Fascinating discussion, Waski. I had wondered about the financial model of these 'offers', and it's just as bad as I suspected. Having worked in banking (and lived through 2008), I never trust financial institutions.
You would definitely know it from inside. I will give my bank credit for loaning me money on an unusually small house: they almost didn't because they couldn't find comparable houses, so they had to go a different route from typical mortgage loans. But I still didn't like feeling like a criminal under interrogation!
Thanks for this common sense talk. I've likely got all of the pens I'm going to have; certainly more than I need. Chris Sanze compared the quest for another pen, to a dog chasing a ball. Now matter how many times the ball is thrown, the dog will keep running.
Great pens + inks, as usual. Pens, like automobiles, never pay retail. I only wish our schools were more focused on fiscal literary than on STEM, too. Have a great school year.
I know the school where I teach does teach fiscal literacy. But these offers are geared to tempt the vulnerable. A kid who knows better can easily be trapped.
Great selection again of pens and inks! I completely understand using the wettest possible pens to use up certain inks. (Though the Sailor made me think of a safety razer, with the "DE." Been using a '66 Gillette Slim Adjustable for decades, so...😁) The 2314-F is the fountain pen version of the dip 314 that was JRR Tolkien's "weapon of choice" (I don't think he ever bought a pen. The Esterbrook 314 was the freebie type given to students and faculty of Cambridge, and JRR was notoriously CHEAP.) As a rabid fan of vintage Esterbrook pens, always great to see one in use by someone else. Kind of with you about the Parker 51. In my experience, very dry writing (though very typical for the time, not really preferred by many that want to use the wettest pens possible without dumping globs of ink) and, generally just not anything exciting to write with. I get not spending when you don't really have the money. Being on a fixed disability income since 2011, I have to budget to get anything extra. Recently, got a Sheaffer-Eaton era bottle (the burgundy and gold labels) of Sheaffer Skrip Red. Still bright, currently was out of red, and Sheaffer Skrip Red is THE red, far as I'm concerned (only brighter red that doesn't lean towards pink or orange. Basically identical color to BIC red.) Didn't exactly NEED it, but I was currently out of a decent red (which I do use somewhat regularly), and then the Midwestern excuse: got a good deal on it. 😁 I've mentioned the copper transitional Esterbrook SJ I recently purchased. Again an amazingly low price, and the only one I'd ever seen "in the wild." And I want to have a complete collection of the cellulose acetate era Esterbrook pens. Had saved, and was able to get it. Means passing on many others that I might like. Just the breaks.😁 I don't generally have the option to hold things in a "shopping cart." My budget, I have to do the restoration myself, so it's really just eBay for me. But there's still the "watching" option for auctions. Comes down to the wire, then you can decide if you really want it. The payment thing? Have lived 57 years without using credit. Not time to start. 😉
I never thought about what pen Tolkien used, but that is nice to know. I enjoy that nib. Now I'll have to look up what typewriter he used... (Hammond, a brand I've never heard of) I use a Gillette safety razor as well, but mine is newer and not adjustable. But a single blade is enough to keep my face smooth. 57 years without a credit card is a good choice. After learning my lesson early, I pay mine off monthly. I tend to put things im my "shopping cart" on eBay as well. Things disappear while I think about them. A really low-cost Hermes Ambassador (typewriter) recently sold, and I missed it. But I'm sure another will show up eventually...
@WaskiSquirrel CS Lewis is more known for a typewriter, though he wrote exclusively with a dip pen as well (his brother typed his stuff for the publisher.) He said he couldn't think while typing. What typewriter or dip pen? Not a clue. I've never found either out. He was at Oxford, so I just haven't figured it out yet. 😉 The ads for the more modern safety razors haven't convinced me to get one. Started with my dad's probably 1950s Gillette non adjustable, but the first one I found was an Adjustable, and as my facial hair is somewhat coarser than some, the Adjustable is perfect for me. Usually a couple clicks beyond "1." Found it at an antique store for $2.50. Boiled off residual soap, been using it since. Why? Because these old Gillette razors are the only ones that I've never cut myself with, and nothing electric works for me. And you can't beat the price for blades. You gonna pay $15+ for a 5 pack of multi blade refills, buy even cheap disposable ones for $1 each, or $9 (what I pay for 100 blades) or up to $20 for 100? 😁 The cheapest price for this chore is my choice. And the razor blade holder will last for several lifetimes.
