Bringing In The Pilot Custom Heritage 912 Fa To India

[UditSingh]

Hey folks,

As the title says, I'm looking to buy a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with a FA nib (even typing this is making me giddy with excitement!). Does anyone here have any experience with importing the CH912 or other high end Pilot pens in general? Do you have trusted sellers or retailers you go to for your "Pilot-ing" needs?

 

I'm looking for a reasonable cost, a trusted or well known seller and preferably ZERO hassles with customs.

So far I have considered the following options:

1. Goulet Pens - $224 for the pen and $23 for shipping (the cheapest one). Have any of you ordered from Goulet? Is there a customs delay to be expected? Ordering from Goulet gives me the added benefit of getting a bottle of Liberty's Elysium as well. [TOTAL = Rs. ~16,000]
2. Amazon.in - Rs. 15999 for the pen. Even though I am a fairly satisfied Amazon customer, the seller for this particular pen is completely unknown to me. Do any of you have any experiences with these sellers - UnboxJapan, IINE STORE ?The benefit here is that I probably won't have to deal with customs and the customs charges, if any, are probably already worked into the list price.

Are you aware of any other sources I may check out? Preferably ones that you have had positive experiences with already.

 

Also, as a side note - how is the CH912 FA as a writer? Any personal experiences you'd like to share? I've read here and there that since the nib is such a fine point it can tend to feel scratchy. I happen to like glassy smooth pens, so I'm hoping that's more the exception not the rule. Also, this is my first "flex" nib, any tips or pointers about writing, use, maintenance?

 

Glad to be a part of the Fountain Pen community !

 

Cheers,

Udit

 

P.S. - I just realized that I should probably mention that I'm in Bangalore, India so ordering/importing experiences of my fellow Indian FPN members here would be most helpful to me - although everybody is welcome to chime in !

Edited April 4, 2017 by UditSingh

[BCGGSM]

Hi,

 

Regarding your options:

 

1. Why exactly do you want to order from Goulet pens? It would make sense if you were living in U.S.A. but since you aren't, It's a pretty bad option. Also, their price would be higher than price of the pen if bought from Japan.

Also, the cost is not going to be ~16,000. The amount you will pay to Goulet via PayPal or card would be more than 17,000 INR after currency conversion charges.

About customs delay, most likely they will delay it by 1-2 weeks and calculate the duty. It will be around 6,000 INR for the pen you want if you buy it from Goulet pens.

 

2. Your second option is probably the better of the two options. I personally don't have any experience with both the sellers you mentioned but I have heard good things about UnboxJapan.

 

Glassy smooth writing is a combination of various factors like the nib, the paper and the ink. Same pen and ink may feel scratchy on one paper and glassy smooth on other.

Also, for me, glassy smooth has been a bit problematic. I use Tomoe River paper exclusively, nothing else. My pen is super smooth with no feedback, ink is very lubricating and paper is smooth too. Writing with this combination requires a lot of control which is very tiring and undesirable for long writing sessions. This is general info.

FA nib will have some feedback, but it is not a daily writer.

[UditSingh]

1. Why exactly do you want to order from Goulet pens? It would make sense if you were living in U.S.A. but since you aren't, It's a pretty bad option. Also, their price would be higher than price of the pen if bought from Japan.

About customs delay, most likely they will delay it by 1-2 weeks and calculate the duty. It will be around 6,000 INR for the pen you want if you buy it from Goulet pens.

 

I use Tomoe River paper exclusively, nothing else.

FA nib will have some feedback, but it is not a daily writer.

 

Thank you for the tips! This is exactly what I was worried about with Goulet. I was considering it only because I've been hearing a lot of good things about GouletPens - but I really don't want to deal with the customs delay and the potential bureaucracy. Do you by any chance know some trusted sellers from Japan? Preferably on Amazon but eBay would work as well.

 

Are you in India? Where do you source Tomoe RIver paper from? And for how much?

 

I understand the FA nib will have some feedback and that is fine. I've seen reviews saying it is scratchy - and in my mind there is a big difference between scratchiness and feedback.

Also, I intend to use the FA nib mainly for journaling and writing in a controlled environment. I do hope I can get some good use out of it. I don't want to invest ~Rs. 15000 on a pen that I only write a page or so with every once in a while. I intend to use it almost everyday to write multiple pages - does that even make sense? Or should I drop the idea of an FA nib and go with a SF/SM instead?

[BCGGSM]

The term 'customs delay' should be used if there is actually a delay, otherwise not. As normal process without any custom clearing agent, the package may take 7-10 days to clear, sometimes even less. If the package is cleared within this time frame, there is no delay.

As for bureaucracy, I have always paid customs at applicable rate of 28% or 41% on items related to this hobby. I have never paid bribes nor have I been asked for money as unofficial duty.

Excessive custom avoidance may put you in a troublesome position as avoidance of customs duty amounts to money laundering.

 

I would recommend Pisuke2005 on eBay and penroom or atn-nagasaki on global rakuten.

 

I am based in India only, New Delhi to be precise. I import Tomoe River paper from Japan in lots of 4000 sheets. It costs about 32,000 INR for 4000 sheets delivered to India after all duties etc.

 

I have used 912 with FA nib and it was smooth. It has torrential ink flow so ink may feather on cheap paper.

I write with all my expensive pens. Be it a 12,000 INR pen or 1L INR pen. Pens are meant to be used and not stored away.

 

Regarding the nib, you should see whether you are experienced enough to handle the flex nib. One of my friend bought the same pen with the same nib from someone (the original owner was also an Indian). The original owner was a novice and had damaged the nib. It could flex, but it wasn't capable of producing hairlines anymore. I.e. An inexperienced user may damage the pen.

Edited April 4, 2017 by BCGGSM

[UditSingh]

Thank you for all your help sir.

I didn't know about global rakuten. Looked up the seller and found a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 FA on back order for around $162. Placed an order last night and got the confirmation email this morning that the pen will ship out on April 10th.

 

I feel it's a pretty good deal. Even if I calculate customs duty as 40%, it's still cheaper than goulet, ebay and Amazon.

 

Can't wait for the pen to get here now!

 

Thanks again.