How To Pass On Unused, Some Like New, Fountain Pens? (Free)

[kealani]

Update: I have about 6 pens to pass on. But now will gift them to my pen pals for free including shipping.

 

I am going to thin out the number of fountain pens I have.

A couple of TSWBI's, like new, some Pilot Metro's, also like new, maybe a few others.

 

I'm willing to pass on to other members as long as they cover shipping.

I'm in Arizona.

 

Does anyone have advice on how I should do this?

List the pens and nib size?

Pictures?

etc.

 

thanks,

jim

 

UPDATE:

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

Given the procedures and feeling like I need to "sell" a free gift, I'm going to give them as gifts to my pen pal correspondents instead, and pay for the $$$$ postage (not big dollars here). It is a better gesture for me and less hassle than a giveaway on the forum.

 

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice. I've learned a lot.

jim

Edited June 25, 2019 by AlohaJim

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pass it Forward section, would be the place to give pens away....inks, pen books, what ever.

[Timeline]

With your talent as a photographer I would list photos with descriptions in the PAY IT FORWARD forum. Very nice of you to do this.

[inkstainedruth]

I've seen PiFs handled in various ways. Most often it's either first-come-first-served or with the person randomly selecting the recipient (in those cases it's often with a random-number generating website or all the people given numbers in response to when they got into the cue.

There was a really fun one a year or two ago, where it was turned into a game. The person giving the pens away was having entrants come up with a caption for a humorous photo of the giver's dog, and the winning entry was the person who got the most votes from other people on FPN. I got the runner-up prize, which I wanted to give to a friend, because it was so absolutely perfect for her, even if she never uses it -- an Inoxcrom pen with a design from the comic strip "The Adventures of Tin-Tin" (my friend is half Spanish -- Inoxcrom is a Spanish brand -- and also has been a HUGE fan of the comic since she was a kid). I picked up a bottle of Skrip Blue to go along with the pen when I gave it to her, in case she does ever decide to use it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

Edited June 25, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[A Smug Dill]

I'm willing to pass on to other members as long as they cover shipping.

I'm in Arizona.

 

Does anyone have advice on how I should do this?

Just start a thread in the Pay It Forward, Loaner Programs & Group Buys section of the FPN forums, and state your terms for your offer clearly. The thread won't be visible to rank-and-file forum members (including you as the O.P.) after 'posting'/submission, until a moderator reviews and approves it; in my experience that takes up to two days.

 

I started one such thread in the past week for that very purpose.

 

List the pens and nib size?

Pictures?

I'm sure lots of prospective 'participants' would want to know particular things about the pens before they commit to spending money on postage, even if you as the giver aren't going to pocket any of it. I'd recommend not trying to outguess what the (faceless, unidentified) individual reader of your PIF/giveaway thread wants to know. If a pen you're offering is brand new, then the make, model (and colour/finish, I suppose), nib width grade and/or type, and the ("brand new!") condition of the pen ought to be good enough; I'm sure those who are even remotely interested can do a Web search at no financial or undue burden to themselves to see what it looks like or look up its technical specifications (length, weight, etc.) If it's not a new pen, then a brief description of the condition, possibly accompanied with photos of the pen, would tell them unambiguously what they could not know by simply doing a Web search on the make and model.

[kernando]

Call a pen posse. See if people show up and pay for your meal.

[ethernautrix]

Maybe leave them lying around in, say, your local library -- with a note saying that the finder can keep it and maybe instructions on use (or, "If you're not interested, leave the pen here and let someone else find it").

[kealani]

With your talent as a photographer I would list photos with descriptions in the PAY IT FORWARD forum. Very nice of you to do this.

 

Okay. I will do this.

Thanks for your help.

jim

[kealani]

 

Just start a thread in the Pay It Forward, Loaner Programs & Group Buys section of the FPN forums, and state your terms for your offer clearly. The thread won't be visible to rank-and-file forum members (including you as the O.P.) after 'posting'/submission, until a moderator reviews and approves it; in my experience that takes up to two days.

 

I started one such thread in the past week for that very purpose.

 

 

I'm sure lots of prospective 'participants' would want to know particular things about the pens before they commit to spending money on postage, even if you as the giver aren't going to pocket any of it. I'd recommend not trying to outguess what the (faceless, unidentified) individual reader of your PIF/giveaway thread wants to know. If a pen you're offering is brand new, then the make, model (and colour/finish, I suppose), nib width grade and/or type, and the ("brand new!") condition of the pen ought to be good enough; I'm sure those who are even remotely interested can do a Web search at no financial or undue burden to themselves to see what it looks like or look up its technical specifications (length, weight, etc.) If it's not a new pen, then a brief description of the condition, possibly accompanied with photos of the pen, would tell them unambiguously what they could not know by simply doing a Web search on the make and model.

Thanks for your help.

jim

[kealani]

Maybe leave them lying around in, say, your local library -- with a note saying that the finder can keep it and maybe instructions on use (or, "If you're not interested, leave the pen here and let someone else find it").

If that's the case it's better for me to mail them to folks I correspond with as a gift. Then it will be appreciated.

[kealani]

 

Just start a thread in the Pay It Forward, Loaner Programs & Group Buys section of the FPN forums, and state your terms for your offer clearly. The thread won't be visible to rank-and-file forum members (including you as the O.P.) after 'posting'/submission, until a moderator reviews and approves it; in my experience that takes up to two days.

 

I started one such thread in the past week for that very purpose.

