Newbie Question Concerning Dealers

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Russ Hewitt

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Nov 27, 2009
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Pasadena, Maryland., USA
I turned pens many years ago, and got out of it when I downsized houses. I am back in a bigger house and have a hankering to get back into it. I just ordered an advanced pen making starter kit with a 12 inch variable speed lathe from Penn State. I have a couple of questions so that I can hopefully avoid some errors early on.

A cursory look at the number of pen kits was overwhelming. I guess that is a good thing in some respects, but it seems like there are an equal number of bushing kits. I would like to simplify it is much as possible. Is there one particular dealer or manufacturer that has a good selection so that I can avoid crossing over and having to have even more different bushings?

Is there one dealer that is considered to be the least expensive with good quality items?

Is there any dealer that does not gouge you on shipping?

I guess what I am getting at, in large part, is that I would like to deal with one vendor if at all possible, and would like help picking that dealer.

Thanks from Maryland.
 
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PSNCO

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Jun 7, 2013
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Any of the vendors in the vendor forum, I've had nothing but great service, product prices, shipping costs and times. woodnwhimsies.com and woodturningz.com have always provided great prices, shipping costs and times, too. Timberbits.com has great prices with the current exchange rate and his shipping is outstanding. My two past orders got from Australia to my doorstep in 5 days. (3 days faster than a certain vendor in Pennsylvania. I personally, LOATHE that Pennsylvania company's terrible shipping costs and times from Pennsylvania to Minnesota.)
 

ed4copies

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Racine, WI, USA.
There is not an easy answer to your question.

PSI introduces new pens regularly--it is not surprising that they have a few glitches and their support is good.

Berea introduces far fewer, but they are "market ready" structurally.

CSUSA is in transition--their new kits are coming from PSI. Certainly different strategy, but also GREAT support.

Dayacom offers many "upscale" kits. For any reseller, it is expensive to become a player in this game. IF you are able to SELL pens in the $150 and UP category--they are worth adding.

Exotics is now offering ALL the above, along with a few of our own design. Thanks to the many IAP members who support us, we have grown to be able to stock several hundred "deep" on the very popular styles.

When we did shows, I sold a LOT of cigar pens. There were very FEW problems--transmissions WORKED, only 10kt ever gave me plating problems (I only sold a couple hundred of these, then went to TiGold and Chrome exclusively---this was before Black Ti existed). It is a SOLID pen. But, it takes some knowledge of FAB (Feature, advantage, benefit) sales. It IS heavy--that can be an advantage. But it does not sell itself.

Today, I would show a few "flavor of the day" designs, as well as several high end designs. But, pick a pen or two that you think will be solid and have the features you like. Wanna talk about it, give me a call. Phone number is right next to the logo on ExoticBlanks.com. Best time is evening 7-9PM, or weekends all afternoon and evening.
 

edstreet

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Aug 12, 2007
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No longer confused....
I turned pens many years ago, and got out of it when I downsized houses. I am back in a bigger house and have a hankering to get back into it. I just ordered an advanced pen making starter kit with a 12 inch variable speed lathe from Penn State. I have a couple of questions so that I can hopefully avoid some errors early on.

A cursory look at the number of pen kits was overwhelming. I guess that is a good thing in some respects, but it seems like there are an equal number of bushing kits. I would like to simplify it is much as possible. Is there one particular dealer or manufacturer that has a good selection so that I can avoid crossing over and having to have even more different bushings?

Is there one dealer that is considered to be the least expensive with good quality items?

Is there any dealer that does not gouge you on shipping?

I guess what I am getting at, in large part, is that I would like to deal with one vendor if at all possible, and would like help picking that dealer.

Thanks from Maryland.

This is an easy one to answer.

Here is the dilemma, without knowing your preferences as for what arena you are looking at doing it is really hard to say what vendor. Each vendor has good and bad aspects to them, that's human nature. Also each vendor offers different styles and areas that you can work in. The question comes back to what specifically are YOU looking for.

