The price of Montblanc ink

[davisrankin]

I think I know the answer to this, but here goes:  Can someone tell me why Montblanc bottled ink is so expensive?  I use a Montblanc red--I think it's Bordeaux--and have had the current bottle for a few years.  Now, when I look at the price of a fresh bottle, I'm floored at how expensive MB ink has become!

 

Can someone please--gently--explain this?

 

Thanks

[zaddick]

Because the market will bear the price. They regularly update prices and are a luxury brand. They are not really competing on price. 

[LizEF]

47 minutes ago, davisrankin said:

I think I know the answer to this, but here goes:  Can someone tell me why Montblanc bottled ink is so expensive?  I use a Montblanc red--I think it's Bordeaux--and have had the current bottle for a few years.  Now, when I look at the price of a fresh bottle, I'm floored at how expensive MB ink has become!

 

Can someone please--gently--explain this?

 

Thanks

Right now, in the US at least, MB ink is very expensive and hard to find, at least for me.  I assume it's something to do with COVID and international shipping and work schedules and such.

[chromantic]

Zaddick is right, MB sells status, not ink.

[yazeh]

Define expensive? 

Compared to what we pay here for Caran d'ache or Sailor inks  in Canada  the 40$ price tag seems reasonable. 

Obviously for the 80$ bottles, you'r paying for the bottle, and the brand.....not the ink....

 

 

 

[samasry]

$80 here, $80 there,  it  starts  to add up to  real  money  

[Al-fresco]

I’ve always thought that the basic Montblanc inks were pretty reasonably priced at £18 in that nifty, low profile, split chambered bottle. (I don’t usually admit to this because if they knew the likes of me were buying their ink they’d probably put the price up.)

 

My favourite bottle style is Akkerman’s “Dutch Masters” but shipping costs make that a rare treat.

[txomsy]

Price around here is ~EUR20 for a 60ml bottle (but this is Europe), just checked, including 48h delivery. And it is sold as a "luxury" ink. That sounds alike to the £18 tag mentioned by Al-fresco. Amazon.com quotes USD24 per bottle, but costs almost as much to ship trans-oceanic. Jacques Herbin 1670 ink in 50ml bottles costs more or less the same (20.90€), for comparison.

 

So, me, I do not find it that expensive. Actually I think for the quality, its price is right. Yeah, Waterman is EUR9-10, but for the time it will last, I do not think the difference is significant (hardly makes for a six-pack'o'beer). Far (very far) from the USD80 mentioned (unless you're buying ink by pints).

 

Maybe the reason is not that it is a luxury brand, but that transport and import taxes make it more expensive in some places (or that local sellers hook up the price 'cos the local market is willing to bear it --as zaddick said.

[white_lotus]

If the US price was high due to tariffs I would expect all inks from EU to be impacted. I don't think that's been the case. I also doubt freight costs too, even if they've increased in price. 

 

[TitoThePencilPimp]

Mostly due to the company branding itself as a luxury item and succeeding.

[bunnspecial]

I like Montblanc inks and have all of their standard line(plus some discontinued standard line products) and my fair share of LEs kicking around.

The LEs are nutty-I don't think anyone can argue that. I still enjoy them, though. Right now my every day blue is Blue for BMW, an ink I picked up just by chance but that I really like.

 

The standard line products really are high quality inks. They have good colors, are nicely wet, and just all around are great well behaved inks. They're a bit more dye-heavy and consequently, to me at least, tend to have richer/more saturated colors than brands like Pelikan and Waterman, but also don't overdo it like some boutique brands. I particularly like MB Royal Blue.

 

So, with that out of the way, I'd invite those of you in the US at least to compare the prices of MB standard line inks to Pelikan Edelstein, Lamy Crystal, and Iroshizoku. I consider the MB standard line inks to be roughly equal to those premium lines from other brands. Offhand, at typical US prices, MB is $24-25 for a 60mL bottle. Iroshizoku is about that for a 50mL bottle, while Edelstein climbs to $28 also for 50mL. Lamy Crystal on paper seems the least expensive at around $15/bottle, until you look at the fact that it's a 30mL bottle.

 

The MB permanent inks are around $28/60mL bottle, but you do get ISO certified permanence with that if it matters to you.

 

Let's also mention that the standard 60mL "shoe" bottle is a very functional design.

 

So, there again, MB ink is expensive but IMO not out of line. Just to not show any bias, yes I also have an use Iroshizoku, Edelstein, and Crystal inks.

 

Most of the LEs run $1/mL, and the Elixir line inks push $2/mL. Yes, those, to me, are crazy prices.

[bunnspecial]

3 hours ago, txomsy said:

Far (very far) from the USD80 mentioned (unless you're buying ink by pints).

