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Fountain pen

Tom.1946

Tom.1946

Graduate Member
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Jul 18, 2021
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631
Location
Northern Ireland
First Name
Tom
In a fountain pen kit you normally get the refill to fill from an ink bottle. You also get an ink refill cartridge as well.
Question is when selling do you keep them separately??
And do you have another which they can try out with ink already in ??

Tom
 
ValleyBoy

ValleyBoy

Graduate Member
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Jul 9, 2019
Posts
820
Location
Cardiff
First Name
Ash
Hi Tom
In my experience the majority of maker fountain pens are sold with a converter, (that’s the name for the refillable thing), as many customers will want to fill their pen from an ink bottle. However it doesn’t hurt to include the unopened ink cartridge too, as a little freebie. If nothing else this shows the customer that the pen can accept both, and it gives them an example of the type of ink cartridge the pen can accept (there are numerous shapes and sizes out there).
In terms of allowing customers to try out a pen, I’m assuming you’re talking about selling direct at a fair or similar, then it’s definitely worth having a dedicated pen and pad for testing. I would suggest using the converter for this, as you can empty it and swill it out after use if needed, ready for next time.
Cheers
Ash
 
D

DuncSuss

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Mar 27, 2023
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Wilmington, MA
First Name
Duncan
Another option is to take a bottle of quality ink they can dip the nib into to test write, and a jar of distilled water to rinse the ink off afterwards.

Waterman "Serenity Blue" or Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue are good choices, they are widely accepted as high quality "standard" inks.

A pad of quality writing paper is also a good idea - some paper doesn't play nice with fountain pens, and people aren't going to be favourably impressed if the ink feathers or the nib collects fibres as they are writing.
 
S

Skydivermel

Full Member
Joined
May 1, 2017
Posts
115
Location
Essex
First Name
Melvyn
Tom,
I give both the converter and cartridge to the customer on the sale and it's then their choice. I also explain that a fountain pen nib does not typically "run in" in the way that a car engine does. While some new nibs might feel a bit rough initially due to manufacturing residues, they don't fundamentally change shape or get smoother through use. This initial roughness is usually easily resolved with a simple cleaning or a few writing sessions.

Hope this helps
 


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