Tariffs on Overseas Purchases

[Dillo]

Compared to some other places, a lot of the data I've read and heard indicate that the US is really not a big market for fountain pens compared to other places, especially in terms of overall sales. There may be a lot of people living here, but the numbers of people actually using or interested in fountain pens in the US is not as high percentage-wise compared to many other markets. I imagine that this will have an effect, but not as big as some people may be concerned

[sajiskumar]

  On 4/5/2025 at 12:01 PM, Ron Z said:

The US is a small part of fountain pen sales.  I know that this may not be the case for all manufacturers, but we were told by a Sheaffer distributor that the US accounted for about 10% of Sheaffer's sales, with the main market being the far east. 

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This is my experience as a very very small seller from India.

Around 50% of my customers are from the US, 30% Europe, rest is Asia and Latin America.

[senzen]

The US has been the exception with cheaper prices and more options than most, even for more obscure goods such as fountain pens; higher prices, more risk and more friction will decrease sales. Once people get used to the new sticker shock they may realize some pens might still be worth the new price but there is more risk and more hassle, which might not be worth the effort, even if you have the time, patience and dedication.

 

Example: Waterman Gentleman 33 from France to the US to Mexico (don't trust local delivery, even through DHL, UPS or Fedex, since it has to go through the notoriously incompetent and corrupt customs, but eBay has an alliance to import through another local shipping company): Price in France + taxes in France + shipping to the US + shipping to Mexico + tariffs from the US to Mexico. Worth it for me? Yes, as the pen was €43, about $47, even with a whopping 27% in taxes and tariffs the total was less than $100, and it's a great pen.

 

Worth it for people not used or not willing to deal with this complexity? Worth it for lesser pens? Worth it for riskier pens (these have fragile sections for instance)? Worth it if US customs also becomes as incompetent? Worth it if tariffs change every week? Nope.

 

What will probably happen is governments in other countries with their citizens best interests in mind (fewer than you might think) will find ways to make trade easier among themselves, bypassing the US and by extension the US dollar. So an opportunity for instance for Japanese brands to improve their current distribution and lower their prices there, which used to be much lower than in the US.

[inkstainedruth]

  On 4/5/2025 at 12:55 PM, stan said:

Should American buyers be deterred in purchasing new pens by import duties (tariffs) the used market should improve. We need to keep an eye on offerings on eBay and at pen shows. Let's see how many used 'modern' pens show up for sale.

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I'm doing that already, although the bulk of the pens I buy these days are vintage ones.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mark from Yorkshire]

What about the likes of cross who have off shored to reduce labour costs? Will the far east import duty still be applied even though they are a US company? I guess it will be the same with guitars such as Fender and Gibson

[senzen]

  On 4/5/2025 at 8:45 PM, Mark from Yorkshire said:

What about the likes of cross who have off shored to reduce labour costs? Will the far east import duty still be applied even though they are a US company? I guess it will be the same with guitars such as Fender and Gibson

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Of course, that's the excuse: force them to repatriate production; even a cursory analysis reveals it's a false assumption, first because more uncertainty kills all investment, then because local production implies higher costs and prices which some consumers may not afford or accept.

[Karmachanic]

Don't worry.  All produced phenomena are temporary. 

[Misfit]

  On 4/3/2025 at 9:46 PM, Paul-in-SF said:

Since there are very few commercial pen producers in the US (or any at all?*)

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There are pen producers in the US. Edison, Franklin-Christoph, Karas Kustoms, and more that I haven’t bought from so don’t know their exact names. One has Carolina in it. The nibs are sourced abroad, but they do make the pen bodies. 

[kestrel]

Another concern (for me, at least) is what this will do to the niche sellers in our little world and the people they employ.  Most of the inventory of my favorite sellers is imported.  I worry about what will happen to the employees if prices go up enough to put a serious dent in sales because I know those people whether through online dealings or through encounters at pen shows.  Friends may lose jobs because of this.

[Driften]

  On 4/5/2025 at 12:55 PM, stan said:

Should American buyers be deterred in purchasing new pens by import duties (tariffs) the used market should improve. We need to keep an eye on offerings on eBay and at pen shows. Let's see how many used 'modern' pens show up for sale.

 

This may mirror the used automobile market that will improve as buyers are dissuaded from buying higher priced new cars and trucks. BTW, employeee pricing only lasts so long.

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The problem is if new pens go up in price so will used pens. 

[Paul-in-SF]

  On 4/5/2025 at 10:54 PM, Misfit said:

There are pen producers in the US. Edison, Franklin-Christoph, Karas Kustoms, and more that I haven’t bought from so don’t know their exact names. One has Carolina in it. The nibs are sourced abroad, but they do make the pen bodies. 

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Yes (and thank you for naming these, the only one I could think of off-hand was Franklin-Christoph). I was trying to draw a distinction between boutique, bespoke pen makers, which are well-represented in the US, and large-scale manufacturers with a world-wide customer base. I think the ones you named fall in between, because they don't have the following or production quantities as (for example) any of the ones named in our Brand Focus category. 

 

  On 4/6/2025 at 4:52 AM, Driften said:

The problem is if new pens go up in price so will used pens.

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In the "every cloud has a silver lining" department, this is not horrible news for those, like myself, who are trying to seriously downsize our collections. (Note: I would, of course, much rather that tariffs were not being implemented.)

[inkstainedruth]

But the flip side of that is that people might not be able to afford the pens that you are trying to sell.

I've gotten a LOT of pens for really good deals at estate sales, but that might not be the case in the future.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Lam1]

  On 4/7/2025 at 12:35 AM, inkstainedruth said:

But the flip side of that is that people might not be able to afford the pens that you are trying to sell.

I've gotten a LOT of pens for really good deals at estate sales, but that might not be the case in the future.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

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Exactly. And this is likely to bring the price of used pens down, not up, since sales will dry up (both new and used).

 

I had one (not yet released and expensive) pen in my plans for this year. But now I’m certainly not buying any pens (or anything else) for the foreseeable future.

[AmandaW]

And increased prices for people outside the US buying US brands too? And then exports go down?

[inkstainedruth]

Sadly, very likely.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ron Z]

I hate to tell you, but postage prices to the UK and EU have already taken care of that.

[Misfit]

Lochby, which makes products to hold notebooks and pens, wrote a post about tariffs. They are going to try to absorb the cost, and keep prices steady. 

[jandrese]

All upcoming Sailor Bespoke pens are being hit with tariffs--makes for a big hit. 

[mke]

  On 4/8/2025 at 2:26 PM, Misfit said:

wrote a post about tariffs

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Link please. I didn't see it on their homepage.

 

Please no more unfriendly posts with links to Google assuming that I am too stupid or too lazy to search Google.

A hint to search Google would be OK if that Lochby post would actually turn up with that Google link - but it doesn't.

(Searches in different countries or even in different computers (search history) can lead to different results.)

 

 

[inkstainedadventure]

  On 4/5/2025 at 10:54 PM, Misfit said:

There are pen producers in the US. Edison, Franklin-Christoph, Karas Kustoms, and more that I haven’t bought from so don’t know their exact names. One has Carolina in it. The nibs are sourced abroad, but they do make the pen bodies. 

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Schon DSGN is a great US maker. I know Ian makes his own nibs now, at least his newest type of nib. I did see him at the Tokyo Pen show this past November. I wonder how this will affect his sales in Japan and other places if the tariffs are reciprocal?