Pilot Custom Heritage Pens - New U.s. Competition?

[Drone]

FYI, Jetpens.com in California has started selling the Pilot Custom Heritage (CH) series fountain pens in the U.S. For example, the Jetpens price for the CH 92 is $133 with free U.S. domestic shipping via USPS.

https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Custom-Heritage-92-Fountain-Pens/ct/1131

The ebay price for the same pen shipped direct from Japan is $115. Shipping by air with tracking from Japan to the U.S. via EMS usually runs $12-$15 and takes four to six days depending on location.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Medium-Fine-nib-Pilot-NAMIKI-Custom-Heritage-92-Fountain-Pen-Demonstrator-Black-/311862597977?hash=item489c759959:g:kVMAAOSw42dZHDLi

Goulet Pens charges $220 for the Pilot CH 92, 65% more, and that's without the added shipping. Quite a difference!

https://www.gouletpens.com/pilot-custom-heritage-92/c/239

So it seems Jetpens is being brave enough to try and pop the big mark-up bubble for high-end Pilot pens in the U.S. I wish them luck! Now it remains to be seen whether they will import the CH pen models people in the U.S. want but Pilot has so-far refused to sell, like the CH 743.

Enjoy... David

 

P.S. To be fair, high U.S. prices for Pilot's higher-end pens seems to be the norm across other U.S. resellers in-general, not just from Goulet Pens. Therefore, I suspect the large mark-up is coming from Pilot itself and/or Pilot's exclusive U.S. Distributor, not so much from resellers like Goulet Pens. Again, this is just me speculating.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Drone

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi Drone,

 

That's great... I take my hat off to them.

 

It looks like a success... most of them are sold out already. Here's hoping they get more in stock soon.

 

- Anthony

Edited June 2, 2017 by ParkerDuofold

[TSherbs]

interesting news

[Chrissy]

I salute them.

[Drone]

Hi Drone,

 

That's great... I take my hat off to them.

 

It looks like a success... most of them are sold out already. Here's hoping they get more in stock soon.

 

- Anthony

 

I've seen Jetpens do this before. It seems like they start off newly stocked products with a relatively small initial inventory. Then if demand is high, they scramble to catch-up. They may be playing it safe to see if Pilot's exclusive U.S. Distributor or Subsidiary gets after them

 

This is the Pilot USA About page:

 

https://www.pilotpen.us/about

 

They are based in lovely sprawling Jacksonville, Florida.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Drone

[Jamerelbe]

P.S. To be fair, high U.S. prices for Pilot's higher-end pens seems to be the norm across other U.S. resellers in-general, not just from Goulet Pens. Therefore, I suspect the large mark-up is coming from Pilot itself and/or Pilot's exclusive U.S. Distributor, not so much from resellers like Goulet Pens. Again, this is just me speculating.

 

I'm glad you mentioned this possibility, because if the US market is anything like the Australian (and I suspect it is!), that's almost certainly part of the deal. Pilot Japan and/or its US distributor adds a mark-up to prices sold in the US, and insists that everyone who purchases through the distribution chain sells at that price, minus a (usually up to 15%) markdown if they wish. If you try and undersell, and/or start sourcing cheaper pens direct from Japan or elsewhere, your relationship with the official distribution chain is smoked. So I can understand why Goulet, Anderson Pens et al may struggle to match the prices of retailers who source their pens via alternative (though no doubt legal) means.

 

I've had these conversations with Australian retailers, and it's very clear that this is what happens - they can only discount their pens so far (and can only offer discounts from time to time) without falling foul of their upstream supply. True, the distribution chain has to absorb import costs, not to mention marketing and the like, and add them to the end-point price of the pen (along with 10% goods and services tax that doesn't apply to overseas purchases) - but the cost difference relative to buying from Japan (or even from Europe and the US!) can't be entirely accounted for by these!

[ParkerDuofold]

 

I've seen Jetpens do this before. It seems like they start off newly stocked products with a relatively small initial inventory. Then if demand is high, they scramble to catch-up. They may be playing it safe to see if Pilot's exclusive U.S. Distributor or Subsidiary gets after them

 

This is the Pilot USA About page:

 

https://www.pilotpen.us/about

 

They are based in lovely sprawling Jacksonville, Florida.

