Why buy pens on eBay?

The first and most obvious reason why most people by pens on eBay is that they tend to be cheaper than when bought directly from a pen store (street or internet) or at a pen show.  I use the word "tend", because there will be certain rare models that will actually end up closing highest on eBay, due to the greater accessibility of interested parties (all it takes is just *2* bidders to raise a price to record levels).

The second most common reason for buying on eBay is accessibility--you can browse thousands of pens on any given day and don't have to leave your home to make a purchase.  And when you factor in the time and resources spent in traveling to a pen store or the additional costs of entry into a pen show, it's still less expensive when you pay a little more than the street price for a pen (something a lot of people won't necessarily think about).  However, there is something to be said for being able to hold in your hand the pen you're considering to buy.

Seller Reliability

So, given these two points, why am I bothering to write further on the subject?  Well, there is one other point which is MOST important and overrides the other two:  Seller reliability.  You see, even if you get a bargain price, if the pen you bought is frought with problems then you've now lost the bargain that you thought you had scored.  In fact, you can easily be faced with having to spend more than the street price to get your pen into proper shape.  This is why seller reliability is so important.

There are many pen buyers out there on eBay, and pen sellers with very good reputations generally garner higher auction closing prices from bidders than other sellers.  But that's because the buyers know that they are getting a pen that they can count on.  Why buy from anyone else?  Well, there's always that thrill of possibly getting a "sleeper pen"--a pen in excellent condition that wasn't depicted properly by the seller, which thus slipped by the more discriminating pen buyers.  That's the ideal scenario--a seller who normally doesn't deal with pens ends up posting an unflattering or vague auction title for a very nice pen, thus reducing the number of possible pen bidders.  For instance, Lamy made a rather elite pen called the Persona ($299 new)--I recently saw someone title the auction for this pen simply as "Lamy FP".  Unfortunately, I had myself occupied with other pen purchases at the time and let it go, to sadly learn someone nabbed that pen for under $80!  It wasn't new, but in excellent condition.  Had the seller described it properly, it probably would have sold for nearly $200.

The Choices

Generally speaking, you have two primary choices with sellers:  Buy from a reputable pen seller or buy from someone else.  Who that someone else is can be of several types.

1) The ideal is the average non-pen seller who has a good reputation; they don't know anything about pens and simply list the pen as best they know how.  They have no intent to deceive.  

2) The next is the non-pen seller who may or may not intend to deceive, but does a poor job of describing and illustrating the pen.  This mandates that you communicate with the seller to find out more--you may or may not learn much more.  

3) Next, you have the pen seller who doesn't do a comparatively large volume of transactions and may even have a few negatives to their name--they are generally honest and could be working towards becoming a well known reliable pen seller on eBay.  You may have a perfectly fine transaction with them, but you could also experience some deception (like not revealing a flaw and later declare that they overlooked it when you report it to them).  How forthcoming a seller is with auction details is something you have to judge by the content and images provided when compared to the more well known established sellers.

4) And finally, you have the fly-by-night deceptive pen seller.  This is someone who appears on the scene selling a variety of pens, then later on after accumulating enough negatives either folds up shop or gets closed down by eBay.  You will find that many of them tend to come from countries where used pens are cheaply accessible--all they need to do is clean them up a bit, provide photos that don't reveal the defects, and then sell the pens on eBay to close at prices phenomenally higher than what they paid for them.  In my experience, I've found a number of these sellers appearing from Thailand (probably due to the accessibility of used pens and the valuation of the US dollar vs. the Thai Bhat).  But I must state that I have experienced several reliable and trustworthy pen sellers in Thailand--you just have to look for them.

Spotting a Deceptive Seller

So, how do you spot a potentially deceptive seller?  There are several signs:

1) The seller takes only a few pictures in soft or low light, provides some images in focus but other key images slightly out of focus (like the nib) to hide flaws, provides a lot of duplicate images (essentially the same perspective in only slightly different angles) while leaving off other images you'd expect to see, or most commonly shows long distance images that don't reveal any useful pen detail (either they don't have a macro or they are doing this on purpose).  You may also notice that the lighting and surfaces used look like something out of a hotel bathroom!

2) The description given is a dead give-away of language struggles and may actually mix different grades of condition in the same description.  I've seen some of them make statements like "Excellent pen in very good perfect condition."  What does that really mean?  "Perfect" implies mint, yet "very good" is several grades below mint.  Clearly, there is a conflict in the description.  And any questions you put to them tend to result in very vague and useless replies (such as "Have you tested the piston filler and verified that it draws in fluid completely?" returns the reply "Filler work OK.", or "Are there any scratches or nicks anywhere on the pen?  If so, please describe," gives the answer "Pen is excellent condition!  You be happy with it.").

3) Even if the description says "excellent", you may notice in one or more images provided a few flaws that would suggest that the pen is more appropriately in "good used" condition, not "excellent."

4) The seller accepts payment only by direct bank account transfer or in cash.  Certainly cash puts complete faith in the seller and even a direct bank transfer is nearly impossible to reverse.

5) The seller is a recent eBay member, starting with no feedback or they have some positive feedback but only because they've successfully bought a few items first.  In this case, you're at the very beginning of this person's selling history--you may get lucky and get a decent pen for a very cheap price, as people are reticent to buy from such a seller.  Sometimes these sellers do a one-time deception and walk away without sending any merchandise, but most of the time they try to sell a few items up front to build a little bit of a reputation so that they get more buyers to bid on future pens.  Then later, after auctioning a few apparently exceptional pens, they decide to fold up shop and flee without sending the merchandise.  Some sellers do this for a relatively long time until they decide to make their final auction cycle (members such as suthapon, oasiso)--you just never know when that will be.

