When You Seek the "Best"

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beck3906 said:
For those of you who only want the best, the following link will show you what someone feels is the best that money can buy. Particularly notice the asking price for their acrylic display stands.

http://www.usadisplay.net/pen2.htm
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Gessh, for that price and it doesn't even include shipping!!! Where's my checkbook!!! LOL

Wonder how much business he gets at those prices?



Barney
 
Wow ..

His:

7 Pen Display Case Chest, Glass Top

Model - PENNPSPKBOXG3

[SIZE=+1]Reg. Price [/SIZE][SIZE=+1]$199.95[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]
[/SIZE]


PSI's
7 Pen Rosewood Display Box with Black Foam Insert

Item #: PKBOXG3
$13.50


And why is it that his 7 pen display case chest only holds 6 pens?
 
WOW I know jewelry is marked up around a 1,000% but this is ridiculous heck if I could I would sell them for half that but then I have a conscience about pricing also.
:-OO
 
My gosh....At those prices I've got more invested in my acrylic stands than I do in pen inventory.....lol
 
Just for fun, I send them an email comparing their price on the 48 pen case "on sale" for $127.50, and the same item, same item number at PSI for $29.95.

I wonder if he will answer me???
 
wdcav1952 said:
Just for fun, I send them an email comparing their price on the 48 pen case "on sale" for $127.50, and the same item, same item number at PSI for $29.95.

I wonder if he will answer me???
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So, here we are again publicly criticizing another persons business for no reason other than we don't like his prices. But now we have stooped to a new low by harrassing him (his business) as well.

Is this the new purpose of IAP? Find businesses we don't agree with and publicly bash and harrass them?
 
That's capitalism! If he can actually sell those things at that price, then he's doing something right with his customer service, marketing, or whatever that allows him to make that money. It does seem to defy common pricing sense, though.
 
JimB said:
So, here we are again publicly criticizing another persons business for no reason other than we don't like his prices. But now we have stooped to a new low by harrassing him (his business) as well.

Is this the new purpose of IAP? Find businesses we don't agree with and publicly bash and harrass them?
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A simple request for more information is not REALLY harassing, is it?

Maybe his case includes a "free" pen, he'll never have the opportunity to tell Cav of his "benefits" if he is never asked.

"Feedback" (both positive and negative) is what refines a business - ignore it at your own peril. (to the business owner)

IF this business owner has just set up the site hoping the Google searches will find him first, our little group has assisted his business plan by the number of "hits" on his site. Shouldn't he send us a "Thank-you" note??
 
JimB said:
So, here we are again publicly criticizing another persons business for no reason other than we don't like his prices. But now we have stooped to a new low by harrassing him (his business) as well.

Is this the new purpose of IAP? Find businesses we don't agree with and publicly bash and harrass them?
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I think freedom of speech comes in here somewhere..........
 
I just ordered a display holder from P.S.I. the cost was $9.95 plus $7.50 shipping.
He is charging $58.95 (on sale) for the same display holder and then adds shipping.
Boy did I ever get a good deal!!!

Call it what you want, facts are facts-JimB
 
I'm not sure I see any bashing going on in this thread. Forums are for expressing opinions. My opinion is that this person is aiming to sucker the uninformed consumer into believing that by ordering through this site these products are worth 5x to 10x the regular retail price. Legal? Yes. Ethical? Not in my opinion.
 
I think most of this is just about having a little fun and not really criticizing, and besides if they can get these kind of prices then anyone selling pens are in the wrong business.

Jack
 
??????????????!!!!!!!!!!! forgot what i was going to say. ........oh yea....i think the asking price is way beyond what i would be willing to pay for this stuff. if he can get that much...good for him. personaly, i can't afford that kind of stuff and rely heavily on the experience and expertise of the members of the IAP. no one has steered me wrong yet, so...............thanks to the members of the IAP! yet again you have steered me in the right direction. i wish this guy all the best on his buisness venture and hope he succeeds.
this message is brought to you by the sun i just saw when i looked outside and the birds, frogs and other furry woodland creatures that made me smile today....y'all have a great day...........bear :):):):)
 
If anyone is interested, I have some very high end premium slimline pen tubes. These are aged brass and have an established "patina finish". I am expecting them to sell out quickly at the bargain price of $75 per tube, or 2 for $200.
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with his prices. those cases will go great with $900.00 slime lines and $1,200 comfort grips. you guys are just stingy.:glasses-cool:
 
mdowney said:
If anyone is interested, I have some very high end premium slimline pen tubes. These are aged brass and have an established "patina finish". I am expecting them to sell out quickly at the bargain price of $75 per tube, or 2 for $200.
Click to expand...