In my case, it’s the FOMO which has triggered me to make impulse purchases (of watches these days since I’m on a sort of permanent fast on fountain pens) and opt for No interest EMIs which reduce the guilt of overspending to some extent. As you said, these easy payment options have certainly made me buy more watches than I’d have bought otherwise. In India, some watch retailers offer 3 equal payments with no interest and no processing fee also. They’ll run the credit check and if approved, we’ll have to make online payments through bank accounts, Google pay etc.. Even though no credit card is required for these payments, I’m sure credit check will fail if we don’t have credit cards !
Great discussion. I have avoided using this payment method for the "frills" such as pens and of course ink. But we have used it on things that are more necessity items such as a fridge. We were careful with the payments and were fortunate enough that we only had one catastrophic incident at a time. School started in our Corporation on August 8th. Every year they seem to push it forward a few days. I hope your throat feels better soon. I was the school nurse and always felt so bad for the teachers as their voices got weaker and weaker through the first week of school! 😢
The discipline is vital for these services. I don't even object to a credit card, if paid off monthly. But the interest on a credit card is hard to escape from once you get too much on the card...and the credit cards make it easy to do that!
I was always completely exhausted after the 1st day of school. The 75 is silver. It is (or is really similar) to the Parker I got for hight school graduation.
Well, thank you for talking about this service. I had noticed it floating around. Thankfully, so far I only noticed one or two pen stores using it. I’ve noticed that 4 payments are interest free, but one can also go with 6 payments for some interest and maybe even more options are available - I haven’t looked that deep into it. 4 interest free payments looked suspicious enough to me - I thought for sure someone pays for that and it’s probably retailers 😅 looks like it’s mostly luxury stores that are using this route, although, Etsy is on that list too.
I was really curious about Etsy! Since they're the middleman, does that mean that the person selling on Etsy has to wait for 4 monthly payments? Do they make less because Etsy used this service or does Etsy eat the cost? I couldn't find that out in time for this video, so I didn't put it in. And, yes, good to be suspicious of things like this!
@@WaskiSquirrel so I have had my little store on Etsy for a number of years now and their fees that we sellers pay have gone up significantly especially in the last year or so. Do I like it? No, but I am with them because they take on risks that I as a small shop might not be willing (or able) to take on my own and some of those risks are related to financial transactions. I want my customers to feel safe when they pay and my fees take care of that (or at least I am lead to believe so). Similarly with that payment service you have talked about- I get the money in full and can send out the item to my customer who continues to pay on their end (Etsy does take that risk on). The thing is not every seller has that installment service available to them- Etsy offers it when it has no trust issues with your shop (you don’t owe them money as a seller in your fees) and it knows you are reaching a certain financial threshold they have set for you on a monthly and yearly basis.
8:27 The Commonwealth Edison Co engaving on the Esterbrook J got me Reading on Wikipedia about unhealthy energy business. Interesting. I like my Estebooks a lot. Their high capacity ebonite feeds makes it possible to try different inks, and wite a whole page just with one dip. Thanks for the video!
School is in full session here, starting after the first of the year and summer break over Christmas and January. I want to recommend Fountain Pen Therapy, especially his visit Naples and visit to Delta pens.
My comment on when school starts and ends was partly inspired by you. In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are quite different than mine. I will check that out. I subscribe to the channel, but have not seen that video.
@@WaskiSquirrelThank you for thinking about me. I should point out I am not native to the Southern hemisphere and am constantly fascinated by the differences.. intellectually I can grasp Christmas in Summer but not emotionally. I grew up in Wisconsin, on the banks of the Mississippi and now I am just blocks away from the Pacific ocean. I would refer you to the academic schedules but the academic year starts in February after a 1 1/2 month summer break. It is divided into 4 terms, with two week holiday at the end of each term. The granddaughter is 12 and yet going to "college" a designation for some high schools. In Wisconsin, we started school around Labor Day weekend. Have a good year and keep up the good work.
