Portobello Market

[Mockingbird]

Visited the always-interesting Portobello Market yesterday, although for the first time in search for fountain pens (I'm kicking myself for not attending the recent London Pen Show).

 

I stopped by a few stalls and was shocked at the prices. A vintage Pelikan 400 in mediocre condition was labeled at £325 but 'knocked-down' to £300. A quick search on ebay shows these go for well under £150.

 

I'm definitely spoiled by price transparency online, and will probably use the market vendors just to try-before-I-buy.

 

Anyone else had similar experience?

[Ghost Plane]

Next time you're there, hunt up Henry Simpole. See the threads below. You'll get one fine pen, few other people on the planet will have one, and it's worth the expense as you'll keep it for a lifetime.

[FrankB]

Portobello Market. It sounds like a mushroom market.

 

I have found the same pricing issues at antique and flea markets here in the U.S. My favorite price shock was a 1920's Parker "Big Red" that was totally trashed - sun faded, scratched and permanently stained, clip bent, nib bent and broken and ink feed chipped and broken - for $300 USD. The vendor was on site, so I asked him how he figured the price of the pen. He just looked it up in a book with no regard to the pen's condition. I commented that the pen's condition had to be a consideration in pricing, just like any other antique. I told him that I would offer him a whole $50 if I were interested, which I was not. He didn't care. He just shrugged and walked away. I have found his attitude and pricing to be all too common. Hence, I do not look for pens in those venues any longer.

Edited October 10, 2010 by FrankB

[pyramid]

London pen show was fun... well, there are few other shows coming up if you are interested.

 

The Birmingham NEC show is recommanded.

 

How hard did you haggle in the Portobello market?

Edited October 11, 2010 by pyramid

[Carrie]

 

The Birmingham NEC show is recommanded.

 

 

What's the Show at the NEC?

 

 

 

[@lf]

I was at the Portobello market a few weeks ago and indeed had the same experience about the prices. Altough i must say i also passed a few antique stalls where their main business wasn't fountain pens, but all kinds of antique and they asked very reasonable prices for some fountain pens. I purchased a Conway Stewart Executive 60 for 40 pounds which was in very good condition. So my advice is to look further and find those sellers who have a couple of fountain pens. Altough i did visit Mr Simpole and his pens are always a pleasure to look at and are writing pieces of art.....i did not ask for the ''normal'' pens he's selling, but i believe he's more into the fair pricing.

[vans4444]

There is a large antique/junk shop outside Oxford and they had two vintage pens, neither in very good cosmetic condition. A Parker Vacumatic and a Swan leverless with a number two nib. They wanted £50 each. I asked if they were working and was told that they were. I pointed out that the crunching noise coming from the Swan was the old sac so it could not be working. She then admitted that the Vac had not been serviced or repaired. So I asked about making an offer. She said no, the shop owner "had looked in a book" to find the price and they were fixed.

[pyramid]

 

The Birmingham NEC show is recommanded.

 

 

What's the Show at the NEC?

 

Apologies, I was refering to the Pen Room in Birmingham.

[Tito]

I have had all sort of experiences in flea markets in my city (Buenos Aires - Argentina). I got some great deals and also I saw pen which price was so high I wondered who would pay that fortune.

 

Usually, the best deals come from stalls with people with no knowledge of fountain pens. That people is mostly concerned on getting rid of the pens because their business is somewhere else (books, furniture, watches, you name it...), so they do not know what they are selling and that is the buyer's opportunity. I got much better prices than any online transaction in this way.

 

When the seller knows his product, you can get a nice pen at a fair price but you will never get a bargain.

 

I usually go there with my wife and we both share the impression that the price you are told is a combination of the product on one side and the "customer face" on the other. The sellers are so skillfull at "reading" people that they know how much they can charge you, if you know what you are buying, if you will haggle or will accept the price...

 

Best regards.

 

Tito

[Carrie]

There is a large antique/junk shop outside Oxford and they had two vintage pens, neither in very good cosmetic condition. A Parker Vacumatic and a Swan leverless with a number two nib. They wanted £50 each. I asked if they were working and was told that they were. I pointed out that the crunching noise coming from the Swan was the old sac so it could not be working. She then admitted that the Vac had not been serviced or repaired. So I asked about making an offer. She said no, the shop owner "had looked in a book" to find the price and they were fixed.