Bah .. we'll probably get screwed on the shipping.. :tongue:
 
mdowney said:
If anyone is interested, I have some very high end premium slimline pen tubes. These are aged brass and have an established "patina finish". I am expecting them to sell out quickly at the bargain price of $75 per tube, or 2 for $200.
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Now THAT is funny...........
 
There is a very small part of the population that believes quality is directly related to asking price. Put two identical cars side-by-side, and they will buy the more expensive one, whereas most of us would lean toward the cheaper one, all things being equal.

His modus operandi is apparently to reach out to that segment of the population that is both wealthy and uninformed. There is a difference, however, between legitimate markup and gouging. As we know that he is not making these himself, I look rather harshly upon his business practice.

If he was making the boxes himself, however, that would be an entirely different matter.
 
I feel that Cav is well within his rights to ask this dude for a comparison and a reply.

If the guy is never 'challenged' by buyers in the know then he will have gotten away with price gouging ... especially IF he is buying from PSI and re-selling at such markups. Go get'em Cav! :eek:

Maybe PSI ought to be advised that their pricing is way below this guy's targeted market. Before PSI catches on ... if anyone wants a display case from PSI get busy and order dozens of them today.
 
Well, it really doesn't *seem* that Cav is a buyer. He is only contacting the guy to give him a hard time about his prices.

Also, since when is making a profit called gouging? The guy does NOT have a monopoly. He is an internet business. Legitamate customers have many other places they can shop. He is not like your cable company that may be the only provider in your area and therefore is simply overcharging you (gouging).

So tell me.. How much is the guy allowed to make? 2 times cost? 3 times cost? I've seen a wide range of prices in the pens sold here. If memory serves me correctly (no guarantee on that) I've seen folks here talk about selling Sierra's as low as $25 - $30 and as high as around $100 for bassically the same pen. Now I know all our pens are one-of-a-kind and all that but is that an exceptable price difference? Are the $100 sellers gouging their customers? Do we tell these sellers to lower thier prices? No, we tell the lower priced sellers to raise their prices. So are we telling these lower priced sellers to gouge their customers! They were perfectly happy with how much they were getting and we tell them to raise their prices (and gouge their customers).
 
JimB said:
So tell me.. How much is the guy allowed to make? 2 times cost? 3 times cost? I've seen a wide range of prices in the pens sold here. If memory serves me correctly (no guarantee on that) I've seen folks here talk about selling Sierra's as low as $25 - $30 and as high as around $100 for bassically the same pen . . . No, we tell the lower priced sellers to raise their prices. So are we telling these lower priced sellers to gouge their customers! They were perfectly happy with how much they were getting and we tell them to raise their prices (and gouge their customers).
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You make some good points on this. That is what freedom is, right? Of course!

In line with the freedom, inquisitiveness of people like Cav, regardless of motives should be allowed too, even if it is critiquing in one form or the other.

This is a pen turning forum, so critiquing is part of it! :biggrin: That is what makes "some" of us better - kind of like competition. :wink:
 
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JimB said:
Well, it really doesn't *seem* that Cav is a buyer. He is only contacting the guy to give him a hard time about his prices.

Also, since when is making a profit called gouging? The guy does NOT have a monopoly. He is an internet business. Legitamate customers have many other places they can shop. He is not like your cable company that may be the only provider in your area and therefore is simply overcharging you (gouging).

So tell me.. How much is the guy allowed to make? 2 times cost? 3 times cost? I've seen a wide range of prices in the pens sold here. If memory serves me correctly (no guarantee on that) I've seen folks here talk about selling Sierra's as low as $25 - $30 and as high as around $100 for bassically the same pen. Now I know all our pens are one-of-a-kind and all that but is that an exceptable price difference? Are the $100 sellers gouging their customers? Do we tell these sellers to lower thier prices? No, we tell the lower priced sellers to raise their prices. So are we telling these lower priced sellers to gouge their customers! They were perfectly happy with how much they were getting and we tell them to raise their prices (and gouge their customers).
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You've definitely made some good points here, and I think everyone is having to sensor their initial reactions because of them, but come on. A hand made item is completely different then reselling someone else's stuff. He didn't even go through the effort to take his own pictures of the products or even make his own sku's...when you are an online seller, your website is like your storefront. A good online seller is going to have a good interface, nice pictures, etc....this guy has the 'storefront' equivalent of selling out of the trunk of his car. I'm all for capitalism but with the tactics he's using to get those prices, he really is preying on the ignorant and it's hard to argue otherwise.
 
