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To All Australian Fountain Pen Lovers


dauodwa

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Fellow Australians (and co-interested citizens of the world),

 

In the short time that I have returned to the fountain pen game, it has become abundantly clear that we Australians are at a particular disadvantage when it comes to sourcing fountain pens, inks and supplies at a reasonable price which we can all afford (particularly considering the current value of the Australian dollar against the US dollar). As such, I have decided it would be useful for those who, like myself, are having difficulties in this regard to have a list of suppliers we can go to. It's particularly hard to source waterproof and premium inks at a good price.

 

Depending on the brand however, this may or may not be a problem. For instance if your after Jinhao's the cheapest option is generally eBay, although the shipping takes a long time from China. Our brethren in the People's Republic really must do something about their postal services.

 

Anyway, if you're after pens from brands like:

 

- Twsbi;

- Pilot;

- Platinum;

- Kaweco;

- Moteverde;

- Pelikan;

- Blackstone;

- Lamy; and so on and so forth

 

Or inks from brands like:

 

- Diamine;

- J. Herbin;

- Faber Castell;

- Pelikan;

- Pilot;

- Waterman;

- Rober Oster Signature;

- Blackstone;

- Platinum;

- Caran D'Ache;

- Lamy; and so on and so forth

 

 

Then the following suppliers will be of assistance to you. These are in no particular order, but websites are first, followed by eBay sellers.

 

Websites

 

A special mention to user Drone for introducing me to the Singapore based sites, and my thanks once again for their assistance.

 

1. www.overjoyed.com.sg

 

These guys are brilliant, firstly because they display all their prices in Australian dollars automatically (or in your local currency, wherever you live), and secondly because shipping is generally free and only takes about 1 week.

 

They supply popular pen brands like those mentioned above, as well as ink, notepads and other supplies. Certainly for inks like Diamine and pens like Twsbi and Pelikan, their prices are the best I have come across so far as an Australian buyer. Same goes for Pilot Iroshijuko inks.

 

Fountain Pen Inks: http://www.overjoyed.com.sg/lifestyle/fine-writing/ink.html?p=1

 

Fountain Pens: http://www.overjoyed.com.sg/lifestyle/fine-writing/fountain-pen.html

 

2. aws.straitspen.com/shop

 

These guys supply fountain pens and inks as well, but have a more limited range than the above site, in addition to other products. Prices are very good but they seem to generally charge for shipping.

 

For instance when I inquired about shipping for the Twsbi Vac 700, I was told it would be about $17 AUD. However, they do generally charge Australian customers in Singapore dollars, which are roughly the same value as Australian dollars, so this is a big advantage. I imagine the shipping is not so bad if you order multiple items.

 

3. justwrite.com.au

 

So here's a local site which sells pens, inks (such as Blackstone) and TUNING SUPPLIES! You can get a complete kit for around $18.00 delivered here: http://justwrite.com.au/Fountain-Pen-Tuning-Kit. Disclaimer that using those products to tune your pens voids warranty and should only be done if you know what you're doing. I am not responsible for any damaged pens or voided warranties and neither are they!

 

Prices are generally good, for instance a complete set of Blackstone's colours of Australia will set you back only around $35 AUD (5 x 30ml bottles) which is great value. They also sell a wide range of fountain pens, including Blackstone, and they carry both economy and premium brands at a decent price.

 

eBay Sellers

 

1. osteralia

 

Sells the full range of Robert Oster Signature inks at a great price (less than $10 AUD for 50ml bottles). Highly recommend this seller, as they are highly communicative and respond quickly to inquiries and suggestions. Also sells a lot of other FP related products.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/usr/osteralia?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754

 

2. engeika

 

Great price for Platinum waterproof inks, such as their Carbon or Pigment ranges. Best price I have found as an Australian buyer. Reasonably quick shipping from Japan and pleasant to deal with.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/usr/engeika?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754

 

Conclusion

 

So that, dear readers, seems a good start but please do add your own sources! Many thanks.

 

Cheers!

Edited by dauodwa

http://www.argonpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Samurai-Ronin-l-300x150.jpg

"Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind ... Then the Great Way is right before one's eyes."

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Great Resource!!..

