Where might one in the US buy Diamine inks that are exclusive to Germany?

[ScottT]

Hi all,

 

I've seen some inks that interest me, but are exclusive to a certain country, for some unknown and highly annoying reason. 

 

Are there any US-friendly sites that offer these inks?

 

Thanks.

[yazeh]

Yes  you can buy them @ fountainfeder. Though with post nowadays you need to be patient. I buyer Skull and Roses there...

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

I don't know about US-friendly, but if by that you simply mean it will accept your order if you're willing to pay the asking price, and ship the bottled ink to your US address, there's also Seitz Kreuznach GmbH operating as Seitz-Global on Amazon.com, as well has having its own independent storefront on the Web.

 

3 hours ago, ScottT said:

… exclusive to a certain country, for some unknown and highly annoying reason. 

 

Would it be less annoying to you if the reason is known/explained to you, while you remain completely powerless to challenge or overturn the decision to make the sale of those inks limited and/or exclusive?

 

There are many ink colours produced by Diamine that are privately commissioned by pen retailers. For example, PenGallery Malaysia has them (Jalur Gemilang and Manggis), so does Cult Pens (Iridescink series) and La Couronne du Comte (Les Couleurs du Comte). I don't know who commissioned the Hong Kong-exclusive colours Lion Rock and Kong Girls, or the German-exclusive colours. Obviously, those customers of Diamine then get to decide whether to offer those specially commissioned inks to other retail outlets, either in their own countries or elsewhere.

 

Other companies commission special colours and production batches from Sailor (too many companies to name), KWZ Ink (Fontoplumo has a shop-exclusive ink colour called Monarch), Noodler's Ink (Niche Pens has ‘Prime of the Commons’, which is not sold by US-based retailers, notwithstanding Noodler's Ink being domiciled there), etc.

 

There's nothing wrong with that in the age of global e-commerce, especially when shoppers in the US can order them and pay for international shipping (where applicable), just like everybody else, and not be excluded or boycotted.

[Karmachanic]

Exclusive to Germany means just that, therefore, purchase from a German vendor.

[Dione]

Some colors are listed on ebay.

[lgsoltek]

8 hours ago, yazeh said:

Yes  you can buy them @ fountainfeder. Though with post nowadays you need to be patient. I buyer Skull and Roses there...

 

 

FountainFeder +1. Stefanie is a very nice person and I’ve had great pleasure ordering from her.

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, lgsoltek said:

FountainFeder +1. Stefanie is a very nice person and I’ve had great pleasure ordering from her.

 

I'm still a bit annoyed she charges me 19% VAT on the products she stocks and sells, even when they're exported to Australia, and she claims it's the law (as opposed to not wanting to go to the trouble of meeting the government requirements, of substantiating the transaction being that of direct export that should not be subject to Germany's MwSt).

[yazeh]

6 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I'm still a bit annoyed she charges me 19% VAT on the products she stocks and sells, even when they're exported to Australia, and she claims it's the law (as opposed to not wanting to go to the trouble of meeting the government requirements, of substantiating the transaction being that of direct export that should not be subject to Germany's MwSt).

I believe that's the only way she can have competitive shipping prices. It has to do with some loophole.. She explained it once....

[A Smug Dill]

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

She explained it once....

 

Not to me, not in my email correspondence with her initiated as a prospective customer who was in the process of finalising an order. No talk of it being a business decision to achieve that sort of compromise, but simply, “yes there will still be 19% MwSt charged to it. In Germany we have to charge it to every order , unless it is a Business to Business Transaction.”

[ScottT]

23 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Would it be less annoying to you if the reason is known/explained to you, while you remain completely powerless to challenge or overturn the decision to make the sale of those inks limited and/or exclusive?

 

Thank you for the explanation.  I'll always choose knowing and annoyance versus not.  I suppose I thought that those who commissioned the ink could authorize a reseller in a different country, for a bit more cost, possibly making sales they wouldn't normally make, so everyone wins.  Admittedly I'm probably missing something, but the commissioners not licensing others to expand sales seems odd, for a business.

 

[ScottT]

On 4/2/2021 at 10:19 PM, yazeh said:

Yes  you can buy them @ fountainfeder. Though with post nowadays you need to be patient. I buyer Skull and Roses there...

 

Thanks, I'll check them out.

 

[katerchen]

I bought my Skull & Roses (I bet that's what you are after 😛 ) from Seitz Kreuznach (https://www.seitz-global.com/office/ink/bottled-ink/diamine) 

 

I ended up padding the order so I could get free shipping (forget now what the cutoff was, I think $50-ish) and I can always use more ink ...

 

Shipping time wasn't too bad ... I got my package in a little over a week.

[A Smug Dill]

2 minutes ago, ScottT said:

I suppose I thought that those who commissioned the ink could authorize a reseller in a different country, for a bit more cost, possibly making sales they wouldn't normally make,

 

I don't imagine it quite works that way. If you commission a production batch of, say, 1,000 bottles of an ink colour to your custom specification, part of that end-to-end order fulfilment process is that Diamine will physically deliver the 1,000 bottles to you; and you can do whatever you want with it. You don't get to add your colour into Diamine's own product catalogue for others to order directly from the manufacturer; and Diamine isn't going to warehouse it for you, track stock levels for you, or send half a dozen bottles to an interested (business or retail) customer who asks for it perhaps as part of a larger order. If you want your effectively privately branded product resold, then you need to find resellers yourself and come to commercial agreement without Diamine's involvement.

