Do you use titanium often? Sources?

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Joe Pack

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If you make pens to sell at shows, you have probably considered this same question. If you have, I am curious how you have dealt with this dilemma...

I have been making pens and other small turnings and selling at craft shows for going on 4 years now. The pens are my biggest concern. I started with basic Berea 24kt and "upgrade gold" platings for all pens, but was disappointed in how quickly the plating wore off on the pens I carried in my own pocket. In just a couple of months, the nib end of a 7mm slimline was showing base metal instead of gold.

I currently use several other 24k "upgrade gold" kits from Berea. I have not noticed as much wear on them in my own pocket as I did with the 7mm, but wonder if my customers do. I have had no complaints about wear yet, but do wonder if I have any upset customers out there.

I switched to titanium 7mm pens from Berea, but the price quickly went up to $7+, even at the 100 price, so I went to Penn State @ $4.95 or so. Both give extremely good wear, and are attractive kits. Prices on other titanium kits (Sierra, Churchill, Rolllerball, Fountain, ...) range from $8 - $15, either at Penn State or Berea.

If I was making just a few pens to give away, or for high end customers, I wouldn't worry about the cost of titanium or platinum or such, but I am making them, hopefully, in fairly large quantities to sell at a reasonable profit at craft shows. The price point for a slimline pen is $20; the same pen priced at $25 just does not sell. Made of titanium that will keep its color almost forever or made with a cheap gold plating that will wear in no time at all, the price point is the same. The customer expects a gold pen to stay gold.

You get the idea. Gold plating vs. titanium; reasonable price and sell a bunch vs. higher prices and sell a couple. Making an outstanding product mainly for fun vs. making a good product for profit. A dillema.

I'm curious how you have dealt with this situation. Do you sell mostly titanium or mostly the typical gold plated pens?

If you do find titanium kits at a good price, would you be willing to share your sources?
 
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ed4copies

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Welcome to our forum!!!!


http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18413&whichpage=2&SearchTerms=titanium,,gold

Try this for starters, there are several other threads on the same topic.
 

mrcook4570

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Mason, WV, USA.
I don't make or sell any 24k, upgrade gold, or 10k kits. I know they are inferior and don't want my name associated with poor quality merchandise. I sell only titanium gold, black titanium, platinum (or rhodium), and chrome.

Slimlines in titanium gold are available in the $3 range from arizona silhouette at the 100+ quantity. I try to order only when I need a large quantity to maximize savings. BB will allow you to mix n match platings for the quantity discount. Same goes for CSU.

I have a sign on my table that describes the quality of the parts that I use and the quality of my finish. Customers frequently make positive comments and purchases after reading the sign.
 

Rifleman1776

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You will find that most who take pride in their pens eventually 'graduate' to titanium gold exclusively. I use Tn and Rhodium for silver color. My pens didn't sell well until I went to higher end kits and the better platings and raised my prices accordingly. Folks can buy junk anywhere. Only you can provide hand crafted quality.
 

cdcarter

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Birmingham, AL, USA.
Joe,

I agree with Rifleman. I'm not an expert on selling pens, but I can tell you that for many types of products, a price that is too low will frighten people off. People intuitively know you can't make money selling anything handmade for $20. Heck, you can't make a paper napkin puppet for that and stay whole after you take into account your marketing costs and overhead.

A lot depends on the environment in which you're selling. If you try to sell on Ebay, you're competing with people selling trash for $10, and unless you really build an online presence, you're not getting anywhere. The same can be true locally.

I sell my pens by word of mouth. People see somebody else with one, and they ask how they can get one. It's a craft, not a commodity.
 
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