Is A Phileas Pen Really Worth Today's Price?

March 25, 2014

I saw a blue swirl Phileas on ebay this morning for $29.99 or BIN for $49.99. I was tempted, but thought I would do it in an hour or so. Meantime some guy bids on it. So, I bid $48 and leave it to find it outbid by same guy. I bid $58, and same guy bids $65.99. A---- should have bought it then via BIN.

I found another, cheaper one to bid on.

March 26, 2014

I have to call B.S. on my own thread topic. Is ANY product worth today's price? Which price? The one the seller is asking? Or the one people are paying? Private sellers can often be talked down. And big retailers usually put slow-moving products on sale. Even mediocre buyers know how to negotiate or bargain shop.

So when we see people lining up for a new mobile phone, a movie sequel-sequel-sequel, or an Ebay listing for a "sort-of-resembles-new-condition" Phileas, we can raise a skeptical eyebrow and think "Look at those fools". But if the seller and buyers agree, then what we non-buyers think is all within our own minds.

Were crew cuts worth their price in the 1950s? Or beehive hairdos in the 60s? Or long hair in the 70s? Or big hair in the 80s? At the time they were, and may be again. But what are they are worth today? Sellers know the answer comes from buyer's wallets. In free enterprise, the final vote is tabulated by the coin of the realm.

This is my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of FountainPenNetwork, its users, or its affiliates.

(P.S. I'm not sure what "B.S." stands for across the pond...but I do not mean "Bachelor of Science".)

Edited March 26, 2014 by TwelveDrawings

March 26, 2014

Very good, very good. I think that, to me, the Phileas could be worth about $60 max, because it has proven to work very well for me, and has outshone many more costly pens. It stands with my favorites for quality and performance. On the other hand, it doesn't seem very easy to get them for that price today, as I found when exposing that other bidder's maximum bid. This might settle out over time as the price brings more out of the woodwork.

Until recently I wouldn't touch a Phileas with a ten foot pole, because I thought the design hopelessly passe, because it seemed to be a mainstream sine qua non and because Waterman was a complete unknown. I have the unfortunate habit of traveling paths less traveled, which usually leads to a measure of disappointment.

I was thinking of buying that one at $65.99 now to pull its nib and put it in a Jinhao X-450 my wife gave me. It's too pricey now, so I bought a Goulet fine gold plated nib. I had thought to put the Jinhao medium in the Phileas and offer it as a Franken pen, just to see what would happen. I like iconoclastic speculation, having lived through the 1960s and 1970s.

I think a Phileas is worth about $60 or so, but I am probably, as usual, all wet.