Thanks to package traking provided by pengallery.com I have been able to track both Pelikans purchased from them and what I found was interesting:

Behold, the wonders of Globalization at work

Pelikan #1: Green M400: Via FedEx From Malaysia to Juno, Alaska. From Alaska to Memphis, Tennessee. From Memphis to Jacksonville, Florida and then via truck to Miami, Florida. Best of all, it only took 3 days

Pelikan # 2: M1000: Via DHL from Malaysia to Hong Kong, China. From Hong Kong to Wilmingtom, Ohio on a 20 hour airplane ride (don't know if they refuled along the way). The package just landed in Ohio 15 minutes ago and cleared customs 5 minutes ago. All this in a 30 hour period total

Both my Pelikans have done more traveling than I have in my whole lifetime. I need to take a vacation and change that

What's more amazing is that 30 years ago this would have taken weeks, now everything travels half ways across the world in 2-3 days.

I don't know about you but I find that interesting

Truly!

I routinely get stuff from Germany in less than 36 hours, door to door!

i ordered my pelikan M1000 from www.melpens.com over the weekend, and they acknowledged receipt of my payment this morning. this afternoon i got a tracking number and update from fedex-it's leaving malaysia tonight, and i'm supposed to get it in quezon city (the philippines) by 12 noon tomorrow. how fast is that??? (all for $16, a flat rate all over the world.) can't wait!

Did you order from there because it was most cost effective? The cheapest I can find an 800 here in the UK is £200. If yours were very much cheaper, would you please put a link up, thanks: - )

hi, silbee--i ordered from www.melpens.com because they had the lowest price on a new, warrantied M1000 i could find online ($360 plus $16 flat shipping by fedex anywhere in the world) and because they had near-perfect ebay feedback. they offer the M800 for $285 plus $16 shipping. see here:

http://www.melpens.com/Pelikan_M800_fountain_pen.htm

i have the feeling that you might be able to get the M800 for cheaper elsewhere, but for the M1000, melpens looks like it can't be beat. (still, even $285 is a lot less than £200, even with the $16 thrown in for shipping--and the shipping is only 5 days from malaysia to the UK.) hope this helps!

Thanks, that's great, and a already a huge saving. One of the great things about the internet, is the money you can save. As long as the store has been recommended I'm happy to go just about anywhere!

Thanks, Silv...

The cheapest Pelikan sites

PENGALLERY.COM

Cheapest M200, M400, M625, M450, Toledo, Limited Edition pens

MELPENS.COM

Cheapest M600, M800, M1000


Both are very reliable, great people to buy from and are highly recommended by many in this forum

dr. ozzie's right, both pengallery and melpens have gotten high marks from FPN and ebay buyers for their prices and lightning-quick service. pengallery would've been my other choice--many of my friends here in the philippines have gotten fine pens from them. i wonder if the fact that pelikan is now malaysian-owned has anything to do with two malaysian companies offering the lowest global prices on pelikans, but i myself can't see how that plays. at any rate, there you are, melpens and pengallery. i realize that it's probably a stretch for many US and european buyers to source their products in asia, but in these globalized days, there really are great bargains to be found away from the beaten path. (and as an aside, i decided to get my M1000 now, given how the US dollar's doing over here.)

http://stores.ebay.com/A-Pen-Hardcopy

Well, I took the plunge and ordered an M600 in green from this seller on ebay, he just about scrapes home with the cheapest price I've found so far. He's reasonably new, so I hope all goes to plan.

Just a brief update. My pen arrived today in the UK from Singapore, talk about mercuriel speed, it took only four days, I am very impressed.

I like the pen very much, but wish I had opted for the larger M800. Another excuse to go again at some point, and get a Red: - )

An irrelevant aside...Alaska is a major shipping hub, b/c from here you can hop over the pole to just about anywhere in the world in a reasonable time. UPS, FedEx, USPS (would you believe we have a 24/7/365 post office?), and DHL all have huge complexes here in Anchorage as a matter of course...so in 'distant' Alaska things often go and arrive PDQ.

Calluna