The 'one stop shop' as you described has many weaknesses which includes limited selections. For example on blanks, there are more independent blank makers than those who are tied to any vendor, if I were to put a number on it I would have to say at most 5% (really stretching it) of blank makers is hooked up with a vendor.

As for shipping and 'gouging' I am sure many things can be justified but let me do an example.
Vendor A offers a kit for $14 and a flat $5 shipping.
Vendor B offers the same kit for $11 but they also charge $12 for shipping.
that's a $7 difference in shipping so you have to take shipping into account for each order, many do not consider shipping (it's like the $19.99, most people will see that as $19 but in fact the truth is it is $20)

The 'least expensive' is often variable. Each of the vendors will look at the other vendors and monitor price changes then adjust their levels accordingly. So to get the most bang for your buck you have to look at all the vendors, what they have and price check accordingly.

Finally the biggest down side to the 'one stop shop' vendors is pricing. If they know they have you for everything then there is no checks and bounds and nothing to stop prices from being higher than what they would if say 6 vendors carried the same product.
 

Smitty37

Passed Away Mar 29, 2018
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Milford, Delaware 19963


Is there one dealer that is considered to be the least expensive with good quality items? The short answer is No.

Is there any dealer that does not gouge you on shipping? If by gouge you mean charge what it costs for shipping - the short answer is NO. Shipping for many if not most vendors is about their second highest cost of doing business and that cost has to be recovered...you are paying for it whether it says shipping or not. Many vendors offer free shipping if the order is above a certain dollar amount.

I guess what I am getting at, in large part, is that I would like to deal with one vendor if at all possible, and would like help picking that dealer.

Thanks from Maryland.
It is easily possible to deal with one vendor, and there are quite a few choices that might work for you. There are quite a few who will work with you, and more than a couple who will stand behind what they sell. You can do worse than picking one of the vendors here.
 

Russ Hewitt

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Nov 27, 2009
Messages
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Location
Pasadena, Maryland., USA
Thanks everyone for your help. When I turned this many years ago, there were probably less than 20 pen kits available. I prefer to make the higher-quality pens. I like to stay away from the Chinese junk.

When I talked about the gouging on the shipping cost, I was referring mostly to companies that charge you shipping based on the dollar amount of the purchase. I believe that the shipping cost I pay should be a reflection of what the cost for shipping actually are. Shipping for several very exotic blanks that cost $100 should not cost the same as a $100 set of cheap turning chisels that are heavy and in a large container.
 

OKLAHOMAN

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Costa Rica
As has been said, you can't go wrong with the vendors here as all of us will stand behind what we sell and none of them will gouge you on shipping. Some charge by weight others charge a flate rate like Classic's no matter how big the package the flat rate is $6.95 and we do refund when the package is much smaller.
Some will have 50% of what your wanting, others more or less.
 

Smitty37

Passed Away Mar 29, 2018
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Thanks everyone for your help. When I turned this many years ago, there were probably less than 20 pen kits available. I prefer to make the higher-quality pens. I like to stay away from the Chinese junk.

When I talked about the gouging on the shipping cost, I was referring mostly to companies that charge you shipping based on the dollar amount of the purchase. I believe that the shipping cost I pay should be a reflection of what the cost for shipping actually are. Shipping for several very exotic blanks that cost $100 should not cost the same as a $100 set of cheap turning chisels that are heavy and in a large container.
They might cost the same to ship or very close to the same depending on the carrier chosen. When shipping priority mail Flat rate box -- weight is not normally a factor usually if you can get it in the box it will ship at the flat rate.

Few companies and even fewer Pen Kit vendors charge based on price anymore. Most charge flat rate.

Also, Don't think of Chinese as being what it might have been 5 or 6 years ago. There are Chinese Vendors out there now who are making kits just as well made and perhaps a bit lower priced as any kits on the market. Most Chinese Vendors are not producing the very high end kits.
 

WriteON

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PSI. When you review a product you get a Thank You and $5 off the next order. They do have specials and discount offers periodically. Sign up with email and get 10% OFF.
 

Russ Hewitt

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Nov 27, 2009
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Pasadena, Maryland., USA
PSI. When you review a product you get a Thank You and $5 off the next order. They do have specials and discount offers periodically. Sign up with email and get 10% OFF.