 

 

I'm sure lots of prospective 'participants' would want to know particular things about the pens before they commit to spending money on postage, even if you as the giver aren't going to pocket any of it. I'd recommend not trying to outguess what the (faceless, unidentified) individual reader of your PIF/giveaway thread wants to know. If a pen you're offering is brand new, then the make, model (and colour/finish, I suppose), nib width grade and/or type, and the ("brand new!") condition of the pen ought to be good enough; I'm sure those who are even remotely interested can do a Web search at no financial or undue burden to themselves to see what it looks like or look up its technical specifications (length, weight, etc.) If it's not a new pen, then a brief description of the condition, possibly accompanied with photos of the pen, would tell them unambiguously what they could not know by simply doing a Web search on the make and model.

I read your "ad".

It seems almost like one has to "sell" a free item and paying for postage is too much of a hassle for folks, and "you paying for postage", that's "deep".

The more I'm learning about this, the more I'd rather pass it on to my correspondents/pen pals and mail as a gift. My gratification level will be better.

Thanks for the help.

jim

[ethernautrix]

If that's the case it's better for me to mail them to folks I correspond with as a gift. Then it will be appreciated.

Might still be appreciated. You just wouldn't know. I like the mystery!

 

But YMV.

[A Smug Dill]

It seems almost like one has to "sell" a free item and paying for postage is too much of a hassle for folks, and "you paying for postage", that's "deep".

 

Indeed. I recall being quite taken aback by the nub of the first reply I got when I was trying to kickstart a 'surplus' pens and bottled inks redistribution initiative for Australian FPN members, and I almost abandoned the thing right there and then.

 

It's one of the reasons why I now have a whole box of new, good-for-what-they-are fountain pens of different makes and models that I acquired "while I was at it" when placing orders with overseas sellers for something else, such that the marginal shipping cost for those items I don't need for myself is nil or negligible. Frankly, I haven't encountered too many¹ others online who warrant (since 'deserve' is such an emotive word, I won't use it) being given those products at zero cost to them, including postage and other considerations.

 

It still astounds me that offering something at lower total cost of acquisition than they could otherwise manage (i.e. you-pay-for-postage offers where I already know, and clearly stated, that domestic postage is less than the bargain price I paid for the product) is still considered not a good enough deal. I think it's fine for them to judge the pen (or set of whatever is on giveaway offer) to not be 'worth' A$8.55, but therefore those folks were never interested enough in the pen (which cost me a bit more than A$8.55 to buy in the first place, even without considering international postage) on offer anyway, so why give it to them as freebies when they apparently think it's nigh worthless?

 

The more I'm learning about this, the more I'd rather pass it on to my correspondents/pen pals and mail as a gift. My gratification level will be better.

I hear ya. Personally, I'd rather donate my several new Pilot Prera and Sailor Profit Junior pens to op shops run by charities, as far as personal gratification goes if I don't end up using them for myself, because I know anyone here who is interested can buy one from a retailer (or on eBay) at market prices if they really wanted one. The Nemosine Singularity Obsidian demonstrator is something one cannot easily buy new now even if one wanted to, much less for A$8.55, and that's why I'm offering it to one fellow hobbyist here as a you-pay-for-postage giveaway.

 

Last time I offered to give away a set of three good Muji A5 notebooks (with postage paid by me), with a nominal total price of A$5.25 but for which I only paid $3.75 to buy, and would cost me another $2.55 to send, nobody put their hand up to be the recipient. Fancy that! All I said in the terms of the offer was that I would favour those who have the least opportunity to buy it from Muji themselves, if multiple people put their hands up as prospective recipients, instead of selecting someone completely randomly.

 

So, as I said in another thread, these days if I want to give away something that's easily available for purchase in the market for $25 or more, I'll just do it privately instead of putting it up as a anyone-can-enter-the-draw 'PIF'.

 

Anyway... I'll stop ranting now.

 

Thanks for the help.

No worries.

 

 

¹ But there are some.

[inkstainedruth]

@ AlohaJim -- You have to understand where A Smug Dill is coming from (literally) -- he's in Australia and international shipping is unbelieveably expensive to or from there. (This is why some of the PiFs will limit where the giver is willing to ship them to, such as CONUS only).

That being said, I had someone on here PM me with an advance offer on a Parker 45 he was giving away, before putting up a general PiF thread. And the guy was in New Zealand! And I said "How much is it going to cost you in shipping?" And the guy said "It will cost me ten bucks no matter *where* I ship it to...." So I said, "Okay, I'll take the pen if you're offering...." I don't use it a lot, because it's kind of a dry writer -- but it's an interesting color (a grayish blue, and one of "Arrow" style 45s with the cap matching the barrel) and it's got an OF or OM nib. And I know that once I find the right ink for it (which sadly, Noodler's Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham was not) it will be an excellent writer. Hmmm. I should put that pen back into rotation. Maybe stick some vintage or semi-vintage Quink in it....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[kealani]

@ AlohaJim -- You have to understand where A Smug Dill is coming from (literally) -- he's in Australia and international shipping is unbelieveably expensive to or from there. (This is why some of the PiFs will limit where the giver is willing to ship them to, such as CONUS only).

That being said, I had someone on here PM me with an advance offer on a Parker 45 he was giving away, before putting up a general PiF thread. And the guy was in New Zealand! And I said "How much is it going to cost you in shipping?" And the guy said "It will cost me ten bucks no matter *where* I ship it to...." So I said, "Okay, I'll take the pen if you're offering...." I don't use it a lot, because it's kind of a dry writer -- but it's an interesting color (a grayish blue, and one of "Arrow" style 45s with the cap matching the barrel) and it's got an OF or OM nib. And I know that once I find the right ink for it (which sadly, Noodler's Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham was not) it will be an excellent writer. Hmmm. I should put that pen back into rotation. Maybe stick some vintage or semi-vintage Quink in it....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Good points.

Thanks for your help.

jim