the USPS has gone into "holiday pricing"  mode which means even more expensive, even when a discount label printing service is used for domestic shipping.

[antares1966]

Pen Chalet and Atlas (my current favorite) already mentioned here.  I’ll throw out an obscure one for US buyers—Pen Realm is nibsmith Kirk Speer’s online retail store.  Limited selection of new stock and a significant selection of secondhand items in typically very good condition.  I’ve bought something from him at his Colorado Pen Show table the past two years now.

[Bo Bo Olson]

To 95% used pens.

For years, it was flea market and eBay. Then for a long time before computer and telephone bidding, a live auction house was the best, in I only had to beat a dealer, who had to make a profit....not collectors.

 

I still win pens in live auctions..........but not as much as a few years ago, in like eBay, auction houses have gone over to computer and telephone bids, so I have to beat the world.

In the last five years I outside of 4-5 LE Pelikan 200's, bought a Lamy Studio..to put on a Z55 nib, in close out of a Department store sale............in I find new pens too expensive.

2X what I wanted to pay, my max.............Lately, having many of the normal run-of-the-mill vintage pens....used pens has become expensive too...

 

The big 18k MB nib is a display nib; no slit nor tipping.

 

 

1927 Parker Duofold, was not bid on, as it started at €150....so I got it for that price in after auction sale. A Wet Noodle.

 

[torstar]

over the years:

 

friends

 

ebay from North America and Japan

 

brick and mortar boutiques

 

online stores

 

had a store with damaged goods sold for cut-rate prices, but that caused purchases that were bargains but I didn't really want the pen...

 

and during a periodic inventory review there's a few I forgot I own, and blazes if i remember where they came from.

 

 

[Estycollector]

The old Esterbrook pens I restored came from eBay. I don't think I would be able to start in 2025 and obtain the ones I found in 2018. The old ones got popular. Same with Autopoint mechanical pencils. 

[lamarax]

Just like everybody else I prefer to shop local, provided the prices are sensible:

• http://zafpens.com (best deals)
• http://fountainpen.gr (near-always I expect to pay MSRP with this one, but such a great collection and in-store atmosphere)
• http://pen-store.gr (my favorite place for calling in)

That said, realistically most of my dough has gone to online shops in the EU, predominantly Stilo & Stile and Appelboom. But I've also made repeat purchases with: Akkerman (both the one in the Hague and in Amsterdam), Fountainfeder in Berlin, Inktraveller, FPnibs and Iguanasell in Spain, Sakura fountain pen gallery in Belgium, Stilografica and Corsani in Florence and Rome, not to speak of the official Leonardo or Visconti online stores and many, many other one-time purchases all over the place (France, Germany, even -reluctantly- the UK after Brexit).

 

I've even gone through various hoops to buy pens & related stuff directly from Japan, but I never to this day have attempted to order anything from the US 😁

 

As for the rare instance when I'm seeking that particular vintage item I'm after, my first ports of call are Penboard and Tenpen, maybe catwiki. Never the Bay! 😉

[mulrich]

I've bought a lot from a lot of people. My most common are probably Appelboom, Chatterley, and the former FPN classifieds. Now that I'm not in a heavy acquisition mode I mainly only buy pens from local shops while traveling or if I find a good deal or really interesting pen from a known online seller.