I looked that up and didn’t see that. In 2020 fpn had discussions about the fact that their inks were made by another company. Then the posts seem to drift off complaining about too many “east coast” names for their inks. Not useful at all. I’m still contemplating an order but haven’t pulled the trigger. I bought a few other inks now and the shipping is bothering me a little.
Really like this color too. I thought I was going crazy because their site says free shipping at +40 but at checkout it’s free at +75. Shipping is $9. I guess I’m a cheapskate but this bugs me. I emailed them.
I hate paying shipping. I think that they know that and lure us into the trap of buying more products than we need. Notice I didn’t say more than we want.
Thanks for the update. That seems prudent of them. $9 seems a lot for shipping anyway!
What don’t you love?
That's awesome. I've noticed a lot of pen companies do things like that. Pen Boutique always includes a handwritten note. Goulet used to, but now they just give you some Tootsie rolls or something. Brian actually did a video explaining that he couldn't keep up the with the handwritten notes and had to stop doing that. Anyway, the stationary hobbyist community is still pretty small and I'm sure these retailers know they have to play for repeat business. Its a lot like the shaving retailers in that way.
I hope they refunded you the shipping amount.
Ya the longer story for me is that I had been considering their stuff for awhile. And was deciding to pull the trigger. I kept seeing free over 40 but at checkout it was $9 shipping and free over 75. I almost did it but then held off. I had previous emails with them about other questions so I wrote and asked for clarification. They explained that shipping was eating into profits and they changed the threshold that very day so they sent me code to comp shipping. Then today they emailed me and said they just changed their minds and are keeping it at +40. I should have explained it before. But in any event I’ve got some hopefully good stuff coming soon.
Shipping is one of those things I'm kind of conflicted about. On the one hand, I don't like paying for shipping either but on the other hand, I understand that many of these small web-businesses are running on thin margins and shipping costs money. This is one area where Amazon really skewed the playing field. Its kind of like when Walmart got big and conditioned everyone to think you shouldn't have to pay more than $10 for a pair of jeans and that crushed all the "Mom n' Pop" shops on Main Street. Now Amazon has conditioned us that everything should ship for free. Except that it isn't really free. Well, good for Amazon; they can easily absorb the costs. They're a huge corporation with an enormous in-house logistics operation and buku economies of scale. But these little pen stores can't do that. So some go the Goulet route and don't do free shipping and hope that keeping the shipping rates reasonable and making up the difference with customer service is enough to compete. Or they go the Lemur Ink route and do $20 free shipping, but keep inventory and overhead very small. Or split the difference somewhere - I think most of the others like Pen Chalet, Pen Boutique, and Vaness are at $50 free shipping.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I was talking about. I feel them. But you know what? I bet having zero pens in stock isn’t so good for profits either. I don’t know if that’s a Covid thing, though.
Ya for sure. Also shipping comes with the territory with e-commerce right.
They just have not grabbed me so far. I guess the saturation seems OK, but not fabulous. I have not fairly put them to any test. More later I am sure!
Ok thanks for the honest feedback I hope I like their ink.
Did anyone else hear the sound of digging? I’m officially in a new rabbit hole 🕳
Shipping is one of those things I'm kind of conflicted about. On the one hand, I don't like paying for shipping either but on the other hand, I understand that many of these small web-businesses are running on thin margins and shipping costs money. This is one area where Amazon really skewed the playing field. Its kind of like when Walmart got big and conditioned everyone to think you shouldn't have to pay more than $10 for a pair of jeans and that crushed all the "Mom n' Pop" shops on Main Street. Now Amazon has conditioned us that everything should ship for free. Except that it isn't really free. Well, good for Amazon; they can easily absorb the costs. They're a huge corporation with an enormous in-house logistics operation and buku economies of scale. But these little pen stores can't do that. So some go the Goulet route and don't do free shipping and hope that keeping the shipping rates reasonable and making up the difference with customer service is enough to compete. Or they go the Lemur Ink route and do $20 free shipping, but keep inventory and overhead very small. Or split the difference somewhere - I think most of the others like Pen Chalet, Pen Boutique, and Vaness are at $50 free shipping.