 

You are missing Bookbinders ... Australian based, great for stationary and have their own in-house ink.. Snake Inks.

 

Website: https://www.bookbindersonline.com.au/

 

 

C.

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"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it's the illusion of knowledge." -Stephen Hawking,

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Thank you dauodwo. I had found justwrite previously then lost them just when I was thinking about that kit. Without having made comparison with the sites you suggest, I have bought Lamy from pensonline at a good price. Among foreign sellers it is also worth considering iguanasell for otherwise luxury items, and of course the sellers here on FPN, whom in fairness I should name only after the goods arrive. The dollar is the dollar wherever you buy, so good deals depend more on the price in the source country than our currency.

 

Edited to add: pulpaddiction

Edited by praxim

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Is shipping out of Europe not viable for users in Australia? Just curious as a lot of the top links reference Singapore... I buy almost all my Lamy stuff out of the Netherlands - Fontoplumo or Appelbloom. Makes the price of a Safari drop to almost half the local retail and cartridge packs to less than half. Both stores carry more than just Lamy, but it is what I buy the most of. Additionally, for ink there is Seitz Global - I think I purchased R&K ink from them for 40% less than what it costs locally. A lot of sellers have a minimum purchase for free shipping, so if you combine items or can get your friends onboard to combine orders, it brings the overall price down. Also, don't forget items on European websites have VAT included (19 to 21% or so) but it will get deducted on orders leaving the continent.

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Good point .shawn(dp). I have previously bought machining equipment from Germany and small car / electronic equipment from all over Europe. One of the contrasts was cheap shipping compared with USA but that affected heavy stuff rather than light like pens and inks. I shall add the sites you mention to my list, and look for more, thanks.

 

ETA: payment options are often worse or highly restrictive in Europe though, even painful.

Edited by praxim

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I have found the local brick and mortar shops aren't actually that bad for inks. Eg. Tsharp and co. Pen shoppe, Penultimate etc. Reason being no shipping cost and they stick to MSRP regardless of exchange rate. The problem is you have to live in a city with a fountain pen shop..

 

They've been okay for the high end pens for me as well. As registered shipping costs from overseas are ridiculous.

 

I never knew about overjoyed.com though, so my perspective my change once I've poked around there :D

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Thanks all for adding to the list! I've had a look around and the Australian sites are good for certain things but not for others. I checked out your suggestion too Cyber6 (https://www.bookbindersonline.com.au/) and found they offer Iroshijuko inks cheaper than anywhere I've found at $39.95 but don't know what their shipping costs are. Once others have added some more sites and shops, I'll post a lost of them all and which ones are best for what products.

 

ShawnDP I'll check out those European sites next. Hopefully this thread makes FP use more available to us Down Under.

http://www.argonpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Samurai-Ronin-l-300x150.jpg

"Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind ... Then the Great Way is right before one's eyes."

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Is shipping out of Europe not viable for users in Australia? Just curious as a lot of the top links reference Singapore... I buy almost all my Lamy stuff out of the Netherlands - Fontoplumo or Appelbloom. Makes the price of a Safari drop to almost half the local retail and cartridge packs to less than half. Both stores carry more than just Lamy, but it is what I buy the most of. Additionally, for ink there is Seitz Global - I think I purchased R&K ink from them for 40% less than what it costs locally. A lot of sellers have a minimum purchase for free shipping, so if you combine items or can get your friends onboard to combine orders, it brings the overall price down. Also, don't forget items on European websites have VAT included (19 to 21% or so) but it will get deducted on orders leaving the continent.

I can confirm that https://fontoplumo.nl/shop/ is competitive with those I mentioned for certain things, for instance they sell J. Herbin inl cheaper, that is if indeed they will deduct 20% VAT. Also http://www.seitz-global.com/ seem to have decent prices, but whether their prices are competitive will depend on the exchange rate at time of purchase. Couldn't find Apfelbloom though, could you share the link?

 

Thanks for these resources.

http://www.argonpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Samurai-Ronin-l-300x150.jpg

"Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind ... Then the Great Way is right before one's eyes."

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I can confirm that https://fontoplumo.nl/shop/ is competitive with those I mentioned for certain things, for instance they sell J. Herbin inl cheaper, that is if indeed they will deduct 20% VAT. Also http://www.seitz-global.com/ seem to have decent prices, but whether their prices are competitive will depend on the exchange rate at time of purchase. Couldn't find Apfelbloom though, could you share the link?

 

Thanks for these resources.

 

 

I can 100% confirm that VAT has been deducted on all my orders from Fontoplumo and Appelbloom (and the one time I ordered from Seitz). What I perhaps should have mentioned before is those prices come with excellent and kowledgeable service to back up the products.

 

The link to AB is http://www.appelboom.com/ . All the best!

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I split my year between UK & Aus. I always buy Japanese inks direct from Japan when I'm in Australia. Pilot, Platinum, Sailor & Iroshizuku ink prices just can't be beaten. There are numerous shops on Global Rakuten that sell them - for example, Komamono Honpo currently sell single bottles of Iroshizuku for $AUS 16. Multiple bottles are even cheaper. I also buy Japanese writing papers, notebooks & stationery from Rakuten.

EMS shipping, even economy rate, is fast, cheap and very efficient to Australia, typically 3 - 5 days. You can usually also opt for small packet rate, or the slower SAL service.

 

I buy from all over the world, for shipping to Australia; I just shop around for best prices (ex VAT) + shipping. As mentioned Appelboom is good. No one shop is best across all brands/items.

 

Very few stores in Aus are competitive for international brands, even when you factor in international shipping, because prices are poor & domestic AusPost rates are high (and rocketed even higher recently). I like Bookbinders. They sell quality products, but they aren't cheap. Their Snake inks are variable quality. I use JustWrite but be careful of some Colours of Australia inks; they're gushers. I despair of Amazon Australia. Compared to Amazon in other countries, t's pretty useless & still really only sells books.

 

I rarely buy from the States anymore. Shipping from there is ridiculous. USPS 1st Class International isn't too bad, but some shops won't use that service, insisting on much higher cost services. I'm not sure why, as it is a trackable service & I've not had a failure to deliver yet.

 

I have bought from Seitz-Kreuznach Global but service to Aus was very very slow.

Verba volant, scripta manent

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Thanks so much everyone for your comments so far! migo984, I was completely unaware of Rakuten, best price I've seen so far for Pilot inks and most Pilot pens. Now I'll have to hunt for a Pilot Capless with a stub nib on there haha.

 

I think at this point it's worth updating the list:

 

Singapore:

 

www.overjoyed.com.sg

 

aws.straitspen.com/shop

 

Australia:

 

justwrite.com.au

 

www.bookbindersonline.com.au

 

eBay seller Osteralia

 

www.notemaker.com.au

 

Europe:

 

fontoplumo.nl/shop

 

www.seitz-global.com

 

www.appelboom.com

 

Japan:

 

global.rakuten.com/en

 

eBay seller Engeika

 

 

To anyone who has skipped the other comments and come straight to this, note that as others have said no one site is the best for everything and it is advisable to shop around.

 

With the others you can pretty much shop around, but the Japanese sellers seem to be super competitive for Japanese products, in particular Pilot and Platinum inks.

http://www.argonpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Samurai-Ronin-l-300x150.jpg

"Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind ... Then the Great Way is right before one's eyes."

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Blast! It's a US exclusive!

http://www.argonpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Samurai-Ronin-l-300x150.jpg

"Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind ... Then the Great Way is right before one's eyes."

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dauodwa, you missed from my post

www.iguanasell.com.au (actually based in Portugal I think)

www.pulpaddiction.com.au

 

to which I would like to add two others I have used for inks:

www.pensonline.com.au

www.pensdeluxe.com.au *

 

and rather unusually, it being oriented toward kitchen and dining housewares:

www.petersofkensington.com.au

where I recently bought two Visconti pen cases, and they have pens and inks as well.

 

* an order from pensdeluxe nearly a week ago has yet to register with Australia Post as a scanned item. The others have all been prompt.

 

Edit: Aus Post has notified me that about four minutes after I posted the comment immediately above, the item was scanned on receipt for shipping. This may be pure coincidence or related to the fact I spent the previous 24 hours debating the matter with the seller, one does not know.

Edited by praxim

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Can't agree with you more in regards your original comments. I sometimes buy out of the USA, but the postage charges vary wildly between sellers, I have bought a few pens from Engeika who have reasonable postage costs but it seems to take longer to get the pen nowadays otherwise great service.

 

Thank you for a great resource.

 

 

Greg

"may our fingers remain ink stained"

Handwriting - one of life's pure pleasures

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Can I add my favourite site for Japanese pens that I have been dealing with for

quite a while now is Engeika they have a large range of fabulous pens and

assorted mercahandise, For instance the Sailor pens have a choice of some 17 Nibs

which must be the greatest in the world, if you cant find a nib on here that will

satisfy your style of writing then I will be very surprised. Their nib Master of

design is Mr Nagahara the world renowned creator of nibs of perfection has been

famous for years add to that the huge selection of magnificent Fountain Pens and you need look no further when sourcing pen related items, Trust me. Oneill

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Can I add my favourite site for Japanese pens that I have been dealing with forquite a while now is Engeika they have a large range of fabulous pens andassorted mercahandise, For instance the Sailor pens have a choice of some 17 Nibswhich must be the greatest in the world, if you cant find a nib on here that willsatisfy your style of writing then I will be very surprised. Their nib Master ofdesign is Mr Nagahara the world renowned creator of nibs of perfection has beenfamous for years add to that the huge selection of magnificent Fountain Pens and you need look no further when sourcing pen related items, Trust me. Oneill

I thought that Nobuyoshi Nagahara passed away last year?

Verba volant, scripta manent

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I have to second Overjoyed - Best prices for TWSBI and some inks. Iroshizuku inks I can get cheaper esp if 2 bottles at once via Rakuten, but their bottles of J Herbins are cheap. Also look at some of the paper range, just had some clairfontaine and Rhodia A5 pads delivered. The paper was cheaper that Goulet.com after US->AUD conversion and shipping was free !

 

Bought 3 Pilot pens and Sailor nano-pigment ink from Rakuten, works out to be ~$25 per bottle after shipping.

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Another to add to the list for those who practice calligraphy is ornasonova.com, whilst not as comprehensive as some overseas outlets Derek has a reasonable range and offers great service.

 

No affiliation to the business just a very satisfied customer.

 

 

Greg

Edited by inkeverywhere

"may our fingers remain ink stained"

Handwriting - one of life's pure pleasures

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Sorry I missed your's Praxim! Thanks to everyone again for the further suggestions. Thanks inkeverywhere and oneill too, I never realised Engeika has a website, let alone such a comprehensive one for Sailor pen nibs.

 

Here's the updated list for what we have so far:

 

Singapore:

www.overjoyed.com.sg

aws.straitspen.com/shop

Australia:

justwrite.com.au

www.bookbindersonline.com.au

eBay seller Osteralia

www.notemaker.com.au

www.iguanasell.com.au (may be based in Portugal, per Praxim)

www.pulpaddiction.com.au

www.pensonline.com.au

 

www.pensdeluxe.com.au

www.petersofkensington.com.au

Europe:

fontoplumo.nl/shop

www.seitz-global.com

www.appelboom.com

Japan:

global.rakuten.com/en

www.engeika.com

eBay seller Engeika

 

Calligraphy:

 

www.ornasonova.com

 

Thank you so much to everyone so far we've got a good list going I think. Eventually I'll go through and maybe categorise each site for what they have the best deals on but I might wait a bit for that because I'm supposed to be getting ready for exams :P Let me know if I've neglected to include one of your suggestions in the list.

 

Cheers!

Edited by dauodwa

http://www.argonpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Samurai-Ronin-l-300x150.jpg

"Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind ... Then the Great Way is right before one's eyes."

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I can 100% confirm that VAT has been deducted on all my orders from Fontoplumo and Appelbloom (and the one time I ordered from Seitz). What I perhaps should have mentioned before is those prices come with excellent and kowledgeable service to back up the products.

 

The link to AB is http://www.appelboom.com/ . All the best!

 

Thanks very much, I never knew they deducted the VAT so had ruled out buying from Europe. All added to the list now, thanks again!

http://www.argonpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Samurai-Ronin-l-300x150.jpg

"Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind ... Then the Great Way is right before one's eyes."

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