Selling price for fountain pens

[Ed Bamba]

Not a turner, and should go without saying, neither am I a pen maker. Just a furniture hack. LOML likes the Mont Blanc fountain pens and I've been looking for a reasonably priced pen on flee bay; her birthday is this month. Not sure if I want to give her a used pen as a gift though. Mont Blanc Fountain pens listed on ebay are around $200 (ouch!). Amazon has listings for both new and used.

What do you pen makers sell your fountain pens for? I did a search on this forum and have only looked at a few examples. Lots of nice examples here. You guys do some very nice work.

Soooo, if anyone here wishes to offer up your fountain pens for sale, what am I looking at price-wise? Hopefully I'm not violating forum rules asking this question.

Thanks for taking the time to read and hopefully reponding to my post,
Ed

[Curt Fuller]

Ed, here are just a few examples of some of the high end pen kits available to pen makers. I'm not a serious penmaker but I would guess that someone that is a serious penmaker would sell these finished pens in the same price range as the Mont Blanc pens.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making___Rollerball___Fountain_Pen_Kits___Limi ted_Edition_Statesman_Pen_Kit___ltd_statesman_pen? Args=

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making___Rollerball___Fountain_Pen_Kits___Limi ted_Edition_Emperor_Pen_Kit___ltd_emporer_pen?Args =

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making___Rollerball___Fountain_Pen_Kits___Impe rial_Pen_Kit___imperial_pen?Args=

[Jim McFarland]

This is not an offer to sell as you should place a want-to-buy in the classifieds for that. I won't respond to any WTB as I only sell to local customers. So, for discussion purposes only, I sell fountain pens like those shown below locally for $100. These include an after-market Schmidt ink pump, an after-market Heritance steel nib, 5 ink cartridges in assorted colors, pen pouch and a genuine leatherette storage box :D. I include a rollerball conversion kit for an additional $25. This is not an extra pen but just the parts to convert back & forth between FP & RB. Essentially, I'm just passing through the cost for an identical finish rollerball kit because that's what it takes to get an identical finish conversion.

That said, I am a "newbie" penturner and while I'm happy with the results, I am sure you get a better quality pen from the pro penmakers who charge 2-3 times my prices. You usually get what you pay for! Pro penmakers also sometimes provide options like gold nibs , increasing their costs and yours.

Pens shown are sterling silver Baron and titanium gold/sterling silver Cambridge kits from Lee Valley -- blanks are Cetacean Seas and Emerald polyresins from exoticblanks.com.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg62/zjem02/IAP%20Photos/IMG_6239.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg62/zjem02/IAP%20Photos/IMG_6240.jpg

[Ed Bamba]

Thanks for the replies so far, more comments are appreciated.

Ed

[Bernie Weishapl]

I only sell local also but the ones that Curt linked to I sell for from $135 to $185. I don't make or keep many of them as I have only sold a half dozen of them in 3 yrs.

[Jon Behnke]

I've made a few, mostly as gifts, sold two. One was a special order. The younger generation don't know what they are or how to use them so I don't stock many. The nice thing about getting one from a turner is that you can custom order the material and kits. There are a lot of nice kits and even more materials to make them from. Just about any kind of wood and many different types/ colors of resins. Attached you'll see the custom pen I made for a Priest that was leaving his parish made with Bethlehem Olive wood with an Ivorywood inlay with a Bloodwood cross, this went for $125, and also one made with curly Koa, this went for $100.

[Gary Herrmann]

Ed, look for a local turning club. Odds are you'll find at least one experienced pen turner who's willing to make a fountain pen for you. You'll be able to see and touch his current offerings before moving forward.

I haven't made any fountain pens, but I've sold 20 or 30 other types. I suspect there's a little more involved, but nothing a good turner won't be able to manage.

[Ed Bamba]

Thanks all for your replies and PMs. Lots of ideas to entertain.

Jon, I hear you re. the younger generation. Although my two daughters (ages 15 and 25) are avid personal journal writers. I think they would enjoy a nice, hand-made, writing implement, be it fountain or roller ball.

Gary, now that you mentioned it, our local woodworkers store has a notice posted about a turning club. I'll have to check them out too.


Thanks again,
Ed