 

$80 isn't far off from Elixir prices(which run $70-80/50mL bottle)...but that's only a tiny fraction of MB's ink porfolio. The standard LE inks-color of the year, writers/great characters, etc are usually $28/30mL or $45/50mL.

[Inunu]

MB inks are "relatively affordable" among their other merchandises.

They work reasonably well.

I wouldn't go nuts with those, but it's just nice to own a bottle or two.

 

Isn't that what I used to think about Edelstein, before losing my mind and ordered whole bunch...

[TCN01]

MB is an interesting business case study.  They are a “heritage” brand that’s desperately trying to gain ground in areas other than their traditional core (Dunhill is similar).  But they’re not finding a ton of success in those other areas.  Meanwhile they run the risk of ignoring their core because they don’t see it as being able to fuel growth.  It will be interesting to see how it develops over the coming years.  At least they show no desire to distance themselves from writing the way Dunhill did from smoking.

[arcfide]

8 hours ago, TCN01 said:

MB is an interesting business case study.  They are a “heritage” brand that’s desperately trying to gain ground in areas other than their traditional core (Dunhill is similar).  But they’re not finding a ton of success in those other areas.  Meanwhile they run the risk of ignoring their core because they don’t see it as being able to fuel growth.  It will be interesting to see how it develops over the coming years.  At least they show no desire to distance themselves from writing the way Dunhill did from smoking.

 

They are an interesting case, but I think they made the transition quite a while back and it was a smart one to make, and it kept them dominant in the writing market in a way that other companies like Sheaffer and Waterman failed to be able to do. What I've seen out of them lately has also indicated to me that they've caught on to the new wave of fountain pen enthusiasts, but time will tell whether they are able to get into that market well enough. To my mind, at least, in the U.S., their recent focus on delivering interesting nibs, and their continued availability of a wide range of nib options puts them among only a few makers who offer that range of writing experiences so easily.

 

There's also no denying, for me at least, that the experience of purchasing a MB pen in store is unlike most other pen purchases, and significantly better for it in terms of getting something that you are happy with. 

 

Their inks are definitely luxury inks, but competitively priced, IMO, and they are high quality inks in usable bottles and good packaging. One thing that is sometimes forgotten is that when you purchase a MB pen you can often leave with a bottle of ink and some paper out of the store as a "more or less" free add on. For most people, that single bottle of ink would last them for quite a while. For a lot of other makers, it's harder to get their "boxed set" pens and ink with the bottle of ink that you really want from them, and so you end up buying another bottle. When you go into a MB store, you often get to leave with your choice of ink right from the start, often complementary (though not always). 

 

I also think that some of MB inks are highly underrated for what you get. Their Mystery Black gets a lot of flack for not being a "true black", but that's exactly what makes it interesting. If you're an executive who wants to use a fountain pen in a business setting, and you want to have a nice, well-behaved black ink, but you don't want a straight up black, Mystery Black is a perfect black for delivering a little character while still being highly business appropriate. It's also a great black for absorbent paper, IME. I find many of their other colors similarly well put together, such as their Permanent line, which, while higher maintenance, are definitely among the most durable inks on the page today. 

 

So, I guess to me, yes, MB is working to keep the brand value of their products as high as they can make them, but what I see being produced from them is also of very high quality and competency, and that makes me glad to see that. 

[bunnspecial]

5 minutes ago, arcfide said:

To my mind, at least, in the U.S., their recent focus on delivering interesting nibs, and their continued availability of a wide range of nib options puts them among only a few makers who offer that range of writing experiences so easily.

 

I don't think there's any denying that MB is a luxury maker, but to me this is a case-and-point example of the fact that they are first and foremost a pen maker.

Right now, in their standard catalog and(generally) available off the shelf you have nib sizes form EF to BB, along with OM, OB, OBB, and OBBB. They catalog a high quality gold 18K flex nib, and if none of the above suit you all you have to do is order whatever your heart desires(of course you pay plenty, but still). Want an oblique italic music nib with your name laser-engraved on the side? Done.

 

And yes, the standard inks to me tend to have a lot of depth and are very interesting and fun inks, while a lot of them(Royal Blue, Mystery Black, Midnight Blue for example) are very business appropriate inks that keep things fun to use. I've often credited Toffee Brown as the ink that made me appreciate brown inks, and its such a nice, warm, and rich brown.

[TitoThePencilPimp]

2 hours ago, bunnspecial said:

 

I don't think there's any denying that MB is a luxury maker, but to me this is a case-and-point example of the fact that they are first and foremost a pen maker.

Right now, in their standard catalog and(generally) available off the shelf you have nib sizes form EF to BB, along with OM, OB, OBB, and OBBB. They catalog a high quality gold 18K flex nib, and if none of the above suit you all you have to do is order whatever your heart desires(of course you pay plenty, but still). Want an oblique italic music nib with your name laser-engraved on the side? Done.

