Wonderful Service From Atsu/cool-Japan

[migo984]

Not only has he gone "above & beyond" for me in helping me buy various items, he has also helped some of my friends too & also assisted me in sending surprise gifts. He can do what he likes with his own inks - sell or auction them as Micky Mouse if he likes ;-) I'll stay loyal to him.

[Cryptos]

Obviously I'm not with the "in-crowd" then

[catbert]

Mrs Catbert got a Pilot décimo from cool-japan last year and is happy with it. I wasn’t aware of his other eBay shop.

 

I contacted Atsu regarding the purchase of just a single bottle of ink. This was for personal use of course as I am no re-seller. He told me that it was not possible as he himself couldn't acquire any. To then find that he is selling the same ink under a different eBay account but as an auction is very disappointing. For this reason alone I have crossed him off my list of favoured sellers and now place any orders for Japanese pens/inks through Pisuke instead.

 

Maybe he couldn’t acquire any more of the ink you requested? Obviously it wouldn’t have been right to end that auction to serve a private request, though he might at least have pointed you to it.

[Cryptos]

Just said no to any request to either sell to me or source for me. I found out about the other eBay account by accident, but before any bids were made. <shrugs>

 

Doesn't matter.

 

I am quite curious as to how a small number of people (members here) are able to acquire these scarce inks on what seems to be a fairly regular basis, though not in any kind of accusatory way of course. Having said that, I do actually truly and sincerely feel that in the world of vintage pens it's really all about who you know (which permanently counts me out of everything), but I don't know if that applies to limited ink releases too. Wouldn't surprise me if it did really.

[stevesurf]

I contacted Atsu regarding the purchase of just a single bottle of ink. This was for personal use of course as I am no re-seller. He told me that it was not possible as he himself couldn't acquire any. To then find that he is selling the same ink under a different eBay account but as an auction is very disappointing. For this reason alone I have crossed him off my list of favoured sellers and now place any orders for Japanese pens/inks through Pisuke instead.

 

I believe it is important to realize that many eBay sellers, including myself collaborate with other sellers on auctions, etc., so the decision may not be only up to him.

[Cryptos]

 

I believe it is important to realize that many eBay sellers, including myself collaborate with other sellers on auctions, etc., so the decision may not be only up to him.

 

Seriously?

 

That has just raised my distrust of eBay sellers to a whole new level. Thanks.

[Chrissy]

That makes sense. Is it the seller tgif21? I wondered when I won a couple of the auctions and the payments went to the same PayPal address.

 

Yes, that's Atsu's auction store.

[migo984]

Atsu holds auctions on both sites.

[lmgeco]

Hi,

 

I just wanted to report my own experience, which is very positive. In a nutshell: if you are looking for some japanese manufactured pen, especially Sailor, if believe Atsu is the best place to look at. I encourage you to contact him privately if you do not find what you're looking for in his webpage. The shipping worked smoothly and the deal was really good (price, quality of service).

 

Here goes the somewhat longer report

 

I have been collecting and using Sailor Pens since I started in the hobby. Unfortunately, as you know, the 'mini' model, which was my favorite, was discontinued by the brand some years ago. I found in another post in this forum that this was actually available through the Nagasawa Pen memo store, and the Morita model, for which Sailor manufacture a specific model in Japan. Unfortunately, these are only sold in Japan. Nagasawa has, in fact, several rare models that are very interesting.

 

I did some research on the internet and found out that these could be ordered through global rakuten, but I had issues dealing with them (my credit card did not accept this type of transaction, part of the documentation was in Japanese, etc...) I tried to buy through White Rabbit a proxy buyer, but then found Atsu/cool-japan on ebay, so I can compare the experience with both. In total, I have ordered up to 6 pens from him.

 

White Rabbit worked ok, but it was a) Slow (the whole operation took almost 2 weeks to be completed), and (comparatively) expensive (the whole deal was about 20-30% more expensive).

 

When I found Atsu's store I sent a private message to him through ebay and asked him if he could get the Nagasawa pen for me. He answered fastly and kindly and the deal was very positive experience.

 

Even if you look at his ebay store and don't find what you are looking for, I encourage you to ask him, as I did, I believe he can get almost any pen from the three big firms in Japan. For example, I have purchased from him the Sailor Red pearl saibi togi (very fine nib) which has currently been suspended in the US, which was not initially listed on his webpage. I also purchased the Morita mini, from Sailor, almost 20% less expensive from what other sellers were offering.

 

Aside from the possibility of ordering 'rare' items from Japan, I got other good aspects in the deal. I asked how much of a reduction I could get if I ordered several items together, and he offered me the choice between getting a free converter and some reduction for combined shipping. Moreover, the shipping was fast an efficient, with tracking number and everything (he said it would take 7 days to the US, but it actually took much less). Moreover, he answered emails and doubts and kindly answered my questions very fast (max 1 business day lag).

 

This was one of my first experiences purchasing from ebay and, but I am really positively surprised with how smoothly everything got, and the really good deal I got. I mean, I found his store just out of chance and, I had heard all kinds of horror stories about deals through the internet. I've read in this thread some people have had less positive experiences with him. For example, I considered ordering a bottle of ink from him, but it turns out I could get it for less on Amazon, so I chose not to get it from him. I don't feel this is dishonest in any way, but that is just my judgement.

 

Needless to say, I have no affiliation with him and I am writing this out of my own initiative. I feel I was very luck contacting an obscure seller on ebay and getting this good deal out of nowhere. Since I have benefited both from other's people feedback in this forum, and from Atsu's good and honest service, I thought it was fair to share my experience (which may or may not be the same of others).

 

[LanceSaintPaul]

Just purchased No.4 Ijinkan Red: NAGASAWA Kobe Ink from him a few days ago. First purchase. Am awaiting its arrival. Will be looking at his other items.

[Sinistral1]

My two purchases from Atsu by emailing him directly and asking if he could get what I wanted went smoothly and fast. One of the ink moderators, Saskia_Madding has had a link to him in her FPN signature for at least four years, along with info on how to order other hard to get inks. It does indeed pay to be persistent in hunting for information on finding sources. Also, I got my first two bottles of KWZi by doing a trade with a friend of his a year before Conrad's wonderful ink was available here in the US. That was just plain luck.

 

ETA: correct moderator's name.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Sinistral1

[Barkingpig]

Mr. Atsunori Tanaka, a.k.a. Cool Japan, Atsu or his Ebay listing, 21tgif, is a gentleman & makes it possible for persons outside Japan to purchase many inks we would not be able to purchase for use. I remain grateful to the FPN member who recommended his service to me & consider him a great resource.

[Erik Dalton]

I too have had nothing but good experiences with cool Japan. I do get confused with all the different names though. Cool Japan was easy for my pea sized brain to remember.