I picked up some Monteverde Lightning black ink(30 ml) with an Innova pen. Nothing special I thought until I turned it on its end. Silver sheen! My retailer is trying to find out if he can get more in larger quantities.
Great vid & discussion, Waski! My super power is being able to purchase a pen that costs over $50. A PEN! I’ve spent years beating my rationality into submission with the purchase of pens slightly more expensive than the previous. I’ve honed the mental gymnastics of justification for these purchases over the years with great effort. My friends look at me like I should be institutionalized when/if I tell the price of a pen. A pen!?! The little thing where all it does is put ink on paper? That thing that you can find virtually everywhere & most of the time for free? Pharmaceutical companies give them away in droves! Even after years of trying to eliminate my guilt over purchasing such a common item & paying what is a ludicrously exorbitant price (let’s be honest), I still privately shriek back in horror in thinking that I could’ve fed thousands of neglected dogs, or planted hundreds of trees to save the planet, or prevented the devastation of strip mining for gold nibs. These wicked pen manufacturers with their precious resin injection molded plastic & liquid alchemy inks! Wicked I say! The shame! And don’t even get me started on paper. You paid how much for a notebook??? A NOTEBOOK?!? Shuddup you guilty conscience! Get back in your dungeon! Anyway, I hope you’ve had a good first week of teaching. 😂
You're right! I hate to mention prices of my pens because I always get "How can you pay that for a pen?" Meanwhile, I can find something equivalent in the person asking me that. I don't have a camper, a boat, a snowmobile, an ATV, an oversized house....etc. There is a lot of good I could do with the money for others. While I think that's important, I also believe that a life of complete self-sacrifice is not for me. I want to enjoy at least part of the fruits of my labors. Unless I'm cut down early, I don't plan to die a millionaire!
My Waterman Carene seeps ink at the sides of the nib like yours does. It ruins an otherwise lovely pen to some extent, at least for me. If you ever figure out how to correct the problem, please do a video on it!
Rather than putting an item in an on line shopping cart, put it on a list. Doing that the website operators can't mess with it, and you can re-rank your list. You can add notations to your list.
Very good advice!!! I had wondered how they could "afford" to offer such plans ... higher prices all the way around.... not a good thing!!!! I hope you have an awesome & safe school year!!!!
Legalese can be fun. I don’t know if this is still the case everywhere but it used to be illegal to charge more for using a credit card. It was not illegal to post the credit card price and provide a discount for using cash. The result is the same but the legal implications for the business were/are real.
It's not illegal to charge less for cash, but it is a violation of the credit card companies merchant service agreement. The Visa and MasterCard companies can pull their services from the merchant if they find out. However, there have been lawsuits working their way through the courts to prevent visa & MasterCard from doing this.
It's extremely rare that I write a check. They are more common in the US than in most countries. When I lived in Turtle Lake, ND, a lot of businesses had "counter checks" where you would write your account number on the check they had right there and pay for an item. It's been 20 years since I lived there, so I wonder if that's still the case...
@@WaskiSquirrelBank transfers are common here. You simply transfer the funds into the bank account. Plus direct transfer, such as first of month payment for lawn and garden.
![YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Sneaking [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1ILUps2zDFU/mqdefault.jpg)
Fascinating discussion, Waski. I had wondered about the financial model of these 'offers', and it's just as bad as I suspected. Having worked in banking (and lived through 2008), I never trust financial institutions.
You would definitely know it from inside. I will give my bank credit for loaning me money on an unusually small house: they almost didn't because they couldn't find comparable houses, so they had to go a different route from typical mortgage loans. But I still didn't like feeling like a criminal under interrogation!
