Is Visconti Hs Worth More Than The Full Retail Price?

[ICantEvenDecideAMajor]

Hi all, I recently saw on Amazon.ca an offering for the VHS. For complicated reasons (aka all my pen budget right now is in the form of amazon credits), I can only buy pens on Amazon. Now, the price on this is $800CAD, which is $600 US, and I might get dinged for import duties, which may drive the total cost somewhere between $700-$800USD. For comparison, amazon also lists Pelikan M1000 for $485USD. So the question now is, after tax, is it worth it to buy the Homo Sapiens at basically list price (even more expensive than retail)? Wanted the HS for a long time now but couldn't gather the funds outside of Amazon.

[jar]

The question is what is the pen worth to you? No one but you can answer that.

[ICantEvenDecideAMajor]

The question is what is the pen worth to you? No one but you can answer that.

Well I recently just bought a Graf so budget is tight, but on one hand, I probably won't have another chance of buying a HS in a long time; on the other, I personally think list price is overpriced; I think very few people ever pays list price for pens.

I guess what I mean to ask is in general worth (quality, pleasure, etc), how does it compare to pens that generally does sell in $700US range?

[Mr. Pink]

The HS and the M1000 - the other pen you mention - are about as different in feel as two high end pens can be. Me? I don't like the feel of the HS. But like Jar says, only you can make the decision. IF you want the HS and have the money, BUY IT.

[TheGreatRoe]

Two questions.

 

1. Have your held and written with the HS? I love the pen, but for any pen I'd say if you haven't actually written with it, NO, it is not worth more than retail.

 

2. Have you considered getting using the Amazon credits in a different way? Maybe use the Amazon credits to do a bunch of grocery shopping on Amazon, and then use the cash you would have spent on groceries finding the HS for $450 and maybe even less if you get a used one. It doesn't have to be groceries, as long as it's something that you will be buying with cash anyway, and you can get it off Amazon with your existing credit.

[ICantEvenDecideAMajor]

Two questions.

 

1. Have your held and written with the HS? I love the pen, but for any pen I'd say if you haven't actually written with it, NO, it is not worth more than retail.

 

2. Have you considered getting using the Amazon credits in a different way? Maybe use the Amazon credits to do a bunch of grocery shopping on Amazon, and then use the cash you would have spent on groceries finding the HS for $450 and maybe even less if you get a used one. It doesn't have to be groceries, as long as it's something that you will be buying with cash anyway, and you can get it off Amazon with your existing credit.

1. Nope, never seen it myself before; you're probably right.

2. That is actually a very good idea! I never thought about it that way! I have a pretty rigid budget system but if I track each "replaced expense" I think I can make it work! Most Canadian stores sell it for list price so I'll have to somewhere else.

[Lam1]

As others have said, it depends on how much you want the pen.

That being said, the HS can be found for about half retail (I paid $311 for mine, shipped, about 8 months ago). In my opinion, despite being a very beautiful pen, the HS has several flaws and (again, for me) it is not worth more than I paid.

 

I frequently find myself in the same position you are, with some pen money tied up as credit at amazon. When that happens, I found that the best deal is to shop for Japanese pens and, occasionally, Pelikans. Instead of overpaying for the HS you could get that M1000 (in my opinion, a much better pen) and still have money left for another good pen or a bunch of inks (and get the HS for a fair price down the road). Just my $0.02.

[Trom]

How long do you have to work for getting the money to buy one at that price?

 

Can you also do some shopping on amazon.co.uk? There are homo's there as well, reasonably priced.

You can ask for tax free (about 20% less).

Edited March 16, 2016 by Trom

[Sasha Royale]

25% import duty ?

[ICantEvenDecideAMajor]

25% import duty ?

Yep, that's what it is in Canada. Sales tax is at 15%, and import duties just enough to make sales tax seem pleasant.

Edited March 16, 2016 by ICantEvenDecideAMajor

[ICantEvenDecideAMajor]

How long do you have to work for getting the money to buy one at that price?

 

Can you also do some shopping on amazon.co.uk? There are homo's there as well, reasonably priced.

You can ask for tax free (about 20% less).

I'm still a student, so my pen budget comes from money I save else where plus whatever income I happen to come by. For example, if today I forgot to eat breakfast, then participate in a compensated university survey, i add +$5 +20 to my budget. Normally that's like a entire year's budget but Chinese New Year did not disappoint this year and the all the gift cards came through...

[abstract49]

The VHS is a lovely pen, esthetically, at least to me. Also, I like the feel of the nib (mine is F on a Bronze Age oversize/full size [however one wants to classify it; it's the big one]).

 

I also have a Pelikan M1000, and I have a B and a F nib for it. Again, a lovely pen that I like writing with, in certain situations.

 

For daily use, if I were to use an expensive pen (in terms of my budget, anyhow) for writing everything, I would go with the Visconti, BUT, a big BUT, that's because I don't write LARGE, and the Pelikan is better suited to writing LARGE.

 

In the end, like most advice from others before me, it's all in how you use the pen, what you want it to feel like, and so forth.

 

Suit yourself.

[Trom]

I'm still a student, so my pen budget comes from money I save else where plus whatever income I happen to come by. For example, if today I forgot to eat breakfast, then participate in a compensated university survey, i add +$5 +20 to my budget. Normally that's like a entire year's budget but Chinese New Year did not disappoint this year and the all the gift cards came through...

 

Then, I would say it's not worth the money, but it's up to you of course.

[FOUR X FOUR]

I just bought this one an hour ago in St Thomas for 540 dollars

[FriendAmos]

A pen (or anything else for that matter) is worth only what people will pay for it, and that depends on numerous factors. E.g. in the middle of the Sahara desert and away from an oasis, a bottle of tap water would probably be worth more than the HS.

 

The pen can be found in different places, at different prices. Regardless of where you get it, the question you need to ask yourself is whether it is to you worth whatever price you pay. The general question is unhelpful given that to some people no pen is worth more than, say, $50.