A Bid Regretted

[Mannyonpil]

So I just bid on an uncommon nib. I was quite excited about it until I realized, after bidding, that the tipping is snapped off one of the tines. I let my excitement get the best of me and I did not look at the pics carefully enough. I am a fool.

[JonSzanto]

You say bid. Does that mean the auction is not yet over? Is there a possibility that you will be outbid? Can you contact seller and retract your bid before the auction ends?

[Estycollector]

I am sorry. I lost an auction last week for a Parker with a cracked barrel that I had not seen when I bid. I was very happy I was outbid.

[Newton Pens]

Can't you just retract your bid? People retract bids on my auctions all the time. I just get a notice from ebay saying bid retracted. No reason given either.

 

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/retracting-bid?id=4013

[Mannyonpil]

I have retracted bids for bidding the wrong amount and once for falling for a misleading auction title. This time it was really my own fault for not being careful. Then again, the seller could have been more upfront about the condition of the nib.

 

At any rate, I won the auction. I will be getting an unusable 8550 sometime in the future. I keep hoping that maybe there was something about the image or the angle but I could see it in two different images.

[Estycollector]

https://andersonpens.com/esterbrook-renew-point-nib-unit-8550-firm-extra-fine/

[Mannyonpil]

Thank you, EC. I have been over the Anderson's site but I don't know that they have ever had that nib in stock. I will add my email and see what happens.

[pajaro]

I feel for you, and I have done something similar. Recently I was flossing the extra fine nib on my Parker 75 Sterling Cisele and the tipping came off of one tine. So, I feel like that made me a bigger fool than you.

[JonSzanto]

While this is not what you intended and may not be a perfect solution...

 

You might consider contacting a nibmeister and have the other tipping ground down and have the nib smoothed into a stub. All of the 1xxx series and 2xxx are nibs without tipping (thought 2xxx are 'rolled' tips), and a simple, smoothly surfaced stub would work fine and you'd have that numeric nib in a pen.

 

It couldn't be any worse than not being able to use the nib at all, because it is either do that or have the unusable nib sitting somewhere, reminding you of a very human error when it should be just ancient history... or a nib to use.

[inkstainedruth]

Early on, I foolishly bid on a J series pen with a 9128 nib on it without looking carefully at the photos for the listing. When it came, the nib was bent so badly it looked like an S when viewed in profile. This was abundantly clear from the photos, when I checked back after the pen came.

I gave the seller high marks for the pen being "as described" and chalked it up to a case of "My bad, lesson learned". I then tried to fix the nib myself with jeweler's pliers, and then signed up at Mike Masuyama's table at the first pen show I ever went to, to have him fix any potential (further) damage that I had done. Eventually, I found another SJ -- for less than I'd paid for the first pen -- at an antiques mall about an hour east of where I live that I happened onto after trying to find another place.... I may still own the bent nib, but can easily swap in a spare nib unit when I get the pen resacced (the beauty of vintage Esties ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[sansenri]

While this is not what you intended and may not be a perfect solution...

 

You might consider contacting a nibmeister and have the other tipping ground down and have the nib smoothed into a stub. All of the 1xxx series and 2xxx are nibs without tipping (thought 2xxx are 'rolled' tips), and a simple, smoothly surfaced stub would work fine and you'd have that numeric nib in a pen.

 

It couldn't be any worse than not being able to use the nib at all, because it is either do that or have the unusable nib sitting somewhere, reminding you of a very human error when it should be just ancient history... or a nib to use.

+1

better overspend and have something that works and may give satisfaction, than keep an unusable object of regret

 

happened to me a few times to buy an item that was defected (and was not clearly mentioned - when you read "the photos are part of the description" pull your antennas out...), argued with the seller a while, then decided to keep it and have it fixed.

In most cases I'm happy I did and cannot even remember how much more I spent to fix it...

[gweimer1]

It happens to me, from time to time. It balances out those times when I bid on something that has really bad photos, and I'm not expecting much.

 

Which nib was it ?

[RedRinger]

While this is not what you intended and may not be a perfect solution...

 

You might consider contacting a nibmeister and have the other tipping ground down and have the nib smoothed into a stub. All of the 1xxx series and 2xxx are nibs without tipping (thought 2xxx are 'rolled' tips), and a simple, smoothly surfaced stub would work fine and you'd have that numeric nib in a pen.

 

It couldn't be any worse than not being able to use the nib at all, because it is either do that or have the unusable nib sitting somewhere, reminding you of a very human error when it should be just ancient history... or a nib to use.

 

I totally agree with this -- I collect the "Palladar" 8000 series, and I did happen to note the tip missing on this auction. None of the 8000 series are stubs, and if you had this one ground into one -- well, it's still made out of palladium and silver, and therefore precious! Hope you can cheer up about it and spend just a little more to make it something you'll love writing with, and have a great story about. A wise neighbor of mine counseled me about a similar experience and said, "rather than a mistake, it's become a journey."

 

Matt

[Tom Heath]

Just another learning experience

Usually mistakes such as this only sharpen us for our next opportunity

 

After 30 year buying and selling it still occurs and always a new lessen to be learned

Maybe on your next outing the buy of a life time shall befall you

Then you be telling us what an astute shopper you were

 

Remember that the Coin has two sides.

Keep digging

[Parker51]

Please recall the rules of most bidding sites: descriptions supersede photographs which are typically for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an indication as to condition.

 

If the description was that the nib unit was in good useable condition and it arrives and is not, it is returnable and disputable. If it was sold as is, as a collectable, then perhaps not as sometimes collectable items are for display purposes only, which is one of the unusual curiosities of pen collecting, people do value damaged pens and nibs for their rarity, despite them being unusable. So, I suggest you reread the description.

 

Also, my wife once based on description bid on and won a pen which she then subsequently told me about after the win, but before payment. I looked at the pictures, and one and only one in a sequence showed it was a rollerball. It was listed as a Fountain Pen and the description said it was a fountain pen and had even gave the model number for the fountain pen model. When a conversation and a dispute was started the seller was not happy, but admitted they had listed the pen incorrectly and the sale was not concluded, per Ebays instructions. The eBay representative said it frequently happens that people try to sell things which are different than what they say they are and that is not acceptable and if a seller makes a mistake, the buyer is not responsible for that mistake, especially if the buyer discovers it, the seller is.

 

So, I suggest before payment you contact the seller and ask them about the actual specifics of the nib unit as if they sold it to you as a functional nib unit and you suspect it is not, then the sale should not go through as they incorrectly indicated it was one thing and it was another. But, if as I indicated earlier they possibly didn't falsely present the nib, then you simply overpaid for a collectable.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Parker51

[Runnin_Ute]

Earlier this year I won an auction for a nice 44 Vacumatic Emerald Pearl. At some point I realized the nib wasn't in as good of shape as it appeared initially. Cost me the price of a new nib. Bought the new nib from a seller who regularly has those kinds of things. An OM. Writes well, but very wide. Nearly doubled the price of the pen.

[Gloucesterman]

On the other hand, sometimes things turn out better than expected.

 

Just bought a set of LJ fountain pen and pencil on the Bay. Based on the nib image I saw I thought I was buying a "2048" which would have been acceptable. I was VERY happy when the package arrived as the fountain pen did not need a new sac (which I thought it would and the nib turned out to be a 9048.

 

Yes, I have made a few errors and I learned from those as well.

 

P.S. Bet you will not make that error again - or at least not soon!