Fountain Pen Refills

[oops99]

I just got some PSI Traditional fountains and some El-Grande/Churchill kits. When selling these is it customary to include an extra refill?
I do with all of my slim lines, and was wondering about these.
Where do you tell your customers they can get refills for these from?

Thanks,

Tom/oops99

 

[Glenn McCullough]

I would suggest not to give extra pumps, though refill cartridges are fine. If they need replacements, have them see you! You can get them cheaper than at a store and they get to keep in contact with you to buy more pens. I always ask if they know of someone who needs a pen and often get an order or a referal.

 

[bitshird]

Don't use the cartridges that come with the kits, they are pure junk, Tony at the golden Nib sells a bottle of Schneider cartridges that are inexpensive about 7.00 for 30 international cartridges, also don't put a cartridge in until you actually use or sell the pen, otherwise you'll have a gummed up feed or nib, Exotic blanks as well as heritage pens also sell Private Reserve ink which is a good quality ink, all 3 of these dealers are
IAP members and great folks to deal with, also check out DCbluesmans behind the nib series in the library if you are just getting into fountain pens. Lots to learn, but well worth the effort, I carry a bottle of ink with me to shows and just let the customer dip the nib into the ink to try the pen, ON GOOD PAPER, so the pen writes smoothly, not like notebook paper which feels like sandpaper under a decent nib. It would be like taking demonstration ride in a new car down the side of the Grand Canyon.

 

[Texatdurango]

I just got some PSI Traditional fountains and some El-Grande/Churchill kits. When selling these is it customary to include an extra refill?
I do with all of my slim lines, and was wondering about these.
Where do you tell your customers they can get refills for these from?

Thanks,

Tom/oops99

I don't know about customary or not but I buy Private Reserve ink refills in 12 packs for $4.95 from goldspot.com which puts them around 40 cents apiece, about the best price I have found.

When I sell a pen from $75 to $225 it doesn't bother me a bit to include a few 40 cent cartridges. I will frequently include several colors and include a note saying to "Have Fun"

I tell my customers they can buy any color ink from me and if they want to try some colors, just drop me a line and I'll be happy to send them a few refills to try out.

I must be doing something right because just selling from my website, I have several repeat customers and quite a few referrals.