6) The seller's feedback is mostly positive, but you can see most of the comments are either mediocre or only positive because the buyer got a relatively good deal (meaning that although the pen was described as excellent, the price they paid was still well worth it if the condition was only "good").

I have personally taken the chance and bought from a few of these fly-by-night type sellers, and I've had about a 50/50 success rate.  In the end, it's been more of a hassle than it is worth.  I've learned that when you take the chance, you have to bid with the expectation that the condition of the pen is exaggerated.  If someone wants to bid more, let them take the chance.

Finding a Reputable Seller

Lastly, if you wish to buy from a reputable pen seller, here are some factors that will lead you to them:

1) Recognition:  These sellers are usually easy to spot, as they've got a high volume of pen selling auctions to their name with mostly positive feedback (it is a well known fact that with high volumes there will be some unruly buyers that leave an undeserving negative).  Some sellers will have the word "pen" in their name, or incorporate the brand of pen that they sell the most (like "Parker"), but it's not a requirement--there are plenty who have a name that has nothing to do with pens.  Some are actually sellers that have either an on-line or store based pen retail business who sell pens on eBay periodically.

2) Definition: The seller has a rather descriptive "about me" page that details their primary selling activities (which you would expect to be about pens).  Most serious pen sellers go to the trouble of providing this information.

3) History:  If you traverse the auction links in the seller's feedback (usually available for the past 90 days), you'll see that most of their transactions involve pens.  This clearly shows their selling focus.

4) Feedback:  Assuming of course that most of the feedback is positive, you will see very complimentary and thoughtful feedback left by many repeat buyers.  It may also be worthwhile to traverse through the history of the buyers to see if they do a lot of pen buying--if they do, and they've left positive feedback for this particular seller each time, that is a very good sign.

5) References:  Some noted pen sellers have been very positively cited by pen experts (people who repair vintage pens or actually have their own pen line).  You can also check various pen discussion forums (like the Fountain Pen Network) to find information about preferred pen sellers.

If you're only interested in having a small number of vintage pens, you may wish to forgo the woes of a pen deal gone bad and stick with a reliable seller.

Should I Buy Vintage Pens From an On-line Retailer?

That all depends upon what you're looking for and what you're willing to spend.  Some on-line retailers may periodically auction their pens on eBay and see them sell for less than what they would have gone for on their website storefront.  But many feature pens that seldom turn up on eBay and thus they are a good source for finding specific pens.  And in line with the advice regarding reliable sellers on eBay, those who are well established will deliver a pen as described and even offer some kind of warranty or return/exchange policy.  This kind of insurance can be more attractive than the money you may save in getting an eBay bargain.  These sellers are the ideal for the wealthy pen collector who would deem the time spent lurking on eBay for a given pen too costly--their time is precious and they would rather spend less time dealing with a seller they can count on.

Are Vintage Pens a Good Investment?

Generally speaking, no (as of this writing).  If you were one of the lucky few to have had an interest in fountain pens prior to the 1990's and accumulated a large collection, you likely obtained your pens for very low prices compared to today's going rate (as fountain pen interest has markedly accelerated in the past 10 years).  And if you sold them today, you may make a decent return on your money.  But overall, when you look at the cost of living adjustments to the value of the dollar, the price of the average vintage pen is not much higher.  For example, if in 1955 you bought a very good condition used 1948 Parker 51 (not a rare or uncommon variation) for $7, that would equate to around $53 in today's dollar value.  Assuming you managed to sell that same Parker 51 today on eBay for $65, that would be about a 22% return after 51 years--lousy!  Unless you're in the business of buying vintage pens in poor condition for low prices, carefully restoring them, and then selling them for much more, pen collecting is more of an interest hobby rather than an investment.  Of course, there is the odd chance that you may manage to collect a particular pen make or model that is under appreciated, which later on gets recognized and increases substantially in value.  But I'd say for sanity's sake, focus on collecting pens that interest you for their heritage and design.  Also keep in mind that pen collecting is a deceptively addicting hobby--pens are small, so you never really think of them accumulating much space, that is, until you've gotten over 100 of them!  eBay makes it easy to say to yourself "How can I pass up on this potential bargain?  Ah, one more pen won't hurt."  Anyway, how to manage one's pen collecting habit requires a completely separate guide.  ;-)

Should I Go To a Pen Show?

One final note:  Pen shows.  Yes, you have to pay an entrace fee and it is difficult to find any major bargains, but they are well worth the experience to attend at least once.  The pen collector community is a varied and interesting one, attracting people from all walks of life.  And at pen shows, you have the opportunity to meet people who repair vintage pens.  They are usually doing it for the love of the art, rather than trying to make a lot of money.  Pen repairers are often friendly and fascinating people to talk to and they sincerely want to help you get your pen to perform to your expectations.  So, if you bring your troubled pens with you to the show, you have a chance to get them serviced right before your eyes.  There is also the opportunity to see and hold pens that you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else.  Also, many pen shows feature all kinds of interesting activities, seminars, and even raffles.  And if it's any testimony, most regional pen shows have had a notable increase in attendance in recent years--they are becoming popular events.  If you live on the East coast of the USA, the largest pen show to attend is usually the one for Washington D.C.

Some Useful On-line Pen Resources

A useful pen information hub:    http://www.pentrace.net/
One of the top pen repairers around:    http://www.richardspens.com/
One of the busiest pen forums:   http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/
A popular pen seller with lots of useful information:       http://www.pendemonium.com/
Another pen seller with lots of great information:   http://www.vintagepens.com/
A huge compendium of Internet resources:   http://db.uwaterloo.ca/~tozsu/Pens/penlistings.html