Penworld.eu

[mge01park]

Found them online and they had the new Lamy inks and the Leuchtturm journals in the new colors Port Red and Pacific Green and other than dot which arent expected here for some time. Great prices, service and super reasonable international shipping. Great seller. Not affiliated. 😀

[cchukan]

Apparently, I'm not able to start a new threat on this forum.

 

Anyways, Visconti Gan Gogh are being sold for only $179.46 USD with free shipping to the US. They even do the personalization of Visconti MyPen for free. I just placed my order. US websites are showing $239.20.

 

My research shows penworld.eu is a legit website with an actual store in europe.

 

Just placed my order. How is it so cheap? Anyone know?

 

Thanks

[PAKMAN]

Need to be a gold member to post in market watch. 15 more posts and you'll be gold.

[cchukan]

Gotcha, thanks for the info.

 

But seriously, how are they able to sell so cheap compared to the US?

[inkstainedruth]

For some brands, the US distributor will have a markup that retailers here will pass along to customers so as to not lose money. If you can find the item from a European seller, they also won't have to charge you VAT because they're shipping to the US.

The downside of course, is that if there is an issue with the pen, you can't fall back on getting it repaired through the US distributor if you have to send the pen back.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[cchukan]

Thanks for the response. Now Im concerned. What if theres something wrong with the Gan Gogh I ordered. I know Visconti has had some Quality control problems in the past... but a $50+ different is hard to pass up. #firstworldproblems

 

For some brands, the US distributor will have a markup that retailers here will pass along to customers so as to not lose money. If you can find the item from a European seller, they also won't have to charge you VAT because they're shipping to the US.

The downside of course, is that if there is an issue with the pen, you can't fall back on getting it repaired through the US distributor if you have to send the pen back.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Parker51]

One other thing to keep in mind is there can also be differences in certain aspects of a pen that is sourced from a different place than you are familiar with.

 

Some pen models exist which have both steel and gold nibs and one can make the incorrect assumption that a nib is gold because the only version you have seen has a gold nib. I am not suggesting the seller is doing anything to deceive, simply that you should not assume the pen is the same in every way simply because it is the same model pen. An example of this is the Pilot/Namiki Vanishing Point pen as there is a non gold nibbed version sold alongside the gold nibbed version in certain markets.

 

And packaging can be different as well as some markets use different packaging. This can happen with some new Pelikan pens as example that are coming out of Germany. They use simpler boxes. But, it doesn't have to be a pen coming from a different country. It can be one that is simply being sold in a different retail market; the Pilot Metropolitan sold through pen dealers is typically sold in a box while the one sold at Meijer's is sold in a blister pack.

 

In conclusion check with the seller so there is no confusion regarding materials (nibs in particular), packaging (as example if you are expecting a bottle of ink and a convertor to come with the pen, per the version you are familiar with) and as mentioned by others, warranty services.

Edited February 16, 2020 by Parker51

[cchukan]

Thanks for your insights.

 

Just some simple googling... I think the basic Van Gogh model only has steel nibs so I think Im safe there. I dont mind packaging much as long as its the same pen Ive seen in America. Im really concerned about the warranty and return policy. Ive sent penworld.eu an email regarding this so I ll see what they say. It seems like consumers around the world have left great reviews for them. Depending on their response, Im thinking I may just cancel my order and pay the extra and buy from Goulet.com or US store.