Thanks for this common sense talk. I've likely got all of the pens I'm going to have; certainly more than I need. Chris Sanze compared the quest for another pen, to a dog chasing a ball. Now matter how many times the ball is thrown, the dog will keep running.
In this hobby I think most of us have more pens than we need. And yet I find myself looking at pens!
Great pens + inks, as usual. Pens, like automobiles, never pay retail. I only wish our schools were more focused on fiscal literary than on STEM, too. Have a great school year.
I know the school where I teach does teach fiscal literacy. But these offers are geared to tempt the vulnerable. A kid who knows better can easily be trapped.
Great selection again of pens and inks! I completely understand using the wettest possible pens to use up certain inks. (Though the Sailor made me think of a safety razer, with the "DE." Been using a '66 Gillette Slim Adjustable for decades, so...😁)
The 2314-F is the fountain pen version of the dip 314 that was JRR Tolkien's "weapon of choice" (I don't think he ever bought a pen. The Esterbrook 314 was the freebie type given to students and faculty of Cambridge, and JRR was notoriously CHEAP.) As a rabid fan of vintage Esterbrook pens, always great to see one in use by someone else.
Kind of with you about the Parker 51. In my experience, very dry writing (though very typical for the time, not really preferred by many that want to use the wettest pens possible without dumping globs of ink) and, generally just not anything exciting to write with.
I get not spending when you don't really have the money. Being on a fixed disability income since 2011, I have to budget to get anything extra.
Recently, got a Sheaffer-Eaton era bottle (the burgundy and gold labels) of Sheaffer Skrip Red. Still bright, currently was out of red, and Sheaffer Skrip Red is THE red, far as I'm concerned (only brighter red that doesn't lean towards pink or orange. Basically identical color to BIC red.)
Didn't exactly NEED it, but I was currently out of a decent red (which I do use somewhat regularly), and then the Midwestern excuse: got a good deal on it. 😁
I've mentioned the copper transitional Esterbrook SJ I recently purchased. Again an amazingly low price, and the only one I'd ever seen "in the wild." And I want to have a complete collection of the cellulose acetate era Esterbrook pens. Had saved, and was able to get it.
Means passing on many others that I might like. Just the breaks.😁
I don't generally have the option to hold things in a "shopping cart." My budget, I have to do the restoration myself, so it's really just eBay for me. But there's still the "watching" option for auctions. Comes down to the wire, then you can decide if you really want it.
The payment thing? Have lived 57 years without using credit. Not time to start. 😉
I never thought about what pen Tolkien used, but that is nice to know. I enjoy that nib. Now I'll have to look up what typewriter he used... (Hammond, a brand I've never heard of)
I use a Gillette safety razor as well, but mine is newer and not adjustable. But a single blade is enough to keep my face smooth.
57 years without a credit card is a good choice. After learning my lesson early, I pay mine off monthly.
I tend to put things im my "shopping cart" on eBay as well. Things disappear while I think about them. A really low-cost Hermes Ambassador (typewriter) recently sold, and I missed it. But I'm sure another will show up eventually...
@WaskiSquirrel CS Lewis is more known for a typewriter, though he wrote exclusively with a dip pen as well (his brother typed his stuff for the publisher.) He said he couldn't think while typing.
What typewriter or dip pen? Not a clue. I've never found either out. He was at Oxford, so I just haven't figured it out yet. 😉
The ads for the more modern safety razors haven't convinced me to get one. Started with my dad's probably 1950s Gillette non adjustable, but the first one I found was an Adjustable, and as my facial hair is somewhat coarser than some, the Adjustable is perfect for me. Usually a couple clicks beyond "1." Found it at an antique store for $2.50. Boiled off residual soap, been using it since. Why? Because these old Gillette razors are the only ones that I've never cut myself with, and nothing electric works for me. And you can't beat the price for blades. You gonna pay $15+ for a 5 pack of multi blade refills, buy even cheap disposable ones for $1 each, or $9 (what I pay for 100 blades) or up to $20 for 100? 😁 The cheapest price for this chore is my choice. And the razor blade holder will last for several lifetimes.
