Very inexpensive ink source: "theonlinepencompany.com"

[FredRydr]

I misplaced my 30ml bottle of Diamine Red Dragon. I was unable to find any Red Dragon (and relatively little Diamine*) at the DC Pen Show, so I turned to the internet. After checking the websites of a few brick and mortar stores without success, I looked at <gasp!> Amazon and eBay. One UK vendor on eBay was offering Red Dragon 30ml for $4.76 with free shipping to the US! I don't understand how they can justify that price. After all, shipping alone has to cost more than that, even if it was drop-shipped from somewhere within the US. Sending an empty bottle would cost more than that!

Perhaps the seller has allowed the eBay computers to take control of his inventory, no matter what losses might result.


*Except that our own Frank had boxes stuffed with those 30ml Diamine bottles, but not Red Dragon.

[Yazeh]

Yep... Funny. They have the same bottle listed twice, one for 6 Canadian dollar, the other in UK pounds which amounts to $15 Canadian dollars...
BTW Vanness has it, 7$ plus shipping

[Chrissy]

That's very interesting.

I checked it out on ebay then went to see the price difference on the Diamine and Cult Pens sites. Both sell it at a lower start price but it increases to more when P&P is added on. With Cult Pens there is a minimum spend for free delivery so if you were buying something from them it would be easy enough to add it on and they currently offer it at 10% discount.

[catbert]

The prices on their website are better than their eBay listings, at least for shipping. That's where I got a few bottles of the new Sheaffer ink.

[FredRydr]

The ink arrived today, weighing 60g, with a Royal Mail International Priority label and tracking number. Calculate the postage, and The Online Pen Company's business strategy remains a puzzle.

[Chrissy]

The prices on their website are better than their eBay listings, at least for shipping. That's where I got a few bottles of the new Sheaffer ink.

Thank you. I just went to look at their website. Their Diamine Inkvent 2022 calendar is an exceptionally good price. Best I've found so far. Just saying in case anyone wants to pre-order it.

[CrayonAngelss]

My mom just retired from working for Revlon (a makeup company, not sure if it's international.) She would frequently give me unopened testers that were never used. I have bags of the stuff! She'd donate a lot of it to women's shelters, too.

I recently bought two big bottles of high-end perfume at 3.4 fl oz each on eBay. In stores, they run around $95-$110 per bottle at that quantity. Ridiculous. I found them on eBay for $25-30 each, same quantities. They arrived, and it was the real deal. In this case, the low price is due to selling unused, full testers without the box.

Maybe the ink seller has an inside connection?

[Chrissy]

...I recently bought two big bottles of high-end perfume at 3.4 fl oz each on eBay. In stores, they run around $95-$110 per bottle at that quantity. Ridiculous. I found them on eBay for $25-30 each, same quantities. They arrived, and it was the real deal. In this case, the low price is due to selling unused, full testers without the box.

Maybe the ink seller has an inside connection?

They may also be subsidising postal rates or by sending low value items untracked/uninsured.

I can't remember the last time I bought a bottle of perfume for full price in store. Unused, full testers can often be safer on ebay than "brand new" products that might not be the real deal.

[TSherbs]

The prices on their website are better than their eBay listings, at least for shipping. That's where I got a few bottles of the new Sheaffer ink.

Thank you. I just went to look at their website. Their Diamine Inkvent 2022 calendar is an exceptionally good price. Best I've found so far. Just saying in case anyone wants to pre-order it.

I can't find their pre-order....

[TSherbs]

The prices on their website are better than their eBay listings, at least for shipping. That's where I got a few bottles of the new Sheaffer ink.

Thank you. I just went to look at their website. Their Diamine Inkvent 2022 calendar is an exceptionally good price. Best I've found so far. Just saying in case anyone wants to pre-order it.

I can't find their pre-order....

Wait, are the 2022 calendars the "Red" and "Green" ones posted with all the color names listed already? I thought that the colors were meant to be surprises.

