Advice sought on marketing pens

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Nothing

[catbert]

Speaking as an online buyer with no pen-sales experience, showing the nib and other close-ups (such as these) helps a lot from an informational/reassurance standpoint. The current listing doesn’t have a nib shot and someone had to ask about the point size.

Not talking the product down is generally accepted marketing practice. These look like handsome examples of well-regarded pens at fair prices*. It has been clear for some time that they're not for you and you’re keen to be rid of them. That doesn’t mean someone else won't be glad to have them.

You may not recoup all your expenditure but every little counts towards the pen(s) you really want.

*Yes, they might be had on eBay for less, but without the trust and buying experience of Peyton Street, et al.

Not much - hope it helps. Good luck.

[nospam666]

Close up photos and writing samples?

[Sailor Kenshin]

Is the Sentinel a Touchdown-filler?

[Jon Szanto]

Yes, it is a Touchdown. A lot of people talk about the snorkel filling system as being all that, but I have heard from some quarters that the Touchdown is somehow better. Not sure exactly why though.

I'm not certain I'd say it is "better", thought it is certainly less complex, and can hold a bit more ink, IIRC. Certainly easier to do a restore on - less parts, etc.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Yes, it is a Touchdown. A lot of people talk about the snorkel filling system as being all that, but I have heard from some quarters that the Touchdown is somehow better. Not sure exactly why though.

The Snorkel strikes me as a bit creepy. I mean, this THING comes snaking out of the pen.

[Jon Szanto]

Yes, it is a Touchdown. A lot of people talk about the snorkel filling system as being all that, but I have heard from some quarters that the Touchdown is somehow better. Not sure exactly why though.

The Snorkel strikes me as a bit creepy. I mean, this THING comes snaking out of the pen.

Oh, STOP THAT! It is a miracle of modern engineering. You'd rather lift a lever and SQUEEZE THE GUTS OF THE PEN? Or open up the body of the pen and TWIST IT'S INTESTINE UNTIL IT SUCKS UP INK??

I will say this: when a Snorkel system is in good working order, there is no other way to fill a pen with ink that is as clean, save for popping in a new cartridge.

[Laura N]

Yes, it is a Touchdown. A lot of people talk about the snorkel filling system as being all that, but I have heard from some quarters that the Touchdown is somehow better. Not sure exactly why though.

I'm not certain I'd say it is "better", thought it is certainly less complex, and can hold a bit more ink, IIRC. Certainly easier to do a restore on - less parts, etc.

Well, I'd say it's better.

How about the satisfying "whoosh" sound it makes?! Plus the great name.

Touchdown!

[Jon Szanto]

Yes, it is a Touchdown. A lot of people talk about the snorkel filling system as being all that, but I have heard from some quarters that the Touchdown is somehow better. Not sure exactly why though.

I'm not certain I'd say it is "better", thought it is certainly less complex, and can hold a bit more ink, IIRC. Certainly easier to do a restore on - less parts, etc.

Well, I'd say it's better.

How about the satisfying "whoosh" sound it makes?! Plus the great name.

Touchdown!

Spoken like a true marketing flack. You people in the advertising department will never understand the sophisticated elegance of our newest filling system!

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/9213/sheaffersnorkel.jpg

[Jon Szanto]

I guess I must be doing something wrong, as there has been no interest really at all. So I ask here. What can I do to turn this around?

To try to come back on topic, I think you are going in the right direction. The photos are a big improvement. It isn't as easy as it might seem to write good "copy" for an ad. If at all possible, the photos can do a lot of the talking. Then, as briefly but as completely as possible, describe each pen, including condition, nib size, filling system (if not apparent), and the like. Do not mention your own cost, or what doesn't suit you about the pen. Everything needs to be completely neutral or positive in your description, the only exceptions being to point out any obvious flaws or damage (scratches, brassing, etc). Be honest, but no need to be brutal, or to hide anything, either. Lastly, go through some eBay listings of similar pens, only looking at the "Completed Listings" to get a good idea of the current market.

You may have to sell them for a figure that is lower than what you purchased them for, that is just part of the way the world turns. Keep in mind that you bought them for that amount, and there may be someone else out there like you. To find those sales, you may have to take your time - offer them up for sale, take them down if they don't move, and try again a couple months later. If immediate funds are the goal, all you can do is put up a good ad in a number of places, and drop the price if they don't move.

Best of luck.

[carlos.q]

The ads that impress me the most have:

1. Good pictures (as many as possible)
2. Closeups of the nib (from the top and bottom)
3. Writing samples (shown against a comparison nib or some defined size line spacing or graph paper)
4. Honest descriptions (including flaws)

Christof, Piscov and Pomperopero over at FPN are good examples of sellers with excellent techniques.

Your pictures are getting better! :thumb:

[tandaina]

Sometimes pens just don't sell.

I put them back in the cabinet and try again later. Sometimes it just isn't what folks are looking for.

