Where To Buy Pens _BEST_
Our panel of testers included Wirecutter staffers who are fanatical about stationery (to the point where they can differentiate between a pen with a 9-mm grip section and one with an 11-mm grip). These panelists collect pens as a hobby, and they are more knowledgeable and opinionated about pens than most people. In testing our ergonomic pen options, our panelists included two medical professionals (one who has had rheumatoid arthritis for over 30 years).
where to buy pens
We whittled our initial list of 46 potential pens to test down to 26 finalists, based on editorial and owner reviews, ability for refills, and available tip-size options. We then split testing into three rounds:
Jetstream pens feature Super Ink, which is resistant to forgery by means of removal (such as with acetone), as well as to more-mundane threats like water spills and fading. In addition, this ink writes well on glossy paper, including receipts.
And if you have a collection of fully used (empty) pens, Terracycle will give you a free shipping label to send them in for recycling. Although the program is sponsored by BIC, all brands of writing instruments and their packaging are accepted.
Office Depot sells an exclusive line of pens under the TUL brand, in rollerball, gel pen, and ballpoint. Their exclusivity makes them less interesting as a generally recommended pen (and you can buy all of our other picks at Office Depot). Reviewers ding the gel pen for its long drying time, and they recommend the line more for stocking an office than for buying a nice pen for yourself.
We considered the very wide array of Uni-ball pens for this updated guide, and we tried the Vision Elite with BLX inks. For everyday writing, this pen is very, very wet, and will likely leave the side of your pinkie or palm shellacked with dark ink. For anyone who wants a bold, colorful pen for sketches or illustrations, the color selection and the dark, thick ink may appeal.
Love it or hate it, Amazon.com is probably the best place to buy pens online. They have a huge variety of pens, and not just mainstream models either. Amazon.com has a incredible selection of European pens, Japanese pens, smaller brands, and so much more.
The internet, it all its greatness, has a number of Japanese pen shops. These stores curate a selection of Japanese pens, import them from Japan, and then charge a relatively slight premium on the retail price to accomodate for shipping, duties, and so forth.
There are many dedicated online pen stores (some of which have physical locations). These tend to have higher prices than places like Amazon but they will offer actual customer service if you need it as well as better quality control and warranty support if something happens to your pen. These pen stores will offer a better selection of smaller brand pens as well.
GlassDipPen.com is a professional global online retailer for glass pens, including a large variety of glass dip pens, inks, pen holders & Accessories. Each of handmade glass dip pen is uniquely designed by individual artist. The company is committed to provide high quality glass pen collections at best price with professional service.
This website is similar with Amazon. It's popular for kinds of items in general. But they have a dedicated section for glass dip pen. You can find several cool items at a reasonable price. But these pens are provided by various suppliers, the quality and price are unstable.
The website sells kinds of pens, but only has J. Herbin Glass Dipping Pens and with 6 designs. Hand blown glass pens in the tradition of 16th century Venice. Each pen is expertly made and is an individual work of art. The fine glass pens feature a frosted glass handle and tips that are delicately twisted in a light spiral to hold the maximum amount of ink. Each pen measures 7.5 inches long.
GlassDipPen.com is a global online retailer for glass pens, including a large variety of glass dip pens, inks, pen holders & Accessories. Each of our handmade glass dip pen is uniquely designed by individual artist. The company is committed to provide high quality glass pen collections at best price with professional service.
There are a couple of ways to hunt for vintage fountain pens. You can go after restored vintage pens, barn finds (aka bargains), or the regular second-hand market. You can also get New Old Stock (NOS), which means the pens are the original and were never sold or unpacked.
Antique stores carry expensive products. However, store owners are mostly experts in large furniture and ceramics. Fountain pens are just old pens to them, I imagine. They also don't take up a lot of space. This particular owner didn't know the filling mechanism (my mum didn't too, but that didn't matter).