[mizgeorge]

The colour list for this year's upcoming 'green' edition has been around for a little while. It includes scented inks as well this time.

[TSherbs]

The colour list for this year's upcoming 'green' edition has been around for a little while. It includes scented inks as well this time.

I guess that they've forgone the idea of surprise

[CrayonAngelss]

...I recently bought two big bottles of high-end perfume at 3.4 fl oz each on eBay. In stores, they run around $95-$110 per bottle at that quantity. Ridiculous. I found them on eBay for $25-30 each, same quantities. They arrived, and it was the real deal. In this case, the low price is due to selling unused, full testers without the box.

Maybe the ink seller has an inside connection?

They may also be subsidising postal rates or by sending low value items untracked/uninsured.

I can't remember the last time I bought a bottle of perfume for full price in store. Unused, full testers can often be safer on ebay than "brand new" products that might not be the real deal.

Exactly! I'm glad someone else can enjoy this life hack, too

[RobJohnson]

[QUOTE=CrayonAngelss;374187]

...I recently bought two big bottles of high-end perfume at 3.4 fl oz each on eBay. In stores, they run around $95-$110 per bottle at that quantity. Ridiculous. I found them on eBay for $25-30 each, same quantities. They arrived, and it was the real deal. In this case, the low price is due to selling unused, full testers without the box.

Maybe the ink seller has an inside connection?[/QUOTE
They may also be subsidising postal rates or by sending low value items untracked/uninsured.

I can't remember the last time I bought a bottle of perfume for full price in store. Unused, full testers can often be safer on ebay than "brand new" products that might not be the real deal.

Exactly! I'm glad someone else can enjoy this life hack, too

Is there any way that a seller of unboxed perfumes marked Tester could acquire their stock apart from theft from a shop?

[Chrissy]

The colour list for this year's upcoming 'green' edition has been around for a little while. It includes scented inks as well this time.

I guess that they've forgone the idea of surprise

Diamine may have released the colour list, but they haven't yet released any other significant information about them. I have them all to review and even though release date is in October I have been advised that if I want to post all of the reviews then I can do so as long as they aren't in their correct December day order, so that element of surprise still remains. Alternatively I can do them in day order starting on December 1st. That seems like quite a long wait.

[TSherbs]

The colour list for this year's upcoming 'green' edition has been around for a little while. It includes scented inks as well this time.

I guess that they've forgone the idea of surprise

... That seems like quite a long wait.

Long waits are good!

I probably won't purchase it anyway, but I won't look at the list again just in case. I REALLY like surprises. Spoilers are the WORST. I am sorry that I even saw that some of these will have some new properties. One less bit of surprise.

[Chrissy]

Long waits are good!

I probably won't purchase it anyway, but I won't look at the list again just in case. I REALLY like surprises. Spoilers are the WORST. I am sorry that I even saw that some of these will have some new properties. One less bit of surprise.

On the other hand some like to know exactly what colours they might be getting before they part with their money.

[TSherbs]

Long waits are good!

I probably won't purchase it anyway, but I won't look at the list again just in case. I REALLY like surprises. Spoilers are the WORST. I am sorry that I even saw that some of these will have some new properties. One less bit of surprise.

On the other hand some like to know exactly what colours they might be getting before they part with their money.

word

Just look at how many parents today ask to learn the sex of their baby ahead of time. Waiting nine months (6 months, usually, actually) is just too much! Can you guess which path my wife and I chose?

[Prettypenguin]

I bought a bottle of Beau Blue from them- very inexpensive. Also, whatever paper they print their invoices on is really nice to write on. I messaged them to ask what it was and was told it was bog standard A4 label paper.

[junglejim]

I placed an order with them on 19 August for 2 bottles of Diamine 150th Anniversary ink to try them out. Since the order came to US $18.50, I decided to have them send it by cheapest way International shipping ($3.51). The bottles were shipped from the Jersey Islands UK and arrived on 9 September. It was well packed in bubble wrap and the company did a good job! They are now on my "Buy Ink" list.