I received a Conway Stewart No.388 Red marbled today i purchased from ebay, i paid a £24 for it which i thought maybe a little steep. Anyway, was quite excited and pleased when i unwrapped to find a wonderful specimen, untill closer inspection found that 2/3 of the round bit at end of lever was missing.
Now do i send back and demand a refund, or have i still got a good buy, because apart from that and perished sac, its a beauty???????

I think it depends on the state of the gold trim, nib and the red marble. If the trim and nib are good and it is a very bright, bold colour I would keep the pen and have the lever replaced, because the red 388s have a tendency to fade towards an insipid purple-pink colour and it is fairly unusual to find a good red one. I would guess a full restoration would cost around £25 - £30, including the lever.

However, if it is a faded model (and the vendor didn't mention damage to the lever) I would return it because you can get a fully restored 388 in excellent condition for no more than £50 from Writetime or other online sellers.

Your other option is to see if you can get a partial refund because of the unmentioned damage.

Hope this helps make up your mind!

Andy

I suppose it might be worth having a closer look at the ebay pic, it might be that the lever is in view and so reasonable that it was sold 'as seen'. If its not in view then it might be reasonable to assume it was being hidden from view.

If you resac etc yourself you might find a replacement lever for a small cost and still have a very nice little pen.

CS388s tend to go for a little more than expected, maybe because of the three bands or possibly it looks a bigger pen in picturesd than in reality.

Either way, I hope you sort it out.

Greg

Thanks for the opinions, it is a purpleish pink colour, however, the colour is bright and vibrant, no brassing,imprint also very clear, the lever was not in the picture. Think i'll hang on to it.