Cost Of Bottled Ink

[bob_hayden]

As the resident cheapskate, and one of the resident nerds, I offer this spreadsheet of recent ink prices on eBay.

 

Brand	ml	price	per 30ml	made in	available colors
Hero	58	$4.29	$2.22	China	blue, black
Parker	30	$5.02	$5.02	India	blue, black
Thornton	30	$5.41	$5.41	Slovenia	many
Hero	58	$6.56	$3.39	China	blue-black
Diamine	30	$6.57	$6.57	UK	many
5280	30	$6.95	$6.95	Slovenia	many
Camlin	60	$6.99	$3.50	India	black, blue, scarlet
Pilot	30	$7.99	$7.99	Japan	black, blue, red, blue-black
Glare	60	$8.75	$4.38	India	many
Monteverde	30	$8.95	$8.95	Austria	many
Herbin	30	$9.14	$9.14	France	many
Pelikan	30	$10.48	$10.48	Germany	many
Sheaffer	59	$10.97	$5.58	Slovenia	many
Noodler's	90	$11.57	$3.86	USA	many
Diamine	80	$11.64	$4.37	UK	many
Waterman	50	$11.75	$7.05	France	many
Private Reserve	66	$11.97	$5.44	USA	many
Parker	50	$11.97	$7.18	France	black, blue, blue-black
Roher & Klingner	50	$12.97	$7.78	Germany	many
Lamy	50	$12.97	$7.78	Germany	many

   

 

Prices are in quantity of one bottle.  The Hero 23x ink is cheapest.  At the time I gathered that data you could get it for that price from a number of sellers, but last time I looked it was down to only a couple, and those had low feedback ratings. But remember eBay will help if you have a problem;-) 

 

Parker ink from India has a low price per bottle.  So does Thornton, and Thornton can be much cheaper if you buy the colors that have quantity pricing.  Looking at price per unit volume, the Camlin and Noodler's  inks, and the Hero 232 blue-black, are in the $3 range, in part due to being packed in large bottles.  In the $4 range we have Glare inks from India and the large bottles of Diamine.  By $5 per 30 ml you are getting into name brand territory with Sheaffer, Parker (from India), and Private Reserve.

Edited May 11, 2018 by bob_hayden

[amberleadavis]

Thank you. I enjoy these.

 

Don't forget

 

Gold Price Today

Gold Price per Ounce $1,320.40

Per Gram $42.45

[dcwaites]

Someone posted the new MB LE inks the other day. They were heading for price parity with Chanel No 5 Eau de Parfum.

 

Note to self: Don't get them mixed up when contemplating a Mother's Day pressie...

[cattar]

... new MB LE inks .... Chanel No 5 Eau de Parfum.

 

Note to self: Don't get them mixed up when contemplating a Mother's Day pressie...

 

Right. Be sure to get the ink!

[Intensity]

350ml Pilot ink bottles in multiple basic colors are around $21 shipped on Amazon with prime. That’s about $1.8 per 30ml.

[bob_hayden]

Yeah, price per bottle is what matters if you are trying inks, but once you fall in love the big bottles/quantities are the way to go. I like to have lots of colors on hand, but can't imagine using up a 350 ml bottle of any one color.

[Intensity]

Yeah, price per bottle is what matters if you are trying inks, but once you fall in love the big bottles/quantities are the way to go. I like to have lots of colors on hand, but can't imagine using up a 350 ml bottle of any one color.

Indeed! I have enough trouble with 50ml bottles

[DrDebG]

 

Thank you. I enjoy these.

 

Don't forget

 

Gold Price Today

Gold Price per Ounce $1,320.40

Per Gram $42.45

 

 

Now you are beginning to scare me. Do you normally keep track of the daily gold price? I thought I was the only one around here that did that.

Edited May 12, 2018 by DrPenfection

[Runnin_Ute]

My biggest bottles are 90 ml (Noodler's (4)), and 80 ml (Diamine (7)). Most of the rest are 50, 60, 62.5 (Levenger, Lamy, Waterman, Robert Oster; KWZI, Pelikan 4001)

[DrDebG]

As the resident cheapskate, and one of the resident nerds, I offer this spreadsheet of recent ink prices on eBay.