Similar story with an old church in Lancashire which is now an antiques place with lots of different stallholders. One stall has a bunch of fountain pens in it. They've been there for years now and the prices are fixed. £60 for a Parker 21 which is most definitely user grade, £85 for a Conway Stewart 84 which needs a new sac. High prices and none of the pens are great cosmetically.

 

 

 

[penmanila]

i always visit portobello every time i'm in london. didn't take me long to get the firm impression that--while some very fine pens are to be found there--the prices are often very steep. a couple of years ago, though, i got really lucky: found this 1935 parker vacumatic standard in burgundy, with a rare superflex nib, for only 35 pounds (disregard the obviously wrong--datewise--tag). found it inside a case in a shop, just the one solitary pen. it's my sweetest writer, and is in the daily rotation

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/2604427130_1ca4bd6c38_z.jpg

[Truffle Finder]

That was indeed a very lucky find, presumably it needed servicing [at that price].

Truffle Finder.

[penmanila]

it needed a new diaphragm, like most old vacs do, and a friend put one in for me for free (well, in exchange for a parker 61 cap) wish all pens came that cheaply and that nicely!

 

That was indeed a very lucky find, presumably it needed servicing [at that price].

Truffle Finder.

[soapytwist]

In my personal opinion, Portobello Road has been a tourist trap more than anything else for at least a decade or so. Most emporiums are pretty much like this:

 

 

I think once in twenty years I've seen something remotely enticing. I have a look at Phyllis Gorlicke-King's pens whenever I'm there; she always looks at me like I'm the one that's crazy when I say her prices are too high for me. At the end of the day, the prices there are top-end retail ones rather than the 'bargains' that you would get elsewhere.

Edited October 13, 2010 by soapytwist

[eds]

I went to Portobello Market with a friend today, just wading around seeing what they sell there, as I've only heard that they sell antiques. I wasn't expecting to actually find good deals, as people who sell on antique markets usually know their stuff and price them a bit on the high side.

 

Anyway, I came by a sign that said Henry the pen man. It was Henry Simpole! I honestly did not know him until I did a google search... and now that I know, I feel humbled already! :embarrassed_smile:

 

But Yeah, his pens are in very good condition, and seem to be fairly priced as well. I'll be paying him a visit sometime in the future

Edited January 30, 2011 by eds

[Shangas]

I was lucky enough to visit Henry when I was in London earlier this month. His collection is really something special. Here's a photo of me and him at the Portobello Market:

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/2010-2011%20Holiday/DSC07319.jpg

[turban1]

portobello attracts few collectors of anything anymore, alas. it's mostly italian weekend trippers who splash out for a cup of coffee. and most people who collect anything seriously follow Fleabay, or wait for the specialist fairs or proper auctions. a few old lions(Mr Simpole for example) remain but for the most part dealers have substandard stuff and wait for a visitor to wander by with money burning a hole in his/her pocket, chiefly for small items that fit into an airline carry-on bag. o tempora, o mores.

[mongrelnomad]

In my personal opinion, Portobello Road has been a tourist trap more than anything else for at least a decade or so. Most emporiums are pretty much like this:

 

 

 

Video's brilliant!

 

I have to agree about Portobello - I grew up in Camden in the 1980s, and then went to high-school close to Notting Hill Gate. What both Camden Market and Portobello have become since the late 1990s is truly heart-breaking. I'd say it's true of all of London though: a homogenous, lowest-common-denominator blandness permeating the city. I have to admit it's getting better since the credit crunch hit (there are real pockets of creativity springing up here and there), but it's still got a long way to go...

[Shangas]

From a tourist's point of view, I found Portobello interesting, but vastly overpriced on a whole. Okay some things were probably WORTH what was dangling on the little paper tag, but I don't think all of it was. But then I think you find that in antiques markets/shops all over the world. People tend to overvalue things for reasons above the comprehension of ordinary human-beings. On the other hand, you do see stuff that is underpriced (or fairly priced) purely because the seller has lugged it around for so damn long and has reduced the price drastically in a hope of finally getting it off his hands and get space in his shop for newer (old) stuff.

[esterbex]

I was lucky enough to visit Henry when I was in London earlier this month. His collection is really something special. Here's a photo of me and him at the Portobello Market:

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/2010-2011%20Holiday/DSC07319.jpg

 

My eyes are officially green now.....