Comparative Costs Of Inks

[aurore]

One thought... that doesn't take into account the effort the Pilot reps must make trying to peddle their products to retailers in England... let's be generous and say £11.50 a bottle instead.

 

Well, Iro inks are supplied by Pilot Europe, not Pilot Japan hence the higher price anyway. And unless they establish a new particular independent branch for the U.K., which they won't, Brexit won't affect anything.

 

As for CdA inks, the prices are ridiculous indeed, but they are more or less equally ridiculous worldwide, unlike Pilot.

Edited October 10, 2020 by aurore

[RJS]

Ooh, Pilot produce Iro inks sold in Europe in Europe? I assumed they came from one factory in Japan.

[aurore]

Ooh, Pilot produce Iro inks sold in Europe in Europe? I assumed they came from one factory in Japan.

 

Pilot produces all Iro inks in Japan. But the wholesale prices for European retailers are set by Pilot Europe (and inks are supplied within Europe, not directly from Japan) and those prices are significantly higher than what retailers in Japan pay to Pilot Japan for the very same inks. All European retailers have to buy from Pilot Europe. Pilot's policy. CdA or GvFC's approach is different.

Edited October 10, 2020 by aurore

[RJS]

Ok, I'll from now on direct my scorn towards the French Pilot office, if they're the ones dictating the ridiculous markups across this continent...

[aurore]

Ok, I'll from now on direct my scorn towards the French Pilot office, if they're the ones dictating the ridiculous markups across this continent...

That would be most appreciated. I believe Japanese retailers pay no more than 8 USD per 50ml Iro bottle. In Europe probably 13-14 EUR (excl. VAT).

[RJS]

That would be most appreciated. I believe Japanese retailers pay no more than 8 USD per 50ml Iro bottle. In Europe probably 13-14 EUR (excl. VAT).

Appreciated? Does it make any difference to you whether fellow members feel aggrieved at an office in Paris as opposed to one in London? I believe Pilot EU is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese operation anyway, so it's anyone's guess whether the decision makers (as far as EU ink pricing strategy goes) are French or Japanese.

 

Regarding the retailers in Europe- I doubt they pay as little as 13-14 euros to Pilot for the ink, as that wouldn't be in line with usual profit margins. Pilot must be charging more or some retailers could easily undercut the rest to achieve sales, thereby forcing the average sale price down.

Edited October 10, 2020 by RJS

[aurore]

Appreciated? Does it make any difference to you whether fellow members feel aggrieved at an office in Paris as opposed to one in London? I believe Pilot EU is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese operation anyway, so it's anyone's guess whether the decision makers (as far as EU ink pricing strategy goes) are French or Japanese.

 

Regarding the retailers in Europe- I doubt they pay as little as 13-14 euros to Pilot for the ink, as that wouldn't be in line with usual profit margins. Pilot must be charging more or some retailers could easily undercut the rest to achieve sales, thereby forcing the average sale price down.

 

Any info is always appreciated. This makes a difference, personal feelings do not.

It's irelevant whether the decisions are made in Japan or in France. And it's even more irelevant whether by Japanese or French (btw what makes you think the whole Pilot French office is full of French upper management?). The only important thing is Pilot Europe has different prices for European retailers than Pilot Japan for Japanese retailers. Period.

 

Well, feel free to think whatever you wish, but considering LCDC sells Iroshizuku 50ml with their occassional 20% discount code for 20 EUR incl. VAT (and counting the discount), the VAT excl. price is 16.7 EUR, so unless you believe they buy the ink for more than they sell it afterwards, they hardly pay more than 13-14 EUR (excl. VAT) to Pilot Europe per bottle. Certainly the wholesale price might somewhat vary but this is rather uncommon unless the particular retailer sells tons of inks per month which is not the case of LCDC and Iroshizuku inks (or I believe any European retailer at all).

 

The point is Iro prices in Europe used to be higher (so they were in States). Then (considering current prices from LCDC or some Italian retailers) the wholesale prices dropped, but many retailers still keep the original high retail prices.

 

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by aurore

[RJS]

I tried to find cheap European prices for Iro ink, but the websites that sprang up on Google all had it priced at 30 euros a bottle, and it's not a product where every retailer would make such a large margin in... if it really sells for 20 euros regularly then 13-14 euros is in line with that price. The difficulty is searching for international pricing without using a VPN (I let mine lapse)- search results are skewed in various ways. However, if in the UK the 13-14 euro wholesale price was true, that would suggest that every sale over £15 (not inc postage) would show profit (subject to tax).

 

And my point about decision makers was that we don't know which nationality they are, French, Japanese or other. No need to try and turn that around on me like that, that's just being antagonistic. Pilot decide to squeeze UK customers hard, undeniably, and that's the issue I have. Even if I knew which office or which staff members were responsible for the policy, it changes nothing.

 

Thinks have improved though- 5 years ago the exchange rate was different, and then they were charging £35 a bottle of Iro in the UK but only £6 (equivalent) per bottle in Japan. So British consumers should be thankful that Pilot eased back on their price gouging.

Edited October 10, 2020 by RJS

[RJS]

I'd never heard of Lacouronneducomte.com, so thanks for that. Reasonable prices, and cheap pan-European shipping. I suspect they'll be getting an order from me this year!

[RJS]

Have you ever shopped from Lacouronneducomte.com, out of interest? They seem to have left a trail of dissatisfied customers on Fountain Pen Network- mostly due to not having the items in stock their webpage says are in stock, that people have purchased in good faith, compounded by poor communication.

[A Smug Dill]

Have you ever shopped from Lacouronneducomte.com, out of interest?

That said I usually buy from LCDC and my favourite brands are _...‹snip›...

Answered earlier in this very thread, after you started posting actively in it, but long before you asked the question.

 

They seem to have left a trail of dissatisfied customers on Fountain Pen Network- mostly due to not having the items in stock their webpage says are in stock, that people have purchased in good faith, compounded by poor communication.

The issue is actually that LCdC's web shop — at least the version that was running until two weeks ago — does/did not actually tell you whether an item in its product catalogue is in stock at the time of ordering, except in the case where something is listed as "LAST MODEL" — in other words, last unit(s) in stock on clearance — in its Specials section; whereas most online shoppers who (in your words) "purchased in good faith" brought unquestioned/unvalidated assumptions from their experience shopping elsewhere that listed and not explicitly marked "out of stock" must mean something is in stock if LCdC accepted their order and took payment for it immediately.

 

(I've had more than a brief look at it since it moved to a new web shop platform on 28/9/2020, but I'm not seeing any indication that LCdC's business model has changed.)

 

Yes, I bought from LCdC too, and often.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/277691-whats-your-favorite-online-fountain-pen-supplies-retailer/?p=4363718

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/114410-what-inks-are-you-waiting-for-in-the-mail/?p=4340477

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/348253-la-couronne-du-comte/?p=4233919

Edited October 10, 2020 by A Smug Dill

[RJS]

Thanks for your reply, ASD (is that your preferred abbreviation?). I didn't spot that message from aurore about shopping with them. The additional information is also helpful. Hopefully their new system allows them to actively track stock, in the way most others do.