Getting vintage nibs from eBay?

[wee40811]

Recently I saw some vintage pen parts on eBay. Some of them seems to have interesting nibs on them. What do you guys think about buying those parts just for the nibs? What would be a reasonable price to pay for a vintage flex nibs?


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[jar]

Unless you know the seller and it's one of the dozen or so people that actually have a clue what a flex nib is...nothing.

[KrazyIvan]

Unless you know what you're looking for and you have very clear closeup pictures of what you're buying, it's a gamble.

[Z-Tab]

It's definitely a gamble. You can limit your risk if you familiarize yourself with the market and you don't pay any premium over what the pen would sell for with a firm nib.

Knowledge in this hobby can be expensive. Unless you're willing to accept some losses along the way, I'd recommend you get to a pen show and try before you buy.

[pengeezer]

One of the things that I do when looking at vintage pens on ebay is to check and see what kind of pics
were taken of the pen(s). If there is a side view of the nib(and comments made about the flexibility
of the nib),that tells me that the seller might--might--have some knowledge of nib flexibility. There
is a "teardrop" side shape to flexible nibs. That doesn't tell you the degree of flexibility,but just that
the chances of the nib being flexible are good.



John

[amk]

A lot depends on the price. If you can get a lot of parts at a cheap price, it may be worth the gamble. I have bought several parts lots - one or two were a complete waste of money, most provided some useful bits and pieces, and one or two have really delivered nice pens with a few problems I could iron out. But you have to be willing to take the risk. If you're not into messing about with a toolbox and a lot of bits and pieces, there are better ways to get a flex nib.