These are the stories we're all looking for when buying vintage pens. This has happened to me once, and I've purchased a handful of vintage pens. The reality is that thanks to the internet, most people know reasonably well what they're selling, so you'll have to pay a fair price.
I have to admit that a lot of antique stores here are scoured by professional traders who sell the pens at a markup online. I've had the most success with small, provincial shops that aren't located in large urban or metropolitan areas.
There must be thousands of local pen clubs across the world, and most of them have some sort of trade program for their members. This can be as simple as meeting once a month and offering your old pens for sale.
If you can find a pen show near you, this is a great place to shop for vintage pens. There are a lot of professional traders at pen shows if you want restored pens and don't mind paying a markup. However, there are also loads of pen enthusiasts carrying their own collections. You won't find real bargains, but you will have plenty of opportunity at buying your dream pen at a fair price.
Another great place for finding bargain fountain pens are garage sales. This is a bit more work since most households don't really carry fountain pens anymore, and if they do, generally no more than a few.
If you want to find a bargain, make sure to search for 'fountain pen' instead of a brand and model name. While you know what you're looking for, you want to buy from people who don't know what they're selling. People who don't know what they're selling list items as 'simply pens' or 'fountain pens'.
You don't want to pay top dollar since there's always a chance the product is damaged. I always leave some margin ($10-20) off the market value. If one of every five pens is a complete miss, I've still paid a reasonable price overall.
Don't buy listings with bad or few pictures. Inspect any pictures very closely. Check the tine alignment of the nib; does the nib look straight? You want the nib to have a white tip (iridium tipping material). Look for any cracks in the cap and barrel. Scratches are normal, but cracks are bad. Especially check the cap's edge, since that's where a lot of pens break when they're dropped.
Etsy is better for finding restored pens by professional restorers. This platform has a lot of enthusiasts that put a lot of time and effort into finding good condition vintage pens and restoring them thoroughly. There are also traders on there that import Chinese pens and offer great service.
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They curate the finest fountain pens from all over the world, ensuring you get the greatest quality. Goldspot always has a staggering number of shapes, filling mechanisms, sizes, and nib sizes to suit everyone from calligraphy experts to complete beginners.
Our pen shop focuses on quality, value and choice. Owing to our specialisation in personalised pens, we have ensured most are suitable. Whilst we stock the major brands such as Parker and Cross, we also offer niche brands such as Otto Hut (fantastic value for sterling silver). Have you chosen your writing type? Fountain pens offer the most tactile and luxurious writing experience, whilst ballpoints pens are the practical choice. A rollerball combines the smoother writing of a fountain with the ease of a ballpen.
Since starting out in 2006, The Online Pen Company has grown from a small, specialist fine-writing retailer, to a market leader in pens, stationery and art supplies. Now with worldwide shipping, a team of committed and enthusiastic staff and a range of over 17,000 products, all whilst still maintaining the easy to use, simple to deal with values we were founded on.
Whether you're looking for luxury ballpoint, rollerball or fountain pens as gifts, restocking the office or home with pencils, fineliners, marker pens and highlighters or ready to get creative with crayons, pastels, chalk and colouring, we should have something for you, and a whole lot of other stuff too. Find out more about who we are
Whether you're jotting down a note, writing a letter or just doodling, you deserve a pen that works when you need it. An ink pen or marker that is affordable enough for multiples to be left at key spots around the house, at work and in the car . . yet, fashionable and practical enough to accomplish any writing task with class and ease. At Pilot Pen, our goal is to design and produce extra-smooth writing instruments with an ultra-comfortable grip and sustainable ink refills. That is why we are a major sponsor of the "Keep America Beautiful" campaign, and in addition to lowering the number of pens that end up in landfills each year, we are manufacturing and packaging products using recycled plastics and cardboard. Thank you for visiting us online and please continue to shop for the fountain pen, ballpoint, rolling point, retractable tip, erasable ink pen, gel ink, calligraphy pen, highlighter, and permanent or whiteboard marker that best suits your writing style. 041b061a72