ELI5: Why have Pelikan pens suddenly become so expensive?

[vpen]

An example: Pelikan M805 Stresemann used to sell for less than $300 last year on Amazon and now it's above $550. And on nibs.com it's ~$740. Is it because of brexit?

https://www.nibs.com/pens/pelikan-so...ann-anthracite

[guyy]

I recall getting my last modern Pelikan from Mottishaw in 2003 for something like $300.

Why the price hike? It’s partly Pelikan positioning itself as a competitor to Montblanc in America. Partly it’s the hype these pens get. I also have the sense that fountain pens are a little more popular in America than they were twenty years ago, which may lead Pelikan to believe that the US market will bear higher prices. I doubt Brexit has much to do with it.

[Jon Szanto]

Endless Pens has the Streseman Fine @ $369, other nib choices around $400.

[mizgeorge]

I know they have just had a price rise (literally this week).

Why would Brexit have anything to do with prices of German pens though? Except in making them harder to get in the UK (like seemingly everything else at the moment).

[Chrissy]

An example: Pelikan M805 Stresemann used to sell for less than $300 last year on Amazon and now it's above $550. And on nibs.com it's ~$740. Is it because of brexit?

Pelikan is a German company. Their price increases (especially in US$) couldn't possibly have anything to do with Brexit.

[vpen]

Why I said brexit is because the sub $300 Pelikan M805 were sold by amazon.co.uk.

[Chrissy]

Amazon.co.uk has long had good deals on many different pen brands from time to time. So has Amazon.de (in Germany)

Sometimes there is a good deal to be had and sometimes there isn't. Just yesterday for example a specific Lamy 14ct gold and black nib was £68. Today it's £111. You have to be there ready and waiting on the day that they reduce the price.

Here's what I recommend: Add a few items you might consider buying to your cart, uncheck them so you don't buy any by accident, and check the prices at the same time every day.

[hourwerk]

COVID has impacted on the factory/manufacturing and most UK dealers have no stock of the popular models and are struggling to get more deliveries. Hence the price increases on the grey market.

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[Ole Juul]

Well there's always older models. I just bought a 100N for $97.

[jackwebb]

Novelli.it offered the M805 Strasemann for $455 US, I wound up getting the M1005 instead for $573, which was $200 cheaper than I had found it. Novelli has good prices on Pelikan vs US prices but other brands are more. You have to do a lot of searching sometimes to get the best price. Also Novelli will ship expedited FedEx for €10. BTW, you have to send a request for the best price, the price on the site is not what you will be quoted.


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[carlos.q]

Cultpens.com has very good prices on Pelikans....

[Zoe]

I haven't graduated beyond M200 or M205. My first M200 was under USD50. I bought it in a local stationer near the university I worked at...on a whim.

[TFarnon]

I wait patiently for sales on Pelikans, but I suspect it's also the cachet of German engineering. I simply like Pelikans, and am willing to pay the premium for them. I like high-end Lamys as well. The Lamy dialog 3 embodies German engineering for me. But then, so does a Pelikan M600 Souveran. I only have one M800, and I'm reluctant about ever getting an M1000. The M800 is just short of too large for my tastes. And to be honest, it's the smaller Pelikans that really appeal to me. Not so much the shorter ones, as the ones that are more slender.

Waiting doesn't always work--I wanted a Stone Garden, but they never came down in price as much as I wanted, and then they were gone. Like I need more pens. I don't.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

As hourwerk pointed out, it's the shutdowns last year of "non-essential" industries due to Covid-19.

I wondered about the tariffs that the US Trade Representative imposed last year on some French and German goods such as aircraft parts, wine, and cheese in retaliation for the long-running dispute against Airbus.

However, fountain pens are not on the list. Camera lenses are. Leica started making some lenses in Portugal.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

From the Pelikan's Perch:

https://thepelikansperch.com/2021/01...rice-increase/

[Rin Tin Pen]

From BlkWhiteFilmPix' Pelikan Perch article, Pelikans are valued much more highly in the US than in Europe?

M1000 -- US $832 -- EU $531
M800 -- US $584 -- EU $430
M600 -- US $424 -- EU $320
M400 -- US $392 -- EU $278
M200 -- US $160 -- EU $95

"This table depicts the 2021 retail pricing for several of Pelikan’s fountain pens in the US and EU markets. Note that the EU retail prices have already had the current VAT excluded and were converted from Euro to USD for the purpose of a more direct comparison. Exact prices will vary based on the day’s prevailing exchange rate."

[mizgeorge]

I bought an M200 brown marble this evening. Cost me less than £70 on UK amazon - that's sub $US100. That's inclusive of tax and shipping. Annoying in that they had the pastel green and white for even slightly less, and I paid almost twice that for the same pen only a couple of weeks ago for a birthday present for my daughter. Spilt milk, but I wish it was all a bit more consistent.

[PenInvestigations]

I haven't graduated beyond M200 or M205. My first M200 was under USD50. I bought it in a local stationer near the university I worked at...on a whim.

Wow, I'm jealous... I really like the Pelikan M205 I have, but honestly, they're far more expensive than they're worth