Hi everyone.

I am in the market for a Pelikan M400 fine.

What would be a fair market price?

Any recommendations?

Would you think I could get something on the bay for a few bucks less?

thanks in advance

Are you after a vintage model (from the '50s or something), or a new one?

I was hoping for a new one.

There are three ways to go:

1. (My choice) Buy from one of the respected pen repair people who also sell Pelikans. You will get a perfect pen on the first try, because they inspect and polish up each one. Pelikan's nib quality control (for smoothness especially) is not as consistent as one would hope, and so this is unfortunately a very good idea. I can recommend Richard Binder from personal experience, and there are a few others as well, who others will name.

2. A real store. If you've never bought a Pelikan before, this would not be a bad idea, because you get to hold the pen in your hand and have a better idea what you're getting. If you already know exactly what you want, and have no need of testing, you may decide not to do this.

3. Search internet sellers for the best price. Ebay is a possible source, as long as it is a seller you trust. Pelikans are reliable pens that don't usually have major failures. With this choice, however, you may end up sending your pen to one of the repair people for tweaking anyway, at which point the savings are erased.

(edit - I can't count to three.)

Thanks David for the advice.

I will research Richard Binder and keep you posted.

I forgot an obvious possibility: If you hang around the Marketplace section of this board long enough, a 400 will come up for sale.

Richard Binder can be found at Richard's Pens. (I'm just a satisfied customer, no commission blah blah blah etc.)

Hi Lucky,

If you're looking for price comparisons, visit various reputable pen shops (online and brick & mortars) that are always mentioned in the Pelikan threads on FPN.

As for me, I bought a new M400 White Tortoise on clearance at Swisher Pens for about $140. Swisher Pens also sells the Black/Black and Black/Color varieties for about $30 dollars more.

Richard Binder has already been mentioned, but I'll also mention Pendemonium and Nibs.com (has some beautiful of varieties of the M4xx series). Also, Todd at isellpens.com gets mentioned a lot for other brands (mainly the Hero, Duke, and other off-brands), but the price of new M400s at the site are relatively low at $155. His stock at the moment (I just checked for this post) is limited to the Black/Red and Black/Green however.

I'm not affiliated with any of the shops mentioned, but I recently bought a Pelikan M200 and another pen from Richard with two specialty nibs. I've bought pens from isellpens.com several times, but not a Pelikan.

As far as eBay, I limit my eBay bidding/buying to NOS and vintage pens and can't comment on what a reasonable price would be for a new M400. You may want to search the Pelikan and Writing Instruments forums on reputable eBay sellers who sell new Pelikans. I've seen a few sellers mentioned from time to time, but off the top of my head cannot remember the sellers IDs.

Oh, and one last thing, I always factor in the shipping cost. Sometimes it coincides with the items that I buy (weight, destination, and so forth) but often, not. It seems that shipping costs on eBay are pretty random. The lowest price you find might also have a very high shipping cost, especially if it's coming from overseas.

Hope that helps you. Happy hunting/shopping...

Thanks for the info...

This is some great stuff.

I will review all the sites and compile a price chart to see the best value.

However, I hear Richard's site is somewhat special in fine tuning the nib.

I agree -- and that's why I recently ordered the M200 from him. I'll be sending the M400 (and a M600) over to him with some of the nibs I ordered as well. I would have saved more money I think had I just ordered the M400 initially from him with 1 or 2 nibs regrounded rather than all the nibs that I bought just to try. Let us know how you make out with your new purchase!

Definately consider buying from Richard Binder... even if he is a couple of dollars higher than anyone else...
ONLY Richard will tune the nib before it is shipped so that it is writing they way it is supposed to. The value of this service is well worth the couple of dollars extra you may pay.... especially with the rash of complaints lately about Pelikan nibs....

As for Ebay prices. I paid $82 for my Blue/Black M400, $78 for my Green/Black M400, and $75 for my White Tortoise M400. The Blue and the Green had been used a couple times, but in excellent condition. The White Tortoise was mint in box, never inked.

I couldn't be more happier with the pens and their prices.

Bob

Wow! Great deals you got there. It is more common getting them around 80-100 euro. But if you are patient and bid low, sooner or later it'll happen.

Hi,

The cost price of the pens here in the US is much more than that!

I tell you, we US dealers can't compete with the prices available abroad. A sale times, Pengallery sells lower than the US Dealer cost price. Many can't compete with Pam either because of the overhead (Shipping, payment fees, and other things)

Dillon

Well, then come to Europe and pay MSRP plus a sales tax of 16-20%. That's why so many people go to ebay. Not because we like it, but because it makes pens more affordable.

bob's in denver - didn't say he got them in Europe. Actually, I've heard UK prices are over-the-top even compared to ours.

Yes, Pam is serious competition. OTOH, she can't take paypal and the like and some prefer to pay that way. I always buy from her to be honest. Just hard to beat her prices. Though she doesn't really have time to check every nib and that's something that can be worth the extra $ if you're like me and must ink your pen as soon as you have it in your hands.

Hi,

I was just saying that we can't always compete. I do on occasion match Pam's prices, but only for a very small number of people, and only to request. I price my pens to offer a good deal and comfortable earnings, and check every single pen by inking the nib and checking the pen carefully. (I screw it into one of my pens that has ink in it, but no nib, then I test it.)

Dillon

There are times when it is cheaper to mail order from Europe to the U.S. as the wave the VAT on exports. Not now as the dollar is doing a nose dive against the European currancies.

Some years back (strong dollar backed by gold) the spread was so wide, you could take a cruise to France, the train to Germany, pickup a "built to your specification" export model Mercedes, drive around Europe on holiday, ship the car back to the U.S. and end up on the dock having spent the same amount as if you had bought it from the Manhattan Mercedes dealership.

I know - wasn't debating it at all. Just yappin'.