Man, I've been gone too long. I forgot how much fun it is just read the general forum. My 2 cents, for what its worth, if he can sell what he has for what he wants then more power to him. Whats the old addage? "Let the buyer beware." It certainly holds true in this case.
 
altaciii said:
My 2 cents, for what its worth, if he can sell what he has for what he wants then more power to him. Whats the old addage? "Let the buyer beware." It certainly holds true in this case.
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I hear a lot of mortage companies are saying that lately
 
FYI this dealer's site has been online for some years now. When I first started looking for pen displays and such, that site was one of the first to come up on Search. And it isn't the only site with such prices. But I feel if anyone is prepared to shop on the internet without "shopping around" then they will get what they pay for - whether its a fair market value or not.

The fact that he is still doing business in this market actually astounds me.

It also made me feel real good to beat his price with my purchase elsewhere - by a lot!
 
Jim,

The only bashing I see here is your attempt to deny me the right to question someone's pricing techniques.

Since this retailer was too damn lazy to even change the item numbers of the things he bought through PSI and quadrupled the price, I don't see that this establishment deserves your protection.

No, I don't intend to purchase from this business nor to I intend to purchase the multi-thousand dollar pens from sites that have been linked to in recent days. I have no intention of taking out full page ads in all major newspapers to bash the seller. I simply sent an email stating that I found it interesting that the same items utilizing the same item numbers (that were obviously copied from PSI) had such widely divergent prices. As yet, the retailer has not chosen to respond, which certainly is their right. I do not plan to contact/harass/bash them any further.

I retain the right to post on threads in which I have an interest. Many of our members post regularly asking where the best deal on items they wish to purchase can be found. For example, one of our members just requested information as to where he could purchase a display box for a very special present for a retiring teacher. If he had simply Googled "display box" he might have ended up on the linked site and paid an outrageous price for something he could have gotten reasonably from another vendor.

Caveat emptor may be your way of doing business, and if so, I'm sure you have plenty of company. I consider the members of the IAP my friends, and if I see a chance to help and prevent a friend from being ripped off, I will take it no matter what others who choose not to care may think.
 
I could not agree more with your post, Cav. Your original one was not mean-spirited, it was pointing out a fact. If someone wants to pay 10 times more for something, more power to 'em, but information is power.

Whether one wants to act on that info is their business, but I just do not see why posting what are obvious ripoffs within our hobby are such a huge problem. New people show up constantly, and even old hands can't keep up with everything out there. I appreciate hearing about these schemes.

Good post,

Dale
 
Cav -

I sincerely aplogize to you for the way my comments came across. I did not intend to bash you, deny you the right to questions someone's pricing practices or suggest you should not post your opinions here on IAP. I did go back and read my own comments again and I certainly understand why you think I intended those things.

I have learned a lot here on IAP, including where to get some of the best prices. I also want to see the membership here continue to grow, both pen makers and vendors. Personally I would like to see even more comments about the great vendors everyone deals with, both IAP members and vendors who are not on here. My concern is this. (This is not directed at any individual on here). If we, as a group, are to quick to criticize outside vendors then we may be discouraging new members from joining. I'm not just thinking of the vendor being criticized, but all vendors who may "lurk" here to see what we are about. If I remember correctly, Constant was highly criticized when he first joined. I think everyone knows now that the criticisms were not justified. I think we are fortunate that he weathered the storm and stayed because if he hadn't that would be our loss. I wonder if there are other very good vendors who have stayed away because of reading some of the things on here about some vendors and they don't want to be subjected to something similar.

I hope I have done a better job of explaining my concern.

Cav ( and anyone else I have offended), again, I apologize for my earlier comments.
 
Jim,

As our esteemed (according to him) elder Ed4Copies says no blood no foul. Thank your for your follow-up post. Consider that we have :handshake: and moved on past this issue.
 
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