Jump to content

Brick and Mortar vs Online


Blade Runner

Recommended Posts

B&M's are more expensive, but in many of them you can dip test pens. After some less than stellar on line purchases that I've had to return or send for adjustment, I'm beginning to look more fondly at B&M's. What's your opinion?

 

Regards,

Jeen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 10
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Stylo

    2

  • Blade Runner

    2

  • mr_inky

    1

  • tntaylor

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Done both.

 

Bought a VP & "F" nib unit from Pen Wright in Dallas. Great service, esp. when the nib unit didn't work. Buy my ink there too.

 

Pelikan 650 from Levengers. No problem w/ the pen or order. Did send it to Chartpack for a nib exchange to "F". Usual great service.

Optimists are always disapointed when things don't work out. Pesimists never are since they expected it. That's why pesimists are happier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't beat online for accessibility (for those of us living just west of the middle of nowhere) and variety, but you do take your chances on quality and reliability.

 

Still, if there were a pen shop anywhere near where I live, it'd be my second home. Nothing compares to opening the door of a shop and maybe hearing a bell tinkle, announcing your arrival; physically rummaging and browsing; looking your salesperson in the eye as he/she tells you about an item; holding something in your hand and leaving the store with that very item; no shipping, no handling, no waiting for the mail - the sort of impulse buying that can yield immediate satisfaction.

 

Ahhhhh...

 

t!

Edited by tntaylor

flippin' like a pancake

poppin' like a cork

Link to comment
Share on other sites

B&M's are more expensive, but in many of them you can dip test pens. After some less than stellar on line purchases that I've had to return or send for adjustment, I'm beginning to look more fondly at B&M's. What's your opinion?

Dip testing will only let you know whether you like the feel of the pen. You are not testing the feed mechanism at all when you merely dip test. So you may still end up with problems. While a B&M return is in principle simpler, what really matters is the service level provided, whether it is an online shop or a B&M. B&M's can also easily give you a very hard time during a return.

 

But the B&M you will have access to in the Bay area are probably 20-40% more expensive than the reputable online sellers. That can quickly add up to a lot of money over many pen purchases.

 

The best thing to do is to attend a pen show. You can test many pens there, and even buy a few since some vendos sell them with deep discounts at pen shows. You can also make a list and then purchase them over the next year from online vendors. Good online vendors will make a serious effort to help you with problems. Remember also that a number of online vendors are actually also B&M places. Oscar Braun Pens comes to mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Denis Richard
But the B&M you will have access to in the Bay area are probably 20-40% more expensive than the reputable online sellers. That can quickly add up to a lot of money over many pen purchases.

That's true, but Jeen is in Pennsylvania :D

 

I agree that it's hard to beat some of the on-line retailers, and Pam Braun is on the very top of the list pricewise. I have a sweet spot for Swisher too. Nothing against all the others, but these two are the ones I have happily done business with and I guess I just stick with them and don't even look anywhere else.

 

I also have been rather unlucky with the B&M stores around here. <_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess it depends on the B&M store. Some (like Artlite in Atlanta) have prices that are comparable to online stores. The advantage is that you can examine the pen before deciding whether it's the right pen for you or not.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p202/Apollo3000/es-canary-islands-flag1s.gif Bendita mi tierra guanche.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Apollo,

Have you been to the Papermaking museum (Georgia tech) in Atlanta?

My interest in paper rivals my interest in pens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jeen,

 

I do both. When I know what I want, it is easy, I order via the Internet (so far, 3 suppliers, Pam Braun, Swisher Pens, and Giardino Italiano, all highly recommended). This is also true when it concerns something I can´t get any other way. I always ask the vendor to try out the pen for me, to make sure it works properly. That´s no problem with any of the people mentioned.

 

I am lucky in so far that one of the 2 best Dutch pen stores is right in the centre of town where I live :D, so they know me by name :lol:. I just love going there every so often, check out what is new, and occasionally buy something. In the town where I work currently, there is an office supplies store with a reasonable collection of low to high end fountain pens, including Stipula :D. And whenever I travel, if I do have a little time to spare, I make sure that I know where the nearest fountain pen store is... :lol:

 

I agree with T on the experience: there is nothing that beats going into a shop, and get the feel of a pen, prior to purchasing it.

 

Of course, over here, they often do not only let you dip test a pen, but actually fill the pen properly. And that is also true for the pen you take out of the shop, unless you specifically ask otherwise. Warranty is great here too. You normally have two weeks to rethink, and bring the pen back, for a full refund, even if the pen is perfect.

 

When I got my Edson Saphire as a present, I was told to go and visit the shop, and exchange the nib if I wanted too. I actually tested > 40 nibs over a period of a few months, in the shop, and took several home, on the advice of the shopkeepers, before choosing the one I am still using.

 

Yes, B&M is a different experience, even though it is more expensive. :D

 

Warm regards, WIm

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At the bricks and mortar store, I can see pens which are completely new to me. I can use magnification to inspect nibs before I buy. The nibs are usually medium, but I prefer fine and extra fine nibs. I can assess the size, colour and shape of the pens. Many of the pens which I have seen online, are not in the store.

 

On line, they sell fine and extra fine nibs, but I cannot inspect them. There is a much wider choice of pens, nibs, and inks. Buying is easy, in all weathers, using a credit card and a computer. It is difficult to know what size the pens are. They are usually photographed alone, and their dimensions are rarely recorded. Sometimes, a carrier creates a fictitious delivery, and a fictitious signature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At the bricks and mortar store, I can see pens which are completely new to me. I can use magnification to inspect nibs before I buy. The nibs are usually medium, but I prefer fine and extra fine nibs. I can assess the size, colour and shape of the pens. Many of the pens which I have seen online, are not in the store.

 

On line, they sell fine and extra fine nibs, but I cannot inspect them. There is a much wider choice of pens, nibs, and inks. Buying is easy, in all weathers, using a credit card and a computer. It is difficult to know what size the pens are. They are usually photographed alone, and their dimensions are rarely recorded. Sometimes, a carrier creates a fictitious delivery, and a fictitious signature.

You have a good point in that most B&M stores do not carry the total line of any manufacturer so that you are limited in the pens that you can buy- unless they order them for you and agree to not make you pay for them if you don't like it, this would be the one case where a B&M would be better than the net. And with the usually limited amount of nibs on hand getting exactly what you want might even include a trip back to the manufacturer for a nib exchange something B&M stores may or may not do for you.

 

 

I don't live near any real B&M stores so I have learned to ask certain very specific questions of any seller before I purchase a pen. Add to that the large amount of research on-line I do about a pen ( and don't forget the second-hand pen market on line where I buy most of my pens!) And if I do get it and don't like it most times there is a reasonable return policy leaving me out the shipping costs. In the several years that I have been buying pens through the internet I have returned 5 pens. and some of them were for defects that even a detailed look with a loupe in a store would not have seen.

 

 

Kurt H

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...