I've been wanting a Phileas, for years. I've been browsing during all of those years, both at local stores as well as online. What baffles me is, the price varies from very little, to virtually nothing, between one retailer and another.

In my years of "window shopping," the most significant price difference I've seen is an estimated three dollars, maximum.

I've discovered that the Phileas usually costs more on the web, before shipping, versus any local walk-in store.

I'm an artist and writer, therefore, I browse art and office supply stores regularly. I have noted vast price differences between high-end identical artistic-use objects. To illustrate, I'll refer to the 120 piece Prismacolor colored pencil sets. There are 3 major art/hobby stores in my area... below are the actual regular prices:

Store A: $ 112.50 (lowest in area)
Store B: $ 139.99 (approx. 20 % more than store A)
Store C: $ 149.99 (approx. 30 % more than store A)

Exact same item, major price differences...but we're not talking about high-end colored pencil sets here. I just wanted to comparatively illustrate my point.

Now check out the Phileas' price differences:

1. Office Depot: $ 37.99 (pen only) (Note: pen w. boxed kit not available at this store!)
2. Staples: $38.48 (pen only - .49 cent difference) (Note: pen w. boxed kit not available at this store!)
3. Office Max: $ 46.99 (pen w. boxed kit - $8.51 difference) (Note: standalone pen not available at this store!)

I've tried to get deals. In Office Max, I found a boxed set that had been opened, leaked, and dried into big globby, ugly mess. I asked the store guy if they'd give a discount on it since it was open & blemished. His offer was lousy and he stated that he'd rather throw the set away and claim a loss, than try to give me a deal on it. Nice, mister. The pen just needed a little TLC, there was nothing obviously wrong with it. But no... Mr. Store man had to be an equine posterior.

The best deal I came across was a coupon that Office Depot had in the Sunday paper for 10 dollars off any purchase of 20 dollars or more. That would have brought it down to $ 27.99 pre-tax. The problem was, the coupon was only good for ONE day, and I didn't feel I had the money to blow on it during that particular day. I've been hoping Office Depot will put out another one of those coupons soon, but no luck yet.

Hmmmm. Odd, isn't it? Why is the Phileas' price so darned consistent between retailers?

I suspect that it is because Waterman is fairly consistent with their price to various companies and they can't discount it much and still make money on it. Some companies will not allow their product to be sold under manufacturers suggested retail price.

Around here we call that Price Fixing, and it is illegal.

The best deal I came across was a coupon that Office Depot had in the Sunday paper for 10 dollars off any purchase of 20 dollars or more. That would have brought it down to $ 27.99 pre-tax. The problem was, the coupon was only good for ONE day, and I didn't feel I had the money to blow on it during that particular day. I've been hoping Office Depot will put out another one of those coupons soon, but no luck yet.

Hmmmm. Odd, isn't it? Why is the Phileas' price so darned consistent between retailers?
[/quote]
==================
I have bought Phileas pens for 20 bux from a brick/mortar pen store.

Most likely because the profit margin on that pen is so small there is no "wiggle" room to offer discounts. It is one thing if you are making $50 profit on a pen and another thing if you are only making $5.00

It's not particularly easy, but I have found that the Phileas can be had on eBay for less than the B&M price. I got a Phileas at OD for $30 during a sale, and I bought one in a writing set with the cartridges and bottle of ink via eBay for something like $25 including shipping.