FC - disappointing sales model

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Retracted - pointless discussing it.

[mkglobetrotter]

Didn't get a chance to read your post before the retraction, but if you're referring to Franklin-Christoph, I have to agree. I own 3 F-C pens and love all of them. I have my eye on another that only ever appears in the stock room on random occasions but is always gone before I can act. I liken it to Netflix, where there's a wide variety of movies and shows to watch, but without notice, they can disappear before you have an opportunity to watch anything.

[Detman101]

One thing I've never understood is peoples reluctance to discuss the ugly side of anything to do with Fountain Pens.
I know it doesn't fix the problem, but it does help get the grief out to discuss it all.
Maybe there's too much opportunity for disagreement...I dunno.

[Ole Juul]

One thing I've never understood is peoples reluctance to discuss the ugly side of anything to do with Fountain Pens.
I know it doesn't fix the problem, but it does help get the grief out to discuss it all.
Maybe there's too much opportunity for disagreement...I dunno.

What do you mean? There's plenty of ugly presented here but people generally keep their personal opinions to themselves regarding other people's bad taste. :)

If you're talking about commerce, well what else is new. That's an age old problem unrelated to fountain pens, and it won't get fixed here. I suspect that's what the OP was thinking on second thought.

[catbert]

Seems like Franklin-Christoph's virtual pen shows replicate the physical pen show experience — limited editions go fast. Disappointing for some.
Their online show last week released pens in batches at 11am and 10pm EST to give customers outside the US a chance. I was briefly tempted by a wood-like acrylic but prefer their plain black models, of which I have two. Excellent buying experience both times.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

If you were at a show, standing at the table with a bunch of very limited editions, and you picked one up... while it is in your hand it cannot ethically be sold to another browser. Of course, another person could ask if you're going to buy it, but you are not obliged to answer.

With the virtual show the same could be said for the shopping cart. In my situation I had a pen in my cart and was half way through inputting my payment details when I was informed the pen was no longer available. My initial feeling is as though another customer has snatched it from my hand (in the live pen show version in the first example). It shouldn't be too hard to have a system where stock is decreased by one every time an item is placed in the cart. I also appreciate that such a system would likely be abused by those who just want to hold things until they've decided. Perhaps a 5 minute timer or something would reduce this happening.

Anyway, that was why I started the thread. I then retracted it because it was a bit unfair to FC, when many similar instances can be found suggesting it is not an uncommon problem.

@catbert, their times for the release equated to 4am and 4pm on a work day. Not ideal for me. And I agree, once I made a choice of other things, the buying experience was indeed excellent.


For clarification, I am not a big fan of competitive buying, with the exception of buying property, where it is often unavoidable. I've stopped buying pens from eBay because of this. When a competitive buying scenario is presented I feel like I'm being asked to perform like a trained animal. It is, IMO, undignified. While FOMO is not a thing for me, it does annoy me that competitive buying is still common. That's just how I feel about it. YMMV

[kazoolaw]

E o C: how long would you be able to hold it in your cart, effectively removing it from inventory, without completing a purchase? And if you neither buy nor delete your cart?

[Empty_of_Clouds]

E o C: how long would you be able to hold it in your cart, effectively removing it from inventory, without completing a purchase? And if you neither buy nor delete your cart?

How long would you hold an item in your hand before deciding to buy or return it to the table? A couple of minutes, at a guess. I just wondered if that kind of timer could be built into an online shopping cart to prevent excessive holding. :)

[silverlifter]

Technically, it would be straightforward to withdraw an item from inventory once the customer has opened the page to enter their payment details.

This all depends on the software that FC uses. You could always shoot them an email with a feature request.

[Detman101]

One thing I've never understood is peoples reluctance to discuss the ugly side of anything to do with Fountain Pens.
I know it doesn't fix the problem, but it does help get the grief out to discuss it all.
Maybe there's too much opportunity for disagreement...I dunno.

What do you mean? There's plenty of ugly presented here but people generally keep their personal opinions to themselves regarding other people's bad taste. :)

If you're talking about commerce, well what else is new. That's an age old problem unrelated to fountain pens, and it won't get fixed here. I suspect that's what the OP was thinking on second thought.

Yeah, you're right. Complaining about the ways of businesses won't change a thing.
The only thing that sways business is the absence of money...then they change.

[catbert]

If you were at a show, standing at the table with a bunch of very limited editions, and you picked one up... while it is in your hand it cannot ethically be sold to another browser. Of course, another person could ask if you're going to buy it, but you are not obliged to answer.

With the virtual show the same could be said for the shopping cart. In my situation I had a pen in my cart and was half way through inputting my payment details when I was informed the pen was no longer available. My initial feeling is as though another customer has snatched it from my hand (in the live pen show version in the first example). It shouldn't be too hard to have a system where stock is decreased by one every time an item is placed in the cart. I also appreciate that such a system would likely be abused by those who just want to hold things until they've decided. Perhaps a 5 minute timer or something would reduce this happening.

Anyway, that was why I started the thread. I then retracted it because it was a bit unfair to FC, when many similar instances can be found suggesting it is not an uncommon problem.

@catbert, their times for the release equated to 4am and 4pm on a work day. Not ideal for me. And I agree, once I made a choice of other things, the buying experience was indeed excellent.


For clarification, I am not a big fan of competitive buying, with the exception of buying property, where it is often unavoidable. I've stopped buying pens from eBay because of this. When a competitive buying scenario is presented I feel like I'm being asked to perform like a trained animal. It is, IMO, undignified. While FOMO is not a thing for me, it does annoy me that competitive buying is still common. That's just how I feel about it. YMMV

The unfortunate FOMO/artificial scarcity model isn't unique to F-C, as you say. Avoiding feeding frenzies is part of why I like standard production pens — I can put them on a wishlist and wait.

I get why putting something in a cart to 'hold' it could be abused, but surely a checkout mechanism should let you hang on to a thing while you're actually trying to pay for it.

Maybe future virtual shows could be held over a weekend, like the real thing, to better address time differences.

[Jon Szanto]

I get why putting something in a cart to 'hold' it could be abused...

Indeed:

Shopping Cart Abandonment (https://heavy.com/news/2020/06/shopping-card-abandonment-tiktok/)

[Ole Juul]

I am swayed by @ A Smug Dill's argument. I don't think there is a reasonable way around the situation. I'm also with @Empty_of_Clouds' feelings about competing being undignified. I generally avoid auctions for the same reason, and it is my choice to avoid any situation which makes me uncomfortable. However, I don't think there is any way around a vendor's right, and expectation, to accept the first possible payment as a sale.

I just bought a vintage pen from an online seller and am waiting for it in the mail. In the meanwhile I've found another pen in that vendor's catalogue which I really want. As that pen is rather expensive for me, I think it is prudent for me to wait until I see the first pen in order to ascertain the quality of his restorations. In the meanwhile, I am on edge worrying that someone else will buy "my pen". lol Of course I have no claim to it, but such is life. We often feel some claim to a thing because we've invested some of our attention and feelings in that thing. Wish me luck. :)

[grainweevil]

E o C: how long would you be able to hold it in your cart, effectively removing it from inventory, without completing a purchase? And if you neither buy nor delete your cart?

How long would you hold an item in your hand before deciding to buy or return it to the table? A couple of minutes, at a guess. I just wondered if that kind of timer could be built into an online shopping cart to prevent excessive holding. :)

Such a thing can be done, yes. An online charity shop I occasionally frequent gives the prospective purchaser 30 mins (iirc) to hold one-off donated items in their basket before they're automatically returned to general sale.