In my case, it’s the FOMO which has triggered me to make impulse purchases (of watches these days since I’m on a sort of permanent fast on fountain pens) and opt for No interest EMIs which reduce the guilt of overspending to some extent.
As you said, these easy payment options have certainly made me buy more watches than I’d have bought otherwise.
In India, some watch retailers offer 3 equal payments with no interest and no processing fee also. They’ll run the credit check and if approved, we’ll have to make online payments through bank accounts, Google pay etc.. Even though no credit card is required for these payments, I’m sure credit check will fail if we don’t have credit cards !
I've had to get over FOMO. In the vintage pen world, a really nice pen can disappear.
I used the 4 payment per month service you’re talking about. It. Works fine as long as you’re disciplined and only buy one item at a time.
Great discussion. I have avoided using this payment method for the "frills" such as pens and of course ink. But we have used it on things that are more necessity items such as a fridge. We were careful with the payments and were fortunate enough that we only had one catastrophic incident at a time. School started in our Corporation on August 8th. Every year they seem to push it forward a few days. I hope your throat feels better soon. I was the school nurse and always felt so bad for the teachers as their voices got weaker and weaker through the first week of school! 😢
The discipline is vital for these services. I don't even object to a credit card, if paid off monthly. But the interest on a credit card is hard to escape from once you get too much on the card...and the credit cards make it easy to do that!
Yeah, I got in credit card debt once in my early twenties. Had to get a second job to pay it off and haven't used them much since. I do debit.
Credit cards prey on naïveté. And the interest rates are almost usurious.
I was always completely exhausted after the 1st day of school. The 75 is silver. It is (or is really similar) to the Parker I got for hight school graduation.
The first day is always the longest! Good to have the weekend here to recover.
Great Vid my friend, always enjoy your videos. Good luck with the start of school!
Thank you!!!
Love the drive at the end!
It's a beautiful area!
such good thoughts. very much appreciated
Thank you!
Love pens
Me too!
Well, thank you for talking about this service. I had noticed it floating around. Thankfully, so far I only noticed one or two pen stores using it. I’ve noticed that 4 payments are interest free, but one can also go with 6 payments for some interest and maybe even more options are available - I haven’t looked that deep into it. 4 interest free payments looked suspicious enough to me - I thought for sure someone pays for that and it’s probably retailers 😅 looks like it’s mostly luxury stores that are using this route, although, Etsy is on that list too.
I was really curious about Etsy! Since they're the middleman, does that mean that the person selling on Etsy has to wait for 4 monthly payments? Do they make less because Etsy used this service or does Etsy eat the cost? I couldn't find that out in time for this video, so I didn't put it in.
And, yes, good to be suspicious of things like this!
@@WaskiSquirrel so I have had my little store on Etsy for a number of years now and their fees that we sellers pay have gone up significantly especially in the last year or so. Do I like it? No, but I am with them because they take on risks that I as a small shop might not be willing (or able) to take on my own and some of those risks are related to financial transactions. I want my customers to feel safe when they pay and my fees take care of that (or at least I am lead to believe so). Similarly with that payment service you have talked about- I get the money in full and can send out the item to my customer who continues to pay on their end (Etsy does take that risk on). The thing is not every seller has that installment service available to them- Etsy offers it when it has no trust issues with your shop (you don’t owe them money as a seller in your fees) and it knows you are reaching a certain financial threshold they have set for you on a monthly and yearly basis.
8:27 The Commonwealth Edison Co engaving on the Esterbrook J got me Reading on Wikipedia about unhealthy energy business. Interesting. I like my Estebooks a lot. Their high capacity ebonite feeds makes it possible to try different inks, and wite a whole page just with one dip. Thanks for the video!
When I do a "Survivor Pens" video on this pen, I want to talk a little about this business. But the pen itself is a great one!
School is in full session here, starting after the first of the year and summer break over Christmas and January.
I want to recommend Fountain Pen Therapy, especially his visit Naples and visit to Delta pens.
My comment on when school starts and ends was partly inspired by you. In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are quite different than mine.