[sloegin]

Sales have been lackluster recently, at least for me. That said, your prices are too high (the waterman's price is fine, perhaps even low).

[mhosea]

Sometimes I sell things, sometimes I don't. FPG does not represent much demand, I think, especially for vintage pens that are more valuable because they are less common. Take your Midnight Blue Parker 51. Is it worth what you paid? Probably. Richard Binder would move it from his tray in about 2 minutes or less at that price. But you or me selling here? Around here I expect to sell such things below market or not at all. I can go to eBay, but the final value fees are significant, so I'd rather sell here if I can--everybody wins (except eBay). Rick Krantz does pretty well, I think, but he sells below market, and he puts his ads on a few different sites.

Anyway, I do want to add that I think you need to be one of the celebrated restorers to sell the Sheaffer Touchdown at the asking price. Buying from one of those guys can be like driving a new car off the lot, absurd though it seems.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Yes, it is a Touchdown. A lot of people talk about the snorkel filling system as being all that, but I have heard from some quarters that the Touchdown is somehow better. Not sure exactly why though.

I'm not certain I'd say it is "better", thought it is certainly less complex, and can hold a bit more ink, IIRC. Certainly easier to do a restore on - less parts, etc.

Well, I'd say it's better.

How about the satisfying "whoosh" sound it makes?! Plus the great name.

Touchdown!

Spoken like a true marketing flack. You people in the advertising department will never understand the sophisticated elegance of our newest filling system!

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/9213/sheaffersnorkel.jpg

Well...it IS almost Halloween....

[fountainpenkid]

I think your problem may be mostly that you paid too much in the first place--both the Parker and Sheaffer are rarely sold for more than $100 in most cases.

[jar]

Sell them for what you can get and consider any loss as a rental fee. None of your prices seem totally out of line but they are all pretty common pens and so may take awhile to sell.

[carlos.q]

Sell them for what you can get and consider any loss as a rental fee. None of your prices seem totally out of line but they are all pretty common pens and so may take awhile to sell.

This is very sensible advice.

[mhguda]

I've bought pens from people I don't know both here and on FPN (when the Classifieds was better) but never a pen in the price range you suggest.
My reason? well, if I don't know a person and buy a pen and the deal goes south, I won't be out a considerable amount of money. I always test the waters first, buying pens up to around $30 or so...
Once I've bought a few items and it all goes well, I can be inclined to risk a little more.
But to be very honest: I've never bought a pen from an online seller in that range of prices - if I spend that much it would be for a number of pens, and only after I'd done business with the person selling them enough times to get the feeling I can trust the person.
HTH.

[stub]

Uncommon color and a Farmersmums restore makes that Parker 51 worth it's price. I asked about it before and would have offered you something on it but I already have a fine point P51 and much prefer the medium, and I just bought a charming user grade '43 Vac 51 off here (Classifieds). But honestly. I would just keep offering that pen for $100. Someone will likely bite. Yes, you can buy 51s cheaper. And you might get lucky but Penfisher and Farmersmums restored pens are a cut above. I have a Farmersmums Aurora 88p that is really really nice. Hold out on that one. Someone is going to buy it.

The Sentinel is clean and a nice one but a tad high. I sold 2 last year for $70 (I think). I think I offered you something or asked about it long ago here or FPN and did not get a response.

The Waterman has me drooling. It too is a tad high (maybe) but when folks look at Waterman they mostly want the most flex possible or BCHR oens. The Red is the medium semi flex, I believe. I would actually love to give that puppy a home and would make you an offer right now but for personal reasons I have to curtail my pen related buying for a while. In fact, I am selling a few things. Why are you flipping the Waterman? Looks like an amazing pen.

[Laura N]

Uncommon color and a Farmersmums restore makes that Parker 51 worth it's price. I asked about it before and would have offered you something on it but I already have a fine point P51 and much prefer the medium, and I just bought a charming user grade '43 Vac 51 off here (Classifieds). But honestly. I would just keep offering that pen for $100. Someone will likely bite. Yes, you can buy 51s cheaper. And you might get lucky but Penfisher and Farmersmums restored pens are a cut above. I have a Farmersmums Aurora 88p that is really really nice. Hold out on that one. Someone is going to buy it.

I'm curious why you say that 51 is an uncommon color? As I look at the photo, it looks to be Midnight Blue. Am I missing something? Parker made more 51 aeros in Midnight Blue than any other color except black. And Parker made millions of 51s -- it surely was the best selling fountain pen of all time. I've seen an estimate that Parker manufactured more than 300 million 51s altogether.

I'm not saying you or anyone else shouldn't buy it from Cryptos. :) Go for it. He's a good guy. A 51 aero is a beloved pen, and when you consider you're getting a gold nib and really solid mechanics that should last another 60 years without problem, it's not hard to see the pen as a bargain. And Midnight Blue is a very attractive color, if you ask me.

ETA: fixed typo/brain cramp re. color's actual name

[mhosea]

I'm curious why you say that 51 is an uncommon color? As I look at the photo, it looks to be navy. Am I missing something? Parker made more 51 aeros in navy than any other color except black.