 

Hi Dave,

 

Well, I hope they're able to keep it up for a while longer, at least; I haven't got mine yet.

 

Thank you for the link to Pilot; they have a nice looking facility like down there. According to the site, they even manufacture some of their pens here in the States; which was news to me... pity they didn't specify which models... at least not that I could see. (But I wasn't able to stay long; I'll have to go back later).

 

Thanks again and I hope JP is able to make a go of the 92 line w/o getting in dutch.

 

- Anthony

Edited June 3, 2017 by ParkerDuofold

[Donato777]

FYI, Jetpens.com in California has started selling the Pilot Custom Heritage (CH) series fountain pens in the U.S. For example, the Jetpens price for the CH 92 is $133 with free U.S. domestic shipping via USPS.

 

https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Custom-Heritage-92-Fountain-Pens/ct/1131

 

The ebay price for the same pen shipped direct from Japan is $115. Shipping by air with tracking from Japan to the U.S. via EMS usually runs $12-$15 and takes four to six days depending on location.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Medium-Fine-nib-Pilot-NAMIKI-Custom-Heritage-92-Fountain-Pen-Demonstrator-Black-/311862597977?hash=item489c759959:g:kVMAAOSw42dZHDLi

 

Goulet Pens charges $220 for the Pilot CH 92, 65% more, and that's without the added shipping. Quite a difference!

 

https://www.gouletpens.com/pilot-custom-heritage-92/c/239

 

So it seems Jetpens is being brave enough to try and pop the big mark-up bubble for high-end Pilot pens in the U.S. I wish them luck! Now it remains to be seen whether they will import the CH pen models people in the U.S. want but Pilot has so-far refused to sell, like the CH 743.

 

Enjoy... David

 

P.S. To be fair, high U.S. prices for Pilot's higher-end pens seems to be the norm across other U.S. resellers in-general, not just from Goulet Pens. Therefore, I suspect the large mark-up is coming from Pilot itself and/or Pilot's exclusive U.S. Distributor, not so much from resellers like Goulet Pens. Again, this is just me speculating.

 

I just picked up a brand new Pilot Custom Heritage 91 (FM) from Amazon.com for about $78 with free shipping in the US, although the same pen is available for a bit less if shipped from Japan.

[TSherbs]

 

I just picked up a brand new Pilot Custom Heritage 91 (FM) from Amazon.com for about $78 with free shipping in the US, although the same pen is available for a bit less if shipped from Japan.

nice deal

[Kevan]

Yeah, it makes very little sense to buy Japanese pens at US market-set prices. Unless you really want warranty coverage, or you don't want to do international shipping.

 

I salute Jetpens for doing this.

[Drone]

This is disappointing: I see Jetpens has the Pilot CH 823 vacuum-filler for sale. But at $284 the price is up to high rigged U.S. price levels. For example, Goulet Pens sells the CH 823 for $288 while the Japan-direct price looks to be around $225. (Traditionally the Japan vs. U.S. price-spread for the CH 823 has been smaller than for other CH models.)

 

However, the good news is that the Jetpens price for their newly offered CH 92 pens are still holding at a Japan-direct competitive $133 including USPS shipping, but they still only have the clear demonstrator versions in-stock.

[Dragonmaster Lou]

This is disappointing: I see Jetpens has the Pilot CH 823 vacuum-filler for sale. But at $284 the price is up to high rigged U.S. price levels. For example, Goulet Pens sells the CH 823 for $288 while the Japan-direct price looks to be around $225. (Traditionally the Japan vs. U.S. price-spread for the CH 823 has been smaller than for other CH models.)

 

However, the good news is that the Jetpens price for their newly offered CH 92 pens are still holding at a Japan-direct competitive $133 including USPS shipping, but they still only have the clear demonstrator versions in-stock.

 

I don't think that price difference is quite as huge as you think if you factor in shipping. Also, the US pen comes with a bottle of Pilot Blue ink whereas the Japanese one is just the pen with nothing else.

 

I made this decision a while back to choose between buying an 823 from Japan vs. domestically. I ended up buying from Pen Chalet (had a couple) and between that, shipping, and ink, the price difference was negligible.

[Honeybadgers]

I just don't get why they think a piston filler version of the same pen they sell for $75 from japan is worth a nearly 100% markup.

 

Everything pilot makes that isn't maki-e I'd value at around $150. max. gimme an 823 for $150 and they'd get my money immediately.

