How much value is lost in inking / using a pen?

[brianmontgomery2000]

Just curious if anyone has a feel for how much value is lost once we decide to ink up and use a new pen.

 

Let's say we pay $300 new, ink up and use, then decide the pen isn't really for us. How much is that pen worth on the used market? What percentage "de-value" do we see. Is it as bad as a new car or is does the pen hold value as long as no scratches, etc.

 

Turns out I found a very good buy, love the writing characteristics of both pens, but couldn't decide on color. Can't really afford both, but thought I'd see which color I wanted to keep by using both unless the hit to value was too high (since I'll end up selling one). Then I'll have to make the call without using.

 

These are new, not vintage.

Edited February 22, 2008 by brianmontgomery2000

[DrPJM1]

Don't buy new, get them at the Marketplace. The $300 pen will be worth $150-200 in good shape.

[jmkeuning]

Inking costs 10%.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Or... it costs nothing. If you spent $300 on a pen without having a sense of its writing properties already, you were buying it because you thought it looked nice. You spent your money on art which happens also to have a practical application. Ink on the tip doesn't amend that aspect of it one iota, as you may continue to enjoy this esthetic in perpetuity.

 

The question you need to ask yourself is: why you would spend anything over $40 on a pen you didn't know you liked the writing properties of already?

 

(Ooh, he's contentious this morning, isn't he?)

[Rapt]

Because it looked nice, because reviews said it wrote wonderfully, because you had $300 burning a hole in your pocket, because you live somewhere, where the only way to try is to buy...

 

All reasons someone might do such a thing....

 

How much affects value is a different thing. For some it might have no effect. For others a lot. If the person you are selling to wants a user then inking has no effect on value... If its a collector who never intends to use the pen it could have a large effect.

 

Personally I think it has minimal effect.

[Ondina]

IMHO dipping will have no effect, inking just to try the feed and cleaned and boxed again, minimal if any....Even for a collector. You guys have both your point in your oppinions...... I must say I agree with Mr. Bittermann on why will anybody be willing to spend a huge amount of money on anything that may turn into useless "precious piece of 100% plastic, I mean resin". Is also true that most delaers will not let you ink a pen even in your dreams...

[Bela]

I'm afraid I don't agree (not trying to be contentious, I swear). I'm just a user, not a collector. Brand new is brand new is brand new. Once someone has inked a pen there is no way one can tell whether it hasn't also been used for a while. It would reduce the value quite a lot for me.

 

[brianmontgomery2000]

Or... it costs nothing. If you spent $300 on a pen without having a sense of its writing properties already, you were buying it because you thought it looked nice. You spent your money on art which happens also to have a practical application. Ink on the tip doesn't amend that aspect of it one iota, as you may continue to enjoy this esthetic in perpetuity.

 

The question you need to ask yourself is: why you would spend anything over $40 on a pen you didn't know you liked the writing properties of already?

 

(Ooh, he's contentious this morning, isn't he?)

 

Heck no, I'm not talking about a hypothetical situation and I completely agree about testing writing characteristics -- I dip test any pen I'm going to buy and typically spend nowhere near $ like this. It was a special treat to myself.

 

Turns out I found a very good buy on a pen I've lusted after for some time. Love the writing characteristics of both pens I bought, but couldn't decide on color. Can't really afford both, but thought I'd see which color I wanted to keep by using both unless the hit to value was too high (since I'll end up selling one). Then I'll have to make the call without using. I was just trying to get a since of what that hit might be.

 

I should have stated the whole situation to avoid misunderstanding but got lazy in typing...sorry about that.

Edited February 22, 2008 by brianmontgomery2000

[Ernst Bitterman]

I think I'm going to apologize to the collective for the unnecessarily prickly tone of that earlier posting. Yes, I definitely am:

 

Sorry, gang. I was apparently full of stink this morning, and I expressed it in a place I ought not have. All the more so because this is a matter I don't actually have any basis to speak on the matter-- I am far more interested in vintage than modern pens, and there's very few of those that turn up uninked.

[Ghost Plane]

Inking it wouldn't affect it much for me as I buy pens to use. I'd rather hear from you how the nib felt and know that it's a working pen.

[John Cullen]

Since most of us expect a slight reduction in price for an inked pen, I wonder what pen sellers do with a pen that has been slightly used but gets returned for a full refund when there is nothing wrong with it and so it can't be sent back to the factory as flawed?

 

They can not exactly sell the pen as brand new, so do they mark it down and just make less than they normally would selling the pen?