"Navy" is not a Parker 51 color. It's Midnight Blue. I could easily believe that "Navy Grey" is the most common color besides black. There sure do seem to be a lot of them. For sure Midnight Blue isn't rare.

[Laura N]

I'm curious why you say that 51 is an uncommon color? As I look at the photo, it looks to be navy. Am I missing something? Parker made more 51 aeros in navy than any other color except black.

"Navy" is not a Parker 51 color. It's Midnight Blue. I could easily believe that "Navy Grey" is the most common color besides black. There sure do seem to be a lot of them. For sure Midnight Blue isn't rare.

Thank you -- I was writing this quickly while very busy with work. As you say, Midnight Blue is in fact the color I meant. The pen looked like Midnight Blue to me, aka the color commonly talked about as "navy blue." It is a commonly available color in my experience, not an "uncommon" color. Burgundy is up there as well. YMMV.

Just trying to help.

[Nonsensical]

I'm open to offers on any or all of this. <shrugs>

Well, I see the problem as being more that the biggest markets for FPs appear to be the UK/US, at least in terms of sales on FPN and here as well. In terms of shipping costs and the risk of loss through the postal system or otherwise, your location will always be a disadvantage. Living in Australia, means that even if I price a pen reasonably, the shipping costs often end up making it around the same price, or slightly cheaper than buying locally from someone else, and why buy from overseas when you can forgo all that trouble and just buy the pen from someone in the same country?

[mhosea]

It is a commonly available color in my experience, not an "uncommon" color. Burgundy is up there as well. YMMV.


Somebody here told him that it was less common in another thread. I assumed they meant it was "less common among the common". Where do you find data on production by color?

[Scrawler]

I would have been all over the Waterman, but I am having to pay my daughters university fees, and I am afraid that has to come first.

[pajaro]

I'm curious why you say that 51 is an uncommon color? As I look at the photo, it looks to be navy. Am I missing something? Parker made more 51 aeros in navy than any other color except black.

"Navy" is not a Parker 51 color. It's Midnight Blue. I could easily believe that "Navy Grey" is the most common color besides black. There sure do seem to be a lot of them. For sure Midnight Blue isn't rare.

Thank you -- I was writing this quickly while very busy with work. As you say, Midnight Blue is in fact the color I meant. The pen looked like Midnight Blue to me, aka the color commonly talked about as "navy blue." It is a commonly available color in my experience, not an "uncommon" color. Burgundy is up there as well. YMMV.

Just trying to help.

The most common colors in 51 aeros are black, burgundy, teal and navy gray. Midnight blue is less common than those. Cocoa is less common yet. Then forest green and plum.

The first four are very common, midnight blue is not as common as those. I have had over two hundred 51s and it seems like teal and black are the most common in my experience.

[bluesea]

I'm open to offers on any or all of this. <shrugs>


Good call. I followed your other thread and was about to pm about buying the P51, but then saw the classified. It's a really, really nice blue that I still lust after, although I now sit in a much different place in terms of a wishlist.

[welch]

Sell them for what you can get and consider any loss as a rental fee. None of your prices seem totally out of line but they are all pretty common pens and so may take awhile to sell.

+1.

Perhaps mention that the nibs have been tuned; don't mention who sold you the pens, but include "fully restored", which matters for the Touchdown and the Waterman. Mention the nib-sizes...I can't write with a fine, but some people are always looking for fine / EF/ super-duper-extra-fine. One EBay seller always says that a pen has been taken apart and "hand-polished". Your pens all shine, so even if you didn't use the "sunshine cloth", you could honestly say the same.

Any deep scratches? If not, say something like "minimal wear, consistent with age" and give an approximate age of the pens. The P-51, for instance, is probably from about 1955, give or take a year of two. Perhaps mention that the sacs on the aerometrics don't wear out...that's "common wisdom", and I've never seen a worn-out 51 "pli-glass" sac (and I have about two dozen...yes, that's too many, but a different topic). It's possible, of course, to puncture an aero sac, but these pens might last another sixty years with normal use. Imagine a 1955 Plymouth, and imagine suggesting it will run just fine for another 60 years...

I am so old that I saw the TV commercials for Sheaffer's Snorkel. None of us (kids) ever saw such an expensive pen, but the snorkel always reminded me of a mosquito. NOT appealing.

Good luck!


Midnight Blue aero happens to be my favorite pen...I have two.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I am so old that I saw the TV commercials for Sheaffer's Snorkel. None of us (kids) ever saw such an expensive pen, but the snorkel always reminded me of a mosquito. NOT appealing.





I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one creeped out by Snorkels.

[Jon Szanto]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_usO41JNt0k

[Sailor Kenshin]

I wasn't feeling strong enough to watch it last night.

[bluesea]

Kind of bummed I did't go for the Waterman, but I was still exploring other directions which eventually dead ended. Good on you for the sale.