I took advantage of the 10% offer. It has a $40 max, but you can't beat $40 in free money. I have to give Penn State credit. I ordered the lathe on Tuesday, and I got a UPS tracking notice that my order is on the truck for delivery today (Thursday.)
 

Carl Fisher

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Bear Tooth Woods, Classic Nib and Exotic Blanks are just a few of our IAP vendors that would be great places to start. Each respective owner stands behind their product and sales and hands down has top notch customer service.
 

Smitty37

Passed Away Mar 29, 2018
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PSI. When you review a product you get a Thank You and $5 off the next order. They do have specials and discount offers periodically. Sign up with email and get 10% OFF.


I took advantage of the 10% offer. It has a $40 max, but you can't beat $40 in free money. I have to give Penn State credit. I ordered the lathe on Tuesday, and I got a UPS tracking notice that my order is on the truck for delivery today (Thursday.)
Russ, just as a note referring back to your earlier statement about Chinese Junk....the lathe you have coming was almost certain to have been made in China ---- as it probably would have been if you had ordered a similar lathe from almost any other vendor... The Chinese have learned quite a lot in the past few years. Additionally, many of the PSI kits that you might order are made in China, PSI sources from both Taiwan and China now and don't indicate in their catalog which kit comes from where.
 

PSNCO

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I took advantage of the 10% offer. It has a $40 max, but you can't beat $40 in free money. I have to give Penn State credit. I ordered the lathe on Tuesday, and I got a UPS tracking notice that my order is on the truck for delivery today (Thursday.)

And it will probably take until Wednesday next week to show up at your doorstep, 150 miles away.

I have ZERO warm and fuzzies about Penn State's shipping.
 

Joey-Nieves

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Sep 5, 2012
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Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
We have many vendors in our marketplace, all are great. I make pens for a living so I buy a lot, Unfortunately for me, none of them have everything I buy so I have to order from different suppliers. High end pens, clips and glue from Exotic blanks, they also carry slimline at good price but my volume is high so I get them from PSI or CSUSA.
Boxes from CSUSA, because they have the only box that will fit my style of pens. Wood & whimsies for refills, cigar pens, euros and anelli(saturn, roadster) and casting supplies. Richard Greenwald for Advanced pen making, nibs rings and mechanisms.
There are other suppliers I have bought from, but these are the most frequent.
As for my experience with them Ed and Dawn at Exotic Blanks are wonderful. Tim from W&W is outstanding and the people at CSUSA are very good especially my good friend and fellow IAP member JOSH. PSI well they are less personal but Maria is great.
I don't know if this helps, but some of our vendors have also answered your post and they also are very well stocked for the average penturner.
Happy turnings!
Joey
 

Russ Hewitt

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Nov 27, 2009
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Location
Pasadena, Maryland., USA
Thanks everyone. I added all of the vendors to my bookmarks list. Exotic Blanks in particular, caught my eye, but all had some interesting items. After really looking at everything, it seems like the number of bushings required is not an issue since they are so inexpensive anyway. I need to find a good efficient way of storing, and cataloging them. I am thinking about then tackle boxes with the removable dividers and DYMO labels.
 

wyone

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15314 Grasslands, Parker, CO 80134
I second the 24 compartment storage unit with mini boxes from Harbor Freight... cheap.. easy to use and works well. I used my label maker to put labels on ALL... unfortunately I got this AFTER I accidentally bumped my other storage onto the floor and they all got mixed up. I am still trying to get that mess straightened out. Start out right and you will be much happier
 

Smitty37

Passed Away Mar 29, 2018
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I second the 24 compartment storage unit with mini boxes from Harbor Freight... cheap.. easy to use and works well. I used my label maker to put labels on ALL... unfortunately I got this AFTER I accidentally bumped my other storage onto the floor and they all got mixed up. I am still trying to get that mess straightened out. Start out right and you will be much happier
I have a 60 drawer small parts cabinet that I used to keep brads and small screws, washer etc in. That works great - I can easily get two different sets of bushings in each drawer.
 
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