Favorite place to buy pens

[GrantC]

I've bought things from Pendemonium, Swisher, and isellpens.com - good service from all. My favorite is isellpens - Todd & Theresa are great folks.

[Viseguy]

There are so many great places to buy pens, I couldn't name just one. But if I had to name one, it'd be nibs.com (John Mottishaw). He and Pat Ackor provide such dependable, personalized service -- it's truly a pleasure to do business with them. :)9

 

(Just a satisfied customer, yadda yadda...)

[marklavar]

Where is your favorite place to buy pens?

 

And what about vintage pens?

I don't buy vintage pens - I just don't like the idea of buying a used pen. No other reason.

 

As for my favourite places to buy, this depends on the brand. For Sailor and Pelikan I use Pengallery, for Parker and Waterman I choose Mr Lewertowski who advertises heavily on Ebay, and for other brands I generally keep my eyes open on Ebay, which is a great resource for pen buyers.

[playpen]

Ruaidhri - would it be possible for you to post links to the sources you mention?

[plasma800]

thats what i wanted. If a moderator wants to give me a sticky post to myself, I'll work on catalogueing this stuff

[Ruaidhri]

Not sure about posting here.

I'll check with the Admins & get back to you.

[offbase]

I just had a GREAT buying experience at Fahrney's. Would you believe a Stipula Etruria amber vermeil with the elusive XF nib, for only $286??? And, they shipped the same day I ordered and included a 10% off coupon toward my next purchase. I'll be buying there again. (P.S. Their website had it listed at $455, which I figured meant "call for price" ... don't take their website prices as actual until you've called them.)

Edited May 17, 2006 by offbase

[playpen]

Doesn't it make sense to shop around the internet and then purchase from a store with the lowest price guarantee or am I missing something here?

[Bill]

Doesn't it make sense to shop around the internet and then purchase from a store with the lowest price guarantee or am I missing something here?

That's fine for the occasional buyer, but when a good store/seller gets to know me because I regularly spend money with them, my loyalty has been rewarded with various perks like unadvertized discounts (many variations), extra free stuff, more forgiveness re testing (whether cars or dipping pens), personalized service, inside info on products, and the dirty little secret of jumping the queue.

 

I have experienced this for years with other types of products and services. And I'm already starting to experience some of this in just the short time I've been back into pens, although I don't play in the really big leagues. Of course, the stronger the loyalty and money spent, the greater the benefits. It's a nice feeling when you are three weeks and 10,000 miles from home, and a seller contacts you to say, "I just got this [insert rare item here] and am giving you first shot at it and will hold it for you to check out when you get back."

 

I've even been able to establish the "good customer" thing to a limited degree on line when the seller actually understands the world of sales and customer service. It doesn't seem to work very well with the hobby vendors.

 

I reward good vendors with my loyalty...and I am rewarded in return.

 

Bill