 

I wonder if there are any buyers out there who reguarly purchase pens, give them a spin, and then send them back at the end of the week for a refund? I doubt most of us would do that, but it would not surprise me if there were a few people who did that, just like I know there are people who get pens and ink them and then return or barter for a price reduction based on some half imaginary problem with the pen. I remember a post a few years ago where an enraged pen buyer returned a pen because it arrived after five days when to his mind a pen should arrive within three days of being ordered, and then he posted all this on the board and thought people would see his complaint as legit!

 

I think most people in the pen community are reasonable adults and generally I have met with pretty much all around good people. But I imagine being a pen seller is not all that easy.

 

 

j

 

[Bela]

You have a point there, John. We are now so used to being able to return anything for any reason - not just because there's something wrong with the item. In the UK, I think we have Marks & Spencer to blame (or thank) for this; I believe they were the first company that allowed customers to do that.

 

I would never return an inked pen unless there was something really wrong with it. I recently bought a pen that I liked the look of, but never actually saw in the flesh, as it were. I found it not really suitable for me; I resisted the desire to ink it to see what it was like and I sat on it, untouched, while I decided what to do. I missed the deadline for returning it so had to put it up for sale. At least it was still in pristine condition.

 

In the US, you can even return an opened bottle of perfume if you don't like the scent. Surely, the cost of those unusable goods must be reflected in what everyone subsequently has to pay. Just like fraudulent insurance claims make the cost of premiums go up.

[wspohn]

Inking costs 10%.

 

 

Not if you are good at flushing (and avoid dropping it).....

[brianmontgomery2000]

I think I'm going to apologize to the collective for the unnecessarily prickly tone of that earlier posting. Yes, I definitely am:

 

Sorry, gang. I was apparently full of stink this morning, and I expressed it in a place I ought not have. All the more so because this is a matter I don't actually have any basis to speak on the matter-- I am far more interested in vintage than modern pens, and there's very few of those that turn up uninked.

 

No problem, Ernst.

 

Gray day with snow/ice in my neck of the woods today -- often affects the mood for me -- so I'm not in any position to cast stones!

 

[twdpens]

You have a point there, John. We are now so used to being able to return anything for any reason - not just because there's something wrong with the item. In the UK, I think we have Marks & Spencer to blame (or thank) for this; I believe they were the first company that allowed customers to do that.

 

I would never return an inked pen unless there was something really wrong with it. I recently bought a pen that I liked the look of, but never actually saw in the flesh, as it were. I found it not really suitable for me; I resisted the desire to ink it to see what it was like and I sat on it, untouched, while I decided what to do. I missed the deadline for returning it so had to put it up for sale. At least it was still in pristine condition.

 

In the US, you can even return an opened bottle of perfume if you don't like the scent. Surely, the cost of those unusable goods must be reflected in what everyone subsequently has to pay. Just like fraudulent insurance claims make the cost of premiums go up.

 

Remember, any item bought in the UK via a distance selling (ie mail order, internet etc) can be returned, for whatever reason, as long as the buyer informs the retailer of this intent within 7-days of receipt. This is the law. Therefore, if you don't like the scent of the ink, package it up and return it. If the pen looked great in the photo but the size and balance was all wrong for you, return it. Many retailers extend the cool-off period out of good-will.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

[twdpens]

Since most of us expect a slight reduction in price for an inked pen, I wonder what pen sellers do with a pen that has been slightly used but gets returned for a full refund when there is nothing wrong with it and so it can't be sent back to the factory as flawed?

 

IMO, the proper thing to do would be to advertise the pen as "ex-demo" or similar.

 

Martin

[Bela]

Remember, any item bought in the UK via a distance selling (ie mail order, internet etc) can be returned, for whatever reason, as long as the buyer informs the retailer of this intent within 7-days of receipt. This is the law. Therefore, if you don't like the scent of the ink, package it up and return it. If the pen looked great in the photo but the size and balance was all wrong for you, return it. Many retailers extend the cool-off period out of good-will.

I suppose I could have tried to return it, but the seller had shown an awful lot of good will towards me already and I didn't want to bother him. I did take quite a long time trying to decide what to do with the pen; it was only fair I should be the one with the 'problem'.

 

As for perfume, I wasn't talking about stuff bought by mail order, but perfume bought in stores: tearing the polythene wrapper, opening the bottle and spraying the scent, then returning it is irresponsible, imo. What is the seller to do with such a product afterwards?

[acheron]

To me, metaphorically speaking, fountain pen is similar to a lover... a woman....

and I would much prefer a virgin...

(sexist am I... )