OK, lets play salesman

[Texatdurango]

So, the big day has arrived, we have six shiny new fountain pens on display in our booth, several snazzy colored bottles of ink, some nice writing papers to write on, a small container of water for cleaning nibs, a nice box with an assortment of different sized nibs and a few extra "upgrade" gold nibs... and up walks Sarah!

Sarah knows just enough about fountain pens to make her interested in buying one and she likes that nice Statesman fountain pen on display and wants to try it out, so what do you do?

Do you take the new pen with it's brand new nib, dip it in a bottle of ink and let her try it?

Do you install a rubber cartridge or a converter and suck up a little ink and let her try it?

Do you pull out your "inked demo pen", which is "similar" to what she wants and let her try it?

What if they try one out and don't buy, do you clean it up and place it back on display as "new"?

In short, what is the "proper" way of trying out fountain pens in a booth, or if not proper, what works best for you?

Hopefully, conversation will lead into part two of Sarah's story

 

[PenWorks]

Assuming your demo is very simular, I would let her write with the demo,
If no demo is available, I would dip the pen,
If she does not buy, I would wash the nib out and sell it as new.

 

[Gary Max]

I take the lazy approach------I never ink FP's---my sell point is you never let anyone use your FP pen.
I had a real bad time with a guy distroying a nice nib playing with the pen. Not everyone knows how to write or even hold one.

 

[geekasaurus_rex]

So, what's the 2nd half of Sarah's story?

 

[GaryMGg]

Doesn't it depend an awful lot on what Sarah looks like?!?!?! [}][)]

<<== Obviously, knows nothing about selling FPs

 

[Johnathan]

My thoughts are along with Anthony's. I also really don't see how you're going to sell a fountain without letting someone write with one. I understand that you shouldn't let anyone write with your fountain pen but I think it's more when you start using it full time, that's also a debatable subject. A demo is the best answer but some people will not trust that.

 

[les-smith]

Good question George. I'm by no means a fountain pen expert, but I had a thought. Could you have an extra nib assy. handy that you could screw into the pen and let them use the pen with it? That way when they are done you could screw the new nib assy. back in and the pen is in brand spaken new condition. At least they would be able to see how the pen fits there hand and when they buy the pen they can have the brand new nib. Just a thought.

 

[Texatdurango]

Having never sold a fountain pen, I don't know the nuances but the way I see it, if a person wants a new car, they take IT for a test drive... knowing that others may have also driven it around the block.

With that in my mind, I think I'll approach it like Anthony suggested, and if a person doesn't buy, clean the nib and put it back on display. It's not I'm selling a used pen.

Assuming Sarah does buy a pen, I think it would be a wise idea to have some ink on hand as well as some other accessories rather than sending her off with pen in hand looking for the nearewst retailer that can help her out.

I'm thinking of putting together some little fountain pen acessory kits, probably a small bottle of ink, a nice pad or two of quality paper, an upgraded squeeze converter, a card with some internet links to places they can learn more about pens... anything else come to mind? I'm fixing on going on a shopping spree, and need ideas!

 

[Milpaul]

I agree with Les. If you unscrew the assembly and give them a new assembly they are happy since they have a nib no one else has used, and you can put the used nib into the other pen you are about to display and it can be used as a "tester" pen and you start all over again. Of course this is assuming you have a backup pen the same type.

 

[DCBluesman]

Don't worry about dipping a nib for a potential buyer. The large pen stores regularly let you test a pen, then clean the nib and sell it as new. Folks who are concerned about something having never been inked are either 1) collectors - and few of our pens are collectibles, (yet) or 2) pretenders. I can tell you from experience that I tested 50 nibs that were all from the same production run and no two felt the same. When I purchase a pen, I test it and if I like it I am unconcerned if it had been inked before. I don't want to run the risk of a different nib not feelins as good. Think of a shoe store...do the have "testers"?

 

[gerryr]

I had a customer this summer try four different Baron fountain pens and decided on the nib he liked, but he wanted it in one of the other Baron bodies, which of course had different plating. I swapped the nib for him and he also bought three bottles of ink, all different colors.

When he first came up and started talking about fountain pens, I knew he was someone who used them and knew something about them. After a while, you can tell pretty well if someone actually knows something or if they're a fake.

And, don't ever let a kid mess with a fountain pen or the ink.

 

[jeffj13]

Unless Sarah has hands like Goliath, I would attempt to steer her towards a pen that she might find more comfortable to handle.

If she insisted on the Statesmen, I would let her test with the demo that I have on hand.

jeff

 

[gerryr]

I sold both a Statesman and a Gentleman, both fountain pens, to women this year and neither one had hands like Goliath. I have average size hands and after using Barons for the last couple of years, I'm finding the larger pens more comfortable. The weight of the Barons/Juniors is nice, but the section is a bit skinny. Today I'll start using a full size Gent and I'm I'm going to like it.