Pen kits

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Dvoigt

Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2008
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281
Location
Fraser, MI
I feel like I'm living under a rock.

I just recently bought a used mini lathe from a local guy. He was giving me pointer what to do and how to get started. He said that he always got his pen kits form PSI, and have found some other sites that offer some of their pen kits cheaper other places. Now that I've come here and have read up on stuff that people make here, I hear alot of people talking about the Sierra, Jr Gent II, Statesmen pen kits (just to name a few). These kits just seem to be scattered around the internet at various places. When I buy I like to buy as much as I can from one place, to reduce the shipping costs. Where is a good place to price out and get these types of kits?

I also don't see alot of people using the PSI Majestic kits, is that just because they are too expensive?

Thanks!
 
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The big three: PSI, Berea and Craft Supply (CSUSA).

Good distributor(s): Arizona Silhoutte, WoodturningZ (PSI reseller).
 
Careful now, some people here get all testy when you mention the idea of 'one stop shopping'.

One thing you'll learn is that there's not one single place that sells every kit. Different places carry different kits, which is in the long run, a better idea. Each person has their preferred seller, my main two would be:

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/ Craft Supplies USA carries a large number of kits, blanks and tools.

http://www.woodturningz.com/ Woodturningz carries everything in the PSI catalog and they can get you high volume pricing on even low volume orders.

Everyone tends to have their favorites and you'll figure them out in time.
 
Well from a profitability stand point, it is important. I don't buy 100's of kits at a time, so if I but 7 kits for $10 each, and add $7 for shipping, suddenly i'm adding a dollar to the cost of the kit. And if I need to go to 3 places to get parts I'm really paying for it.

Maybe one day I'lll need to buy them by the 100's and then will be adding pennys to the kits, but until then I see no other option but to get as much as I can from one place.
 
The kits you mentioned come from different vendors.

The Jr. Gent and Statemen only come from Craft Supplies USA (linked above)

The Sierra is a Berea kit, but both PSI and CSUSA now offer versions with slightly differing trim. Then you also have Woodpenpro.com that offers a similar pen with even better trim bands (in my opinion).

Now with that being said, some vendors don't offer the kits in as wide a range of plating, and some don't offer durable platings. (Avoid anything gold except Gold Titanium)

So the best thing to do is look around and see what it is you like. Then ask where we get them and you'll get more answers than you can count.
 
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Lets not forget Ernie at Beartooth woods. Great prices and service. But like Mike said we all have our prefered vendors. Shop around for what you want and need then jump into the fray.
 
I am for Craft Supplies USA. They give great service, and have quality kits. If you are looking something similar to Sierra (which they do not sell), look at theirs Aero kit. Quite similar.
 
george said:
I am for Craft Supplies USA. They give great service, and have quality kits. If you are looking something similar to Sierra (which they do not sell), look at theirs Aero kit. Quite similar.
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The Apprentice Classica is the same as the Sierra I think, but not too great on the plating as is the case on all the apprentice line.

PSI's version is the Gatsby and Woodpen pro's is the Pacifica.
 
As had already been said , there are several dealers that carry several different kits and in some cases you just have to go to all of them if you want a selection of different pens . As for the dollar or two difference , this you should build into your price structure .
My favorite kit is the Majestic by PSI , it is a high quality kit with very good platings . There are a few anti PSI people here for whatever reason , but I have never had any problems with buying from them or with their product quality and their customer service has always quickly resolved any problems I had . ok guys my flame suit is on so flame away :biggrin:.
 
Dvoigt said:
I also don't see alot of people using the PSI Majestic kits, is that just because they are too expensive?

Thanks!
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I've made about 8 of the Majestics, and they are well made. But they're enormous, and not everyone likes the "blingy" crystal in the clip. Plus, they're relatively new, so not everyone has gotten around to them.

My personal vote for best all-around vendor, based on service, selection, and price, in that order, is Craft Supplies. If you need a pen part replaced on a kit for whatever reason, even if it's your fault, Craft Supplies has sent me one out, free, postage paid. Try to get that at PSI, Berea, or even Az. Silhouette. Personally, that's just been my experience with all 4 of them. Doesn't make them bad vendors, just makes CSUSA better, in my book anyway.

But you have to write your own book!

Dale
 
For me shipping time is a problem with some vendors. Arizona Sil and Bear Tooth have the fastest I have found so far, PSI is in the middle, and CSUSA is slower then Christmas since they only use UPS. But I'm with you in that I hate having to buy one thing here and another there and then a third thing here. Sometimes the supplier is out of stock and you have no choice but to go to another supplier.

And then you have the suppliers who charge you for an item and then you don't find out it is on backorder until you get half of your order and the part you really, really needed was the one on backorder. And I still haven't recieved the darn thing even after waiting two weeks. But anyway, until we have a *almart style pen supplier you will just have to order around.
 