 

 

Brand ml price per 30ml made in available colors Hero 58 $4.29 $2.22 China blue, black Parker 30 $5.02 $5.02 India blue, black Thornton 30 $5.41 $5.41 Slovenia many Hero 58 $6.56 $3.39 China blue-black Diamine 30 $6.57 $6.57 UK many 5280 30 $6.95 $6.95 Slovenia many Camlin 60 $6.99 $3.50 India black, blue, scarlet Pilot 30 $7.99 $7.99 Japan black, blue, red, blue-black Glare 60 $8.75 $4.38 India many Monteverde 30 $8.95 $8.95 Austria many Herbin 30 $9.14 $9.14 France many Pelikan 30 $10.48 $10.48 Germany many Sheaffer 59 $10.97 $5.58 Slovenia many Noodler's 90 $11.57 $3.86 USA many Diamine 80 $11.64 $4.37 UK many Waterman 50 $11.75 $7.05 France many Private Reserve 66 $11.97 $5.44 USA many Parker 50 $11.97 $7.18 France black, blue, blue-black Roher & Klingner 50 $12.97 $7.78 Germany many Lamy 50 $12.97 $7.78 Germany many

 

 

Prices are in quantity of one bottle. The Hero 23x ink is cheapest. At the time I gathered that data you could get it for that price from a number of sellers, but last time I looked it was down to only a couple, and those had low feedback ratings. But remember eBay will help if you have a problem;-)

 

Parker ink from India has a low price per bottle. So does Thornton, and Thornton can be much cheaper if you buy the colors that have quantity pricing. Looking at price per unit volume, the Camlin and Noodler's inks, and the Hero 232 blue-black, are in the $3 range, in part due to being packed in large bottles. In the $4 range we have Glare inks from India and the large bottles of Diamine. By $5 per 30 ml you are getting into name brand territory with Sheaffer, Parker (from India), and Private Reserve.

 

This is great! Thank you so much for doing this. Any chance you want to include DeAtramentis inks in this?

[DrDebG]

I just purchased several bottles of Stipula Calamo inks in the 70 mL size for around $17.50 each. Pretty good deal for the amount of ink. Will I ever use it all? Hopefully!

[Chrissy]

I spotted that a seller in Spain was selling pairs of bottles of the two latest Montblanc POA inks. He has at least 100 pairs to sell on his listing.

 

When it's bought in such bulk like this just to sell on ebay, I can now understand why it becomes increasingly hard to get in boutiques.

[Flaxmoore]

Now you are beginning to scare me. Do you normally keep track of the daily gold price? I thought I was the only one around here that did that.

I watch silver like a hawk.

 

Be sure to include shipping for the overseas ones.

[bob_hayden]

I think Amberlea was trying to tel us that the cost of ink is insignificant compared to that of gold so we should go buy more ink!-)

 

I just tried and was able to paste my table from this page into a spreadsheet so anybody can add anything they want to it and post the additional rows or the updated spreadsheet. (Apparently pasting my table into a post here scrambles it.)

 

I gathered my data by searching for ink in bottles, then sorted by price including shipping. This left out inks not sold on eBay or inks that were so expensive that I still had not got to them when I got tired.

[DrDebG]

Thank you Bob for all of your hard work on this.

[amberleadavis]

Bob, I agree with you about the table issues. I'm sure there is a way to do it, but I don't know how.

 

And yes, the gold price was sort of a comparison because sometimes, it feels like gold might be cheaper.

[FLZapped]

The Noodler's 3 oz. bottle is sold by weight, not by volume, which is why the bottle is filled to the brim.

 

http://noodlersink.com/%e2%80%9cwhy-does-noodlers-fill-the-bottles-so-full%e2%80%9d/

Edited May 14, 2018 by FLZapped

[inkstainedruth]

+1 to what flaxmoore said about including shipping as part of the cost. Also consider exchange rates, which fluctuate, for the imported inks. (I've paid differing amounts, for example for De Atramentis inks -- even from the same retailer -- depending on when they've gotten shipments in).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Charles Skinner]

This may be just a little off subject, but here goes. When considering the cost of a bottle of ink, the bottle itself much be considered. There are some extremely plain bottles like Noodlers, and some really beautiful bottles that surely the seller must consider when coming up with a price to charge. Any thoughts about how bottles affect the actual selling price of a bottle of ink?

 

C. S.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, in some cases (such as the Akkerman bottles) the bottles are worth any increase in price because they're very functional. In other cases, though, the bottles are really more like perfume bottles, and designed to add to the perceived value of "luxury". Yes, those bottles probably cost more -- but I don't know if the markup reflects the *actual* cost of the bottles or the "perceived" cost/value.

And honestly, I don't really save empty ink bottles. I did buy an empty MB "shoe" box (modern style) last fall in an antiques mall in Ohio -- but it cost a buck, plus sales tax. Are the contents of the bottle of MB Lavender Purple I bought a couple of years ago worth $22.43 US (the current cost to replace that bottle when I finish it, assuming $1.07 for the bottle cost? Dunno....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth