Positive experiences with retailers for newbie

[inklord]

Anderson Pens in Appleton, WI - remember: in Wisconsin, you are among friends!
(and: why Pelikan???)
Franklin-Christoph has been an outstanding manufacturer/direct retailer for me.
Best wishes for your future purchases!

Uhh, my wife saw the new pink Pelikan and fell in love so it may be a gift soon. I recently looked at the Franklin Christopher so that may be a gift too, for me.
Thanks for the suggestion.

Ok. You got to get that Pelikan, no doubt about that
And, once more: I can't say enough good things about Franklin-Christoph! (Get a Masuyama nib if you like stubs and italics... for only $15 more it's a whole different category of nibdom)

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

I've had good experience with 3 retailers:

Goulet Pens is a great US retailer with a good selection, good website, and great service. They even tried to reimburse me for a leaky bottle I got in the mail...and it wasn't even their fault.

Anderson Pens is a pleasant enough company. The website is a little clunky, but they do have a physical presence, which is increasingly rare. They have provided capable service. I won't put them up with Goulet Pens, but I rank them very well, and do business with them sometimes because the internet is better with them on it.

Jetpens.com is a website run by pleasant people who are helpful and provide some personal service and some products which are not available elsewhere. Sometimes their prices are surprisingly low, and their blog is interesting. Also, they have an interesting array of Japanese stationery.

[Alanc]

Reading through this thread I spotted a mention of Daly's Pen shop.

Digging through my pen boxes I found this box with the proud boast, " America's Finest Pen Shop".
I am not sure how old this box is, the pen that it contained dates from the early 50's. However the pen may not be original to the box.

Nice to know that they are still in business (with a new location).

[Quantum Sailor]

I missed this the first time around but I'll second Goulet Pens and add Franklin-Christoph to the list. I don't think I've had better customer service than F-C.

If you're going to eBay there's some really good japanese sellers. You can get a Japanese pen for 1/3 of what you pay in the u.s. for it if you are good about bidding and I have had really good experiences with them.

[VertOlive]

Pen Chalet in the US and Engaika in Japan for deep discounts on Japanese pens.

[tandaina]

Don't forget Vanness Pens! Lovely people, I email them with questions and not only do they respond quickly but they'll do special stuff like put your name on a list for super rare ink and when they get the chance to acquire some they grab it for you. Great people, reasonable prices, stupidly fast shipping.

[tmronin]

Hi! I'm shiny and new, but I wanna say what a good experience I had at Fountain Pen Hospital here in NYC last week. I picked up a Monteverde Intima in Neon Pink with a 1.1 stub on a crazy sale ($39 with a converter!). I really did not like the way it wrote and just couldn't gel with it. Brought it back the next day (I flushed it with water before returning it of course) and swapped for a Broad nib. No muss, no fuss. I know that shopping on the net is the way to go with a lot of things, but there is something to be said about dealing with a knowledgeable human in the flesh.