I buy many things from Wood n Whimsies and have always gotten great service, nice products and prices. They sell PSI and are often less. I also can get pen parts for making kit less pens, bullets pen. Their service is quick, they keep shipping costs down and if there is a problem they rectify it quickly. I have also gotten nice things from The Village Work Shop. Sometimes the smaller dealer have good prices, etc. Don't harness yourself to any one supplier. Their is also Lau Lau Woodworks in Hawaii, who has beautiful pen kits and often has deals here on IAP. So look around and see what is available. It is quite a lot.
 
Freight is the cost of doing business. Just like merchant fees, sand paper, finish and so on. You just add it to the final price. Unless you plan to give them all away, it isn't a big deal.

I buy from
CSUSA
Arizona Silhouette
Bear tooth woods
Wood Pen Pro
Lau Lau Woodworks

I'm not a big fan of PSI kits, so I have a tendency to avoid them.
 
Ordering from Europe, I always pay around 50 $ per delivery. 110 $ if it is made by UPS airmail. There is no way I can cover this costs without adding them into the final price. Also bigger quantity of kits are nesserey per order..
 
I use CSUSA for just about all of my pen kits. The one kit I prefer from PSI is the Slimline Pro Pen. It's the style I use for a personal everyday pen.

I found that getting catalogs from each of the sellers is a good idea as well. It will let you look at the specifics of the kits and compare in greater detail.
 
Billman said:
I use CSUSA for just about all of my pen kits. The one kit I prefer from PSI is the Slimline Pro Pen. It's the style I use for a personal everyday pen.

I found that getting catalogs from each of the sellers is a good idea as well. It will let you look at the specifics of the kits and compare in greater detail.
Click to expand...

BTW Billman, Your sig freaks me out...:eek:
 
Dvoigt said:
Well from a profitability stand point, it is important. I don't buy 100's of kits at a time, so if I but 7 kits for $10 each, and add $7 for shipping, suddenly i'm adding a dollar to the cost of the kit. And if I need to go to 3 places to get parts I'm really paying for it.

Maybe one day I'lll need to buy them by the 100's and then will be adding pennys to the kits, but until then I see no other option but to get as much as I can from one place.
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You are not competing with Walmart. Unless you are giving them away, the most important thing is to produce the style of pen that people want in a quality fit and finish. And believe me - in reading over the past 4 years what people on here sale, it changes - daily too. Limiting yourself to one style because of only wanting to deal with one vender to save a buck a pen will also limit your sales potentials.

Part two of this is pricing to customers - it has been well documented here that pricing does play a part in sales, but a mere $1 or even $2 dollars are not the breaking point. Recently, in the midst of this world wide economy slide, there have been notes on this forum that by raising prices on select pens, they are increasing sales on those and or the lesser expensive ones. Not everywhere is this happening but it has been noted that raising prices on high end affects the sales of lower priced ones.

If you are a bean counter in which every penny and especially every dollar is red flag, I would urge you to consider that you will only be cheating yourself out of sales. As Randy wrote, (paraphrased) "one dollar added to the price" - won't kill your sale if the beauty, fit and finish quality are there. The price due to shipping incurred by ordering from extra vendors will increase selections and increase the draw.
 
I'll elaborate a bit.

I buy Chrome Slims and Chrome Cigars, as well as Barons and Sedonas from Arizona Silhouette. The quality of the kits is top notch.

I buy Two-Tone Pacificas (Sierras) and Two-Tone Cigars from Woodpenpro. Only place that has them, and they are cheaper than similar products elsewhere.

I buy Jr. Statemen from CSUSA. I'll also buy some of the more expensive kits as I expand. Only place you can get them.

I'll buy The Magestic and Scepter from PSI. Only place you can get them to my knowledge.

The first two places use USPS priority shipping and you won't get much cheaper shipping than that. Quick too.

Now, There was mention of the idea a while back of building a IAP store that would stock some of the best kits from all sources and be a one stop shop. The problem I saw with it was where the capital was to come from. We already run group buys where we see discounts up to 25% on kits, so shipping when participating in those is offset by the savings.
 
The problem you run into in Mike's situation is what do you do when you have a rush order and your normal vendor for said items is out of stock of one of the five items you need. Do you buy the four items from that vendor and then hope you can find the other item at a different vendor? But what if that one item is only sold by that one vendor? I know this doesn't happen often but it has happened to me and I have only been doing this for a year. I bet it happens to others too.
 
chriselle said:
BTW Billman, Your sig freaks me out...:eek:
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Heh... I get that now and then.

Don't freak out too much. It's perfectly harmless. It's just a little bit of code I came across on another forum somewhere. I don't see any info about you or anyone else. Actually, I see the same thing you see, only about myself. The info displayed is the info you present to any server (site) you visit. If you'd like to learn more about it or get your own with your own sayings, go to www.danasoft.com
 
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