 

Nagasawa Stationery Centre, for which Sailor makes the Kobe INK Story series of inks, is one of very few shops whose privately branded products are being resold by stockists in various overseas markets. I can't think of many other examples with specially commissioned inks made by Diamine or Sailor.

 

12 minutes ago, ScottT said:

so everyone wins.

 

Well, no. By not allowing someone to buy Diamine Jalur Gemilang in small numbers of bottles from other retailers (who are perhaps more local or accessible to the individual shopper), PenGallery Malaysia attracts more visits from shoppers who may otherwise have to reason to visit its web shop so far out of their own regions and comfort zones. I would not have ended up ordering pens and other product from PenGallery and being a repeat customer, if I wasn't drawn there in the first place. How much money do you think a shop would make on a bottle (or even five or six) ink, and then in contrast, how much for a mid-range or high-end pen?

[ScottT]

Good points all. 

 

I just wonder if it would be all that difficult to find one reseller per country you were interested in, after everyone knows and has positive reviews of your ink? 

 

Does Diamine restock these custom orders?  One would imagine so.  Instead of ordering one thousand, order two, after you've secured the vendor.

 

Or more likely, I'm missing a lot of what goes on.  Just wishful thinking on my part!

[ScottT]

On 4/4/2021 at 1:50 AM, katerchen said:

I bought my Skull & Roses (I bet that's what you are after 😛 ) from Seitz Kreuznach (https://www.seitz-global.com/office/ink/bottled-ink/diamine) 

 

I ended up padding the order so I could get free shipping (forget now what the cutoff was, I think $50-ish) and I can always use more ink ...

 

Shipping time wasn't too bad ... I got my package in a little over a week.

 

I hadn't considered it, until now.  Thanks, grr. 

 

I was after Bloody Brexit, as I am looking for a solid blue-black, with a little kick to it.

 

[MHBru]

easiest option is Amazon.  I got my Skull & Roses through them and it is still available as is November Rain.   Plus free shipping from Germany with Prime!

[A Smug Dill]

16 hours ago, ScottT said:

I was after Bloody Brexit

 

That's not a country- or region-exclusive ink per se. First match returned from a Google search for “Bloody Brexit” for me just now was:

 

https://www.seitz-kreuznach.de/en/office/ink/bottled-ink/diamine-fountain-pen-ink-bloody-brexit-80ml-limited-edition_403008959_21443

Quote

The colour Bloody Brexit is a limited edition, only availible from Seitz Kreuznach GmbH, also named Seitz-Global

 

16 hours ago, ScottT said:

I just wonder if it would be all that difficult to find one reseller per country you were interested in, after everyone knows and has positive reviews of your ink?

 

It's not simply a question of technical or procedural difficulty, but (more importantly!) whether it is worth the business' while to do. Especially when we're talking relatively cheap Diamine ink, not something ten-fold pricier on a per-unit-volume basis. How much money do you think a company stands to make selling limited edition ink priced at roughly the equivalent of ~US$5.60 per 50ml (ex tax)? Factor in international shipping of the goods to regional resellers, and also the resellers' cut from each sale, what kind of profit is left? It makes no sense to do what you're suggesting, especially when it transfers the cost burden of international shipping for heavy and fragile items from the end-consumer to the businesses. It's not as if you're saying you'd buy the stuff at $30 per 50ml bottle, if only they spared you the hassle of ordering from an overseas retailer just so you can get the goods more quickly, but money is no object to you as the buyer.

 

16 hours ago, ScottT said:

Just wishful thinking on my part!

 

I agree it is that. Like I said before, commissioning those exclusive ink colours — hopefully very attractive and well-received ones — are about attracting interest and custom from shoppers for what those companies actually make money from selling, e.g. mid-range to high-end pens. Don't trick yourself into putting the consumer and his/her happiness at the centre of trade.

[SpecTP]

I was able to order Diamine Blue Edition inks from Cultpens shipped to US.

[A Smug Dill]

12 minutes ago, SpecTP said:

I was able to order Diamine Blue Edition inks from Cultpens shipped to US.

 

As far as I'm aware, Diamine Blue Edition inks are not either shop-exclusive or region-exclusive. La Couronne du Comte in the Netherlands, Stilo&Stile in Italy, Cult Pens in the UK, Pulp Addiction in Australia, Pen Chalet in the US, and PenGallery Malaysia all carry Diamine Blue Edition inks in their respective web shop catalogues; and that's not an exhaustive list of retailers for the product series.

[SpecTP]

5 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

As far as I'm aware, Diamine Blue Edition inks are not either shop-exclusive or region-exclusive. La Couronne du Comte in the Netherlands, Stilo&Stile in Italy, Cult Pens in the UK, Pulp Addiction in Australia, Pen Chalet in the US, and PenGallery Malaysia all carry Diamine Blue Edition inks in their respective web shop catalogues; and that's not an exhaustive list of retailers for the product series.

 

They were when I ordered them in 2019.. I could not find any in the US.