Is Pilot Raising Prices Across The Board?

[XYZZY]

Sorry if this has been discussed, but I haven't seen it mentioned.

 

A week or two ago Brian Goulet mentioned on one of his videos that prices on the Metropolitan are going up soon. I think Jan-1 2019, but I didn't record the exact date. I've also seen mention of this a few times even before Goulet's videos on r/fountainpens on reddit.

 

Since Namiki started enforcing MAP a couple of months ago this has me wondering what's going on with Pilot... Is this just a price increase on the Metropolitan? Are they doing across-the-board price increases on everything? Or is Pilot USA deciding to enforce MAP on Pilot products in addition to Namiki?

 

[Note: MAP = Minimum Advertised Price]

 

[mke]

Pilot probably wants to recover the cost of their 100th anniversary. Let's milk the cows.

If a general price increase is really true we will see that the other big ones will follow suit soon.

[Honeybadgers]

I've heard the metro price bump is happening. But that pen has always been such an incredible deal I wouldn't be surprised if they sold it at a loss or little to no profit as a way to introduce people to their products. It can readily be found for less than a preppy and a platinum converter. For an unbelievably well made little metal pen with a nib/feed that has none of the cost cutting of the preppy and proper packaging (rather than the bar code literally painted on it) That's insane.

 

They dropped the price of iroshizuku ink 30% while retaining the same awesome bottle in the last year. I'd say Pilot is still doing decently by the customer (apart from their ridiculous pricing on their prera, custom 74, 91 and 92) but all three of the japanese makers are massively overpricing their mid tier pens here in the US.

 

You wanna point fingers at some truly d-bag pricing schemes, look no further than Sailor Ink. I still love sailor, but their ink is becoming an utter scam.

Edited December 1, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[penzel_washinkton]

Here, the first casualty of price increase is actually the Pilot Custom 74, CH 91 & 92.

It would be very likely the Metros will follow suit. I think if the price increase breaks the $30, it will deter many potential buyers especially new users.

 

As for the Sailor inks, I have to agree especially on the 20mL bottle lines, those are just absolutely that bad of a deal.

Edited December 1, 2018 by penzel_washinkton

[Honeybadgers]

Here, the first casualty of price increase is actually the Pilot Custom 74, CH 91 & 92.

It would be very likely the Metros will follow suit. I think if the price increase breaks the $30, it will deter many potential buyers especially new users.

 

As for the Sailor inks, I have to agree especially on the 20mL bottle lines, those are just absolutely that bad of a deal.

 

All of those pens are drastically overpriced from the US retailers anyways. They're still seeming to be the same price as always from the japanese retailers on amazon/ebay

[penzel_washinkton]

Here, actually the Pilot prices were quite reasonable. Metropolitans can be bought for $11-12, now it almost doubles to the $18 range

[Honeybadgers]

under $20 for a metal pen with pilot's absurd quality control, a nice box, a converter, and a cartridge, is a reasonable price by measure.

 

I am sad that it's going up in price, but I still can't call it a bad deal.

[alanshutko]

There's suspicion that Pilot is increasing the cost of the metro to differentiate it from the Explorer.

[mke]

> increasing the cost of the metro to differentiate it from the Explorer.

 

Isn't the explorer more expensive than the metropolitan?

[inkstainedruth]

It won't be the first time that the price of a Metropolitan has gone up, at least here in the US. I bought mine several years ago at Bromfield Pen Shop in Boston, and paid $15 US plus tax. More recently I've seen it retailing for about $18 and change online. Assumed that part of it was a price increase and part was a difference in the exchange rate. I don't have any of the higher-end Pilots, except for a Decimo -- and I ordered the replacement for the one I lost directly from Japan on eBay, which made it not only cheaper than most US retailers, but also less expensive than my first one was (even with the $11 economy shipping charge, which meant that I could track the package, first on Japan Post, and then later through USPS after it got through Customs -- which took almost no time at all, surprisingly enough).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstaineruth

 

ETA -- Oh, and there's also the older model pen (which I think is a Pilot Saturn) I bought in an antiques store last year, which Pilot told me was made in Korea....

Edited December 4, 2018 by inkstainedruth

[alanshutko]

> increasing the cost of the metro to differentiate it from the Explorer.

 

Isn't the explorer more expensive than the metropolitan?

 

 

It won't be after the Metro price increase. I can't remember it exactly, but I think it was going to be close to US$30?

[dan in montreal]

All this is quite relative, right? When the Knight came out, it was much more expensive than the Metropolitan (30%, 50% - I forget, but it was a lot more) and value wise, it's about the same pen - different aesthetics, but they are similar in feed, nib, converter, materials, snap cap... Not the same pen, but nothing to justify such a huge gap.

 

What I find odd is the price of the Explorer. mke is right, it is more expensive than the Metro for the time being and comes without a converter. I don't get it. Perhaps they'll scale it back or bump up the price of the Metro. They're both entry level pens aimed at young people and new fp users.

 

As for the ink, well... it's a nice bottle. I'm just sad I can no longer get the good old Pilot BB locally. My local shop now only stocks the Iroshizuku inks. The 20 ml bottles are more expensive than the 80 ml Diamine inks. Ink is where I draw the line! The Japanese brands have really pushed the envelope. The increases are brutal. A lot of people here don't mind forking over huge sums of money for tiny bottles of ink, I don't see why I should (besides, I have enough ink for a lifetime, maybe two).

 

But hey, it's never a bad deal if you want it / enjoy it / can afford it.

Any and every ink and pen, even the cheap pens, are luxury items. It's not like were talking electricity, water, milk or bread - or beer.

[mke]

 

>I can no longer get the good old Pilot BB locall

 

Pilot Blue-Black 350BB (350ml) is 22.49 USD at Amazon US.

[Mastiff]

Noticed this with the Raden vanishing points. Exorbitant prices (bought all 3 anyway) and all low in stock.

Hopefully they won't try to be the Asian Montblanc now.....

[tamiya]

Something's definitely afoot - Metro prices are now all over the joint.

 

This time last year i was paying A$25-27 for MR2 & Metro.

 

Recent weeks i'm seeing A$39-45 for Metros in B&M, $32 online... hmm...!

[mke]

Use the chance - Goldspot has until next Tuesday Metropolitan for $14.45/piece.

https://goldspot.com/collections/weekly-dip

Edited December 5, 2018 by mke

[shipwreckgirl]

Amazon and Target (of all places) both have some of the retro pop models for under $12 right now.

[mke]

Which Amazon? Just checked US - 13.41 was the cheapest, I found.

[inkstainedruth]

When I bought my Metropolitan it was $15 US. My brother-in-law's wife bought one of the RetroPop colors when Staples had them on sale a year or so back for $5. Current prices seem to range at around $18 retail.

I keep thinking about getting another one if I could decide on a color (I mostly dislike the trim designs above the section on those; mine is silver color, but plain). But $30? Nope. Won't pay that. Not when I paid way less than that (even much than what I paid for my Metrio) for a Parker 51 Aerometric at an estate sale a couple of months ago....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: If they really are raising the price that much (i.e, to $30) I really wonder at Pilot's marketing department. Oh wait -- that would be the same marketing department which assumed that no-one in the US would want a grey Decimo....

Edited December 5, 2018 by inkstainedruth

[shipwreckgirl]

Which Amazon? Just checked US - 13.41 was the cheapest, I found.

 

Here for the Retro Pop on Amazon

 

I found them under MR instead of Metropolitan.

Edited December 6, 2018 by shipwreckgirl