Who Else Throws Out Their Pen Boxes?

[ItsMeDave]

I keep the boxes just long enough to be sure that there's no issue with the pen and it has to go back. That is sometimes a day, sometimes a week. I've got a dozen pens covering Montblanc, Pelikan, Visconti, Sailor, Pilot and Lamy. I've got an M805 and a Platinum 3776 in the mail, the same fate awaits those boxes.

 

I've only ever sold one pen, and at that time I was holding on to the boxes. In that instance the absence of the boxes wouldn't have affected the sale. I've given a couple away, oops, no boxes.

 

I'm also into mechanical watches, and some of those come with quite elaborate boxes, same thing, in the bin.

 

Am I alone here? Does everyone keep their boxes forever?

 

Cheers,

 

David

[Jamesbeat]

Same here. As soon as I know I'm definitely happy with the pen, the box gets thrown away.

There's just no point storing a bunch of fancy packaging - I have enough junk as it is.

 

The one exception is a Sheaffer Balance II that I still have in its box.

I liked the pen so much that I bought a spare one in case I ever lost it.

I never lost the first one, so I still have the spare in its original packaging.

That spare Balance is the only pen that I own that isn't a 'user', and if I ever do lose the first one and need to use the spare, the box will go in the trash.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Any antique dealer would lynch you....in with the box you can sell the pen for more than it's weight.

 

Given the choice between paying a bit more for a pen with a matching box and a bit less for one with out. I get the one with the box in I can sell it later for at least the same cost or more.

 

How was I to know the box with my 1970 bought P-75 set would be worth some $15-20 dollars? But that was back in the One Man, One Pen days....and there was no used fountain pen market.

I was ingorant for decades later.

Toys in the box, sell for up to twice as much as an old toy with out the box. I do watch various sell your old junk....antique shows.

 

Same goes for watches...of course I don't have but boxes for quartz watches in the old timers or their kids tossed the 'worthless' boxes of the mechanical watches I've bought.

Mechanical watches with box and papers sell for a lot more than a watch with a strap. That can be up to 1/3 more...assuming it's a name watch and worth buying.

[OmegaMountain]

I keep my watch and pen boxes. I appreciate nice packaging and you never know if you might need to sell something in the future.

[oldrifleman]

Some I keep, many I do not. The boxes for my Nakayas I keep, Limited edition pen boxes I keep, normal factory run (Pelikan m800) boxes I do not keep.

[TheRealMikeDr]

I throw out the low end boxes - Pilot Metro boxes etc etc. I keep the others although I may do a purge at some point.

 

I also plan on selling a few pens later this year that I don't care much for - so that will take care of some of the boxes too.

[ParkerDuofold]

I never do... I keep them all. In fact, I threw out a pen, (Conklin Duragraph - don't ask ), that I still have the box for.

 

The pens that are not in active rotation are stored in their original boxes.

 

- Anthony

Edited February 13, 2017 by ParkerDuofold

[Oranges and Apples]

I throw away most of my boxes. The Pilot Custom 823 has a nice box and the other boxes I use them as little storage for parts and pieces along with jewelry.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

Some Lionel train boxes sell for several hundred dollars.

[ItsMeDave]

I remember being very annoyed with how big the box was for my Longines Legend Diver watch. It was huge. I kept that box for about a year, out of guilt, but eventually, in the bin.

 

I've watched many, many pen reviews on YouTube, I always skip past the unboxing, I just wanna see the pen, the packaging bores me to tears.

 

In my opinion, knock $10 off the price and give me the pen in a simple protective tube. Or better yet, a nice pen sleeve.

 

Cheers,

 

David

[torstar]

I never threw one out.

 

The glacial movement of books surrounding them may have overtaken the boxes, especially if the pile of books fell on top of the pen box years ago.

[Komboloi]

You never know what will be worth keeping. I've kept stuff for too long, and I've thrown out stuff I kicked myself for. Who knew in the 1960's that the baseball cards we put in the spokes of our bicycles could have funded our retirement? They became valuable precisely because kids thought like we (and our moms) did back then: Pitch 'em if you aren't using 'em.

 

But that's not why I keep pen boxes. Some of them are really nice, but I keep the lesser ones too, figuring if I want to give away a pen, it'd be nicer to have a box. Maybe if I ever have a pen that I know for certain I will keep forever (yeah right), I'll get rid of the box. If I have to get on an ark with limited belongings, the boxes probably won't make the cut. But I'm OK on space right now. So I keep them all.

[TravelCommons]

I keep meaning to throw out my boxes, but they keep finding a way to hide in the back shelf of my office credenza. They'll probably stay there until I move. :-/

[praxim]

I stash my boxes in a box. Should I or my inheritors wish to sell a pen, it should add to the value. Other than certain boxless vintage, I have no pens lower cost (or current value) than a Waterman Expert so discarding cheapies does not arise. Each box has a note inside saying naming the correct pen to be put in it. The 1951 Aurora 88 aluminium case and a cased 1928 Waterman pen and pencil set are the only very old ones.

 

The used item is the Lamy 2000 flip-top case, which makes a handy desk case for a few pens in use.

[Chrissy]

I don't throw out any of my pen boxes, just in case I might ever want to sell the pen that belongs in them. However, I don't keep my pens in their original boxes, I store the empty boxes in a crate.

[matteob]

I keep them for protection when not in rotation. A gift box does offer good protection in the drawer.

[Jerome Tarshis]

I throw out many pen boxes, though not all. Some I keep because I like the box for its own sake. I don't think about how much more or less money the pen will be worth according to whether it comes with its box. My thoughts about money lie elsewhere.

 

Broadly speaking, I have too many cubic inches of possessions and am proud of myself when I can reduce the total. However temporarily. That is worth far more than small sums of money. People who live in larger spaces will understandably have different opinions. There's nothing like clutter to generate a sneaking respect for the Japanese reductive aesthetic. That, too, arises in part from living in small houses and apartments.

[Manalto]

I've watched many, many pen reviews on YouTube, I always skip past the unboxing, I just wanna see the pen, the packaging bores me to tears.

 

 

Same here. "Boring" is an understatement; I feel a mild homicidal urge when I watch the packaging being critiqued.

[Charles Rice]

I toss 'em all

[Jamesbeat]

In my opinion, knock $10 off the price and give me the pen in a simple protective tube. Or better yet, a nice pen sleeve.

 

Cheers,

 

David

I agree 100% with this.

Maybe offer the box as an optional accessory for people who want to buy the pen as a gift, but don't make me buy something I don't want.