Jump to content

Fellow Canadians Where Do You Buy Your Pens (Especially The Vintage Ones)?

3nding

By 3nding
in Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop

 Share

Recommended Posts

3nding Mint

3nding

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hello fellow FPNers from Canada,

 

I have recently bought some pens from eBay and I have been looking around for more (Etsy, Kijiji, etc.), especially vintage ones. Shipping is often more than the pen itself when the pens are cheap (often 20$-30$) and often equivalent to half the price of the pens when they are popular models (you can see how a 45$ pen becomes a 70$ pen because of shipping).

 

Do you know some sites or other places where shipping isn't such an issue and that still have a diverse stock of vintage pens?

 

Thank you very much in advance!

 

PS: When I buy pens that are brand new its either locally or on the web through Amazon with Prime, so no problem with shipping for brand new pens unless the model is not available locally or through Amazon. In that case I would order a new pen from Goulet (shipping from them being only 10$).

Edited by 3nding
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 7
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • 3nding

    2

  • moylek

    1

  • wastelanded

    1

  • Ecriveur

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

moylek Extremely Rare

moylek

Posted
Posted

I live in Hamilton, Ontario - so close to Toronto. I know of no physical vendors of vintage pens.

 

Such vintage (or merely old) pens as I have bought have been from the US, from hit-and-miss finds at antique shops, or - and this is your best bet if you are near Toronto - the Scriptus pen show in the fall.

---

Kenneth Moyle

Hamilton, Ontario

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ecriveur Extremely Rare

Ecriveur

Posted
Posted

It's not a place for vintage pens, but Wonder Pens in Toronto is definitely worth a visit for new pens and ink. I'm generally in Toronto about once a year, and always drop by Wonder Pens when I'm there. Every once in a while, for some strange reason, pens (especially Japanese ones) are available in Canada that aren't available in the US (or at least not easily available) so I'm always on the lookout for those when I visit Wonder Pens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wastelanded Collectors Item

wastelanded

Posted
Posted

When in eBay, I stay away from US sellers: they charge extortionate amounts for shipping, and the Global Shipping Program is a joke. European sellers charge a lot less.

 

For new pens, and also inks, retailers in Germany and the UK have cheaper shipping rates than US-based retailers. For certain things, like German inks, German retailers can even be cheaper than Canadian ones.

"I was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or torment me, and I was forced to become original." - Franz Joseph Haydn 1732 - 1809
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chromantic Antique

chromantic

Posted
Posted

I'll second Wonder Pens for new items. Shipping to USA was a little pricey, of course, but the pens I bought were very reasonably priced and the buying experience was pretty smooth, considering it had to be conducted via email (because you can't order on-line if you're not in Canada).

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Runnin_Ute Museum Piece

Runnin_Ute

Posted
Posted (edited)

I haven't bought from Canadian vendors, so as I am in the US I typically buy domestic. But not exclusively. I have bought from Spain, Portugal, the UK and other European countries. I also have a couple of pens bought from Japanese sellers on Amazon. I bought one pen from a US seller where the shipping was as much as I have paid for shipping from European sellers. ($10-15 USD range) I don't mind paying that going across the Atlantic if I have to but from CONUS? I won't do that again.

Edited by Runnin_Ute

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
3nding Mint

3nding

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thank you for all the responses, this has been very helpful. I have since indeed noticed that European seem to have much cheaper shipping rates which is mind boggling to me. Also Canadian sellers aren't too bad either which is reassuring I guess.

 

I will definitely check out Wonder Pens they seem to have some good deals.

 

I also discovered that La Boutique du Stylo here in Quebec City has some pretty good prices for most inks and pen accessories such as converters although I find the prices on some of their pens to be more then what you would find online, especially when it comes to high end pens (just the price of a Pelikan M800 nib is 600 CAD, while you seem to able to get a brand new M800 for 550 CAD online).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Flippy Extremely Rare

Flippy

Posted
Posted

It's not a place for vintage pens, but Wonder Pens in Toronto is definitely worth a visit for new pens and ink. I'm generally in Toronto about once a year, and always drop by Wonder Pens when I'm there. Every once in a while, for some strange reason, pens (especially Japanese ones) are available in Canada that aren't available in the US (or at least not easily available) so I'm always on the lookout for those when I visit Wonder Pens.

Agreed. I have never been to Canada, but I have heard good things about WonderPens. Plenty of Canadian pen holders buy pens/ink from this place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33583
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26772
    5. jar
      jar
      26105

  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      Links to web pages or articles about Chinese typesetting, signwriting, etc.

      By Shanghai Knife Dude · Posted

      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o

  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More

  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...