 

And yes, the standard inks to me tend to have a lot of depth and are very interesting and fun inks, while a lot of them(Royal Blue, Mystery Black, Midnight Blue for example) are very business appropriate inks that keep things fun to use. I've often credited Toffee Brown as the ink that made me appreciate brown inks, and its such a nice, warm, and rich brown.

I do like Montblanc inks. However, when you have a company like Sailor/Pilot selling inks at a lower price. Which are arguably just as good, or even better, then its hard to justify the price for standard/LE montblanc inks. 

 

My favorite Mont Blanc is the Mile Davis and Homer ink. The only Montblanc inks I own multiples.

[inkstainedruth]

I have a couple of the LE inks (Tolstoy and the Beatles ink) and I like Lavender Purple.  But I've tried some of the other standard line inks and were, quite frankly, underwhelmed by the color.

And even the Beatles ink I didn't by at first -- I saw a bottle a few Christmases ago at Fountain Pen Hospital on my sort of annual pilgrimage downtown from where my in-laws live.  I actually walked around with the box in my hand for about five minutes, but then put it back in favor of Platinum Classics Lavender Black.  I did end up getting a bottle when a vendor had it at a pen show for a couple of bucks less than I'd seen, and I do like it (it's enough different from Lavender Purple to make me want both).  But yes, the price was *definitely* a factor before I plunked down my money for it.  

I got Tolstoy before it went away, on another expedition to FPH -- I was looking through their swab book and it caught my eye and they still had it in stock at that point -- but I really couldn't afford to buy more than one bottle of it.

As for some of the other "luxury brand" inks, I have one bottle of Caran d'Ache Grand Canyon (which I got on clearance the first time I ever went to Bromfield's on a trip to the Boston area) -- one of their discontinued line.  I do like some of the Edelstein colors and I do have a few of the Iroshizuku inks -- but some of them I stocked up on a couple of years ago at the Ohio Pen Show when a lot of the vendors had signs up saying the inks were for sale for twenty bucks ("Buy now before Pilot raises their prices!"

But for me, I generally don't buy an ink in a full bottle until I've tried a sample of it, or gotten to test it in some way.  And for me, I treat MB inks the way I treat other brands of ink -- if I like it enough, I buy it.  But if it doesn't "speak" to me, or is something too close in color to something I already have?  I don't get beyond a sample vial for the most part.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[TitoThePencilPimp]

11 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

I have a couple of the LE inks (Tolstoy and the Beatles ink) and I like Lavender Purple.  But I've tried some of the other standard line inks and were, quite frankly, underwhelmed by the color.

And even the Beatles ink I didn't by at first -- I saw a bottle a few Christmases ago at Fountain Pen Hospital on my sort of annual pilgrimage downtown from where my in-laws live.  I actually walked around with the box in my hand for about five minutes, but then put it back in favor of Platinum Classics Lavender Black.  I did end up getting a bottle when a vendor had it at a pen show for a couple of bucks less than I'd seen, and I do like it (it's enough different from Lavender Purple to make me want both).  But yes, the price was *definitely* a factor before I plunked down my money for it.  

I got Tolstoy before it went away, on another expedition to FPH -- I was looking through their swab book and it caught my eye and they still had it in stock at that point -- but I really couldn't afford to buy more than one bottle of it.

As for some of the other "luxury brand" inks, I have one bottle of Caran d'Ache Grand Canyon (which I got on clearance the first time I ever went to Bromfield's on a trip to the Boston area) -- one of their discontinued line.  I do like some of the Edelstein colors and I do have a few of the Iroshizuku inks -- but some of them I stocked up on a couple of years ago at the Ohio Pen Show when a lot of the vendors had signs up saying the inks were for sale for twenty bucks ("Buy now before Pilot raises their prices!"

But for me, I generally don't buy an ink in a full bottle until I've tried a sample of it, or gotten to test it in some way.  And for me, I treat MB inks the way I treat other brands of ink -- if I like it enough, I buy it.  But if it doesn't "speak" to me, or is something too close in color to something I already have?  I don't get beyond a sample vial for the most part.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

im the opposite. all blind buys. Only one stinker so far (J Herbin Bleu Azur).

[bunnspecial]

1 hour ago, TitoThePencilPimp said:

I do like Montblanc inks. However, when you have a company like Sailor/Pilot selling inks at a lower price. Which are arguably just as good, or even better, then its hard to justify the price for standard/LE montblanc inks. 

 

There again, I'm not sure I'd compare directly to Pilot inks but rather Iroshizoku. When you compare those two the MB is actually less expensive per/volume(considering roughly the same price per bottle, but Iroshizoku is 50mL rather than 60mL) for standard line inks.

 

I'll plead almost complete ignorance to Sailor inks.