I was curious what kind of luck people have had with finding fountain pens in flea markets. We have a couple here, and I think tomorrow I might scour them to see if I can find anything. It seems like a FP would be the type of item that would just end up on a shelf for next to nothing, like an item they pulled out of a junk box or something. What are your story about flea market finds?

I've done well at flea markets, thrift stores and yard sales. I found a Waterman Hundred Year fountain pen with a nice flex nib that didn't even need a sac replacement for $5.00. I've found several Parker 51s from $1.00 to $5.00 each. Some Esterbrooks, a ladies pen or two and and a bunch of Sheaffers from 25¢ to $5 each. And don't even get me started about all the cool paper that's out there that no one wants but is fun for fountain pens. :doh:

If you can do your own sac replacement and aren't afraid of a bit of nib smoothing and aligning there are some nice, useable fountain pens out there.

how about a 1920s swan eternal red ripple with a huge no. 8 nib for $10? a parker duofold junior lapis blue for $5? a rare 30s eversharp pencil for 5 cents?

I live in great antique country. There are more shops, auctions & estate sales here than any place i've ever lived. I can't even begin to count all of the killer pens I've scored over the years for next to nothing.

51's, Snorkels & various Waterman's $10-20.00. Esterbrooks $5-10.00. Wearevers by the truck load for as close to free as they come..lol. There are a lot of great deals around here. BUT there are also a lot of "Those" sellers out here also...

There's a shop about 30 miles from me with close to 400 pens for sale. Sadly this is one of those sellers that's trying to make a house payment off of the4 sale of one pen. For example he's got a beater Sr. Big Red Duofold Flat Top for $450.00. Beat to death 51's with cracked shells & broken nibs for $200.00 & a ton of really beat up sheaffer vac fillers for $150-200.00 each. I've tried to talk to this guy but all I get out of him is "your trying to get over on me! You want everything for nothing. These nibs are GOLD!!" :doh: :doh:

I took him to several online places to show him what these pens are selling for, PT, FPN, ebay and a few other spots and he still doesn't believe me. Oh well the will sit there for a couple more years for all I care

I asked him how often his pens sell & he told me he sells one or 2 a year. I wonder why..lol

I've scored a couple of interesting finds at flea markets and antique shops over the past month of so. Found a pretty nice 51 single jewel for $3, an 80% full bottle of 1940s Quink Permanent Red that's pretty darn swell, and I'll FINALLY be getting ahold of the vintage bottle of Skrip Emerald today that I've waited forever for!

Yes...antique shops and flea markets can be very profitable. I've found great inks and some nice pens out there. It's a ton of fun to waste half a day poring over tables of junk just to find the one or two super-nice bargains out there!

DWL: I know what you mean. I am from SE Kansas and it's the same way. I expect to find people either selling them for nothing, or trying to rip people off. They might have a decent pen, but because it isn't complete trash, they'll just assume it's a holy grail.

I am big depression glass collector, and I don't even bother with flea markets and junk shops. They don't even look it up, they'll just slap a $50 sticker on it regardless. Hehe.

Okay, time to hit the store fronts!

Success! I scored two pens today. There were three others I saw, a green piston filler that had a busted up cap, a red striped celluloid (?) with a busted up nib, and a double sided Eversharp with a broken clip. I passed on them since they all had stuff broken.

The two I got were very similar, a black Majestic and American. Both need cleaned and re-sac'ed (good pens to practice this on I figure.) I like the American, but the body has a slightly funny shape, like maybe it was left in a hot car too long (see pics). Both pens have some flex, but aren't marked if they are gold.