 

I'll just stick with my custom 74 music and 91 soft fine. They are both soft nibs, good writing, good looking.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Honeybadgers

[Drone]

I just don't get why they think a piston filler version of the same pen they sell for $75 from japan is worth a nearly 100% markup.

 

Everything pilot makes that isn't maki-e I'd value at around $150. max. gimme an 823 for $150 and they'd get my money immediately.

 

I'll just stick with my custom 74 music and 91 soft fine. They are both soft nibs, good writing, good looking.

 

It's not so much that the Pilot CH 823 is a piston-filler that makes it so expensive. In comparison, the CH 743 is essentially the same size and build-quality as the CH 823, but the CH 743 is a far simpler to make and maintain cartridge/converter-filler. Yet while the street price for the piston-fill CH 823 is around say $220-$230, the C/C-fill CH 743 goes for around $210-$220, not a lot less.

 

What makes the price of the smaller CH 91 or CH 74 models so much lower than the price for a CH 823 is not so much about build complexity and higher material cost compared with the larger more complex CH 823, it's about where the pen models are positioned and priced in the product line for marketing purposes. In Marketing this is called "Product Differentiation". For "Luxury" brands like high-end fountain pens and watches, the product prices are tiered in a very non-linear way. It's all about: Prestige comes at a price.

[TSherbs]

....I'll just stick with my custom 74 music and 91 soft fine. They are both soft nibs, good writing, good looking.

Same here. And I only own the 74 (SFM). Great pen. I don't need another one anything like it (and I bought it from Japan).

[theoddcopy]

I actually noticed the CH 92 on Jetpens a few months back and was surprised to see how much lower it was priced than other vendors.

 

Then they added all of the colors that were previously unavailable in the U.S.

 

Then they got the Custom 74 on their site, but at the typical $160 that you can get it for at other vendors. I was a bit confused by this, though, because it seems like the CH 92 retails higher everywhere else (being a piston rather than cartridge converter) and I would have thought they would get the 74 demonstrators for less than the 92.

 

CH 92 Demonstrators: https://www.jetpens.com/search?q=custom+heritage+92&v=2

 

Custom 74 Demonstrators: https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Custom-74-Fountain-Pens/ct/4033

 

Anyone to speculate why?

[TSherbs]

oops

 

error

Edited June 22, 2017 by TSherbs

[yeepers]

I got my CH 912 with the FA nib off Amazon after much scouting around. I see that there is a Custom Urusei lurking around out there somewhere - Japan only?? - would love to get my hands on one of those

[Drone]

I got my CH 912 with the FA nib off Amazon after much scouting around. I see that there is a Custom Urusei lurking around out there somewhere - Japan only?? - would love to get my hands on one of those

 

I think you mean the "Custom Urushi". The Custom Urushi is a hard to find pen, very few were/are made. I have some information on that pen (corrections welcome):

 

Introduced in 2016 the Pilot Custom Urushi is much larger than the Pilot CH 845, but smaller than the massive Namiki Emperor. The Custom Urushi is sold only in Japan. The Pilot CH 845 is a C/C filler, comes with a CON70, and has an 18K #15 nib. (Note, all nib sizes are Pilot proprietary.) The Pliot CH Urushi is a C/C filler, comes with a CON70, and has an 18K #30 nib. The Namiki Emperor is an eyedropper filler and has an 18K #50 nib. The Pilot 845, Custom Urushi, and Namiki Emperor are made of turned Ebonite with an Urushi Lacquer coating. All the regular CH pens are made of molded resin and have 14K nibs ranging in size from #5 through #15. All CH pens except the piston-fill CH 823 are C/C fillers. The Namiki Emporer has an Urushi coated Ebonite feed to match the cap and barrel. I'm not sure about the feed material on the CH 845 and Custom Urushi.

 

Here is a page on the Pilot Custom Urushi:

 

http://kmpn.blogspot.com/2017/02/pilot-custom-urushi-2016.html

 

The Namiki Emperor:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/139800-namiki-emperor-urushi-red/

 

And finally the 'lowly' CH 845:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/58403-pilot-custom-845/

 

Enjoy, David

Edited June 26, 2017 by Drone

[yeepers]

Yes...darn that freakin' autocorrect!!! URUSHI!!