I will check that out. I subscribe to the channel, but have not seen that video.
@@WaskiSquirrelThank you for thinking about me. I should point out I am not native to the Southern hemisphere and am constantly fascinated by the differences.. intellectually I can grasp Christmas in Summer but not emotionally. I grew up in Wisconsin, on the banks of the Mississippi and now I am just blocks away from the Pacific ocean. I would refer you to the academic schedules but the academic year starts in February after a 1 1/2 month summer break. It is divided into 4 terms, with two week holiday at the end of each term. The granddaughter is 12 and yet going to "college" a designation for some high schools.
In Wisconsin, we started school around Labor Day weekend.
Have a good year and keep up the good work.
I'm too cool for school 😄.
My favourite pen is a parker slimfold from late 1960s.
My grail pen is a vintage montblanc 146. I just missed out on one 😢
The Parker Slimfold is a nice design. And the Montblanc 146 writes very nicely. The vintage ones are piston fillers and ebonite feeds.
I picked up some Monteverde Lightning black ink(30 ml) with an Innova pen. Nothing special I thought until I turned it on its end. Silver sheen! My retailer is trying to find out if he can get more in larger quantities.
That's interesting! I'm not buying ink right now, but maybe I can let myself buy a sample.
Great vid & discussion, Waski! My super power is being able to purchase a pen that costs over $50. A PEN! I’ve spent years beating my rationality into submission with the purchase of pens slightly more expensive than the previous. I’ve honed the mental gymnastics of justification for these purchases over the years with great effort. My friends look at me like I should be institutionalized when/if I tell the price of a pen. A pen!?! The little thing where all it does is put ink on paper? That thing that you can find virtually everywhere & most of the time for free? Pharmaceutical companies give them away in droves! Even after years of trying to eliminate my guilt over purchasing such a common item & paying what is a ludicrously exorbitant price (let’s be honest), I still privately shriek back in horror in thinking that I could’ve fed thousands of neglected dogs, or planted hundreds of trees to save the planet, or prevented the devastation of strip mining for gold nibs. These wicked pen manufacturers with their precious resin injection molded plastic & liquid alchemy inks! Wicked I say! The shame! And don’t even get me started on paper. You paid how much for a notebook??? A NOTEBOOK?!? Shuddup you guilty conscience! Get back in your dungeon!
Anyway, I hope you’ve had a good first week of teaching. 😂
You're right! I hate to mention prices of my pens because I always get "How can you pay that for a pen?" Meanwhile, I can find something equivalent in the person asking me that. I don't have a camper, a boat, a snowmobile, an ATV, an oversized house....etc.
There is a lot of good I could do with the money for others. While I think that's important, I also believe that a life of complete self-sacrifice is not for me. I want to enjoy at least part of the fruits of my labors. Unless I'm cut down early, I don't plan to die a millionaire!
My Waterman Carene seeps ink at the sides of the nib like yours does. It ruins an otherwise lovely pen to some extent, at least for me. If you ever figure out how to correct the problem, please do a video on it!
I'll be doing some research on this. Annoying!
Rather than putting an item in an on line shopping cart, put it on a list. Doing that the website operators can't mess with it, and you can re-rank your list. You can add notations to your list.
Good point! My Amazon list goes back two decades worth of stuff I never bought.
How often do you refill the inks each time?
I try to do one fill per pen, but sometimes I weaken and do multiple fills of the same ink in a pen.
Very good advice!!! I had wondered how they could "afford" to offer such plans ... higher prices all the way around.... not a good thing!!!!
I hope you have an awesome & safe school year!!!!
Exactly!
And a good year so far!
Legalese can be fun. I don’t know if this is still the case everywhere but it used to be illegal to charge more for using a credit card. It was not illegal to post the credit card price and provide a discount for using cash. The result is the same but the legal implications for the business were/are real.
It's not illegal to charge less for cash, but it is a violation of the credit card companies merchant service agreement. The Visa and MasterCard companies can pull their services from the merchant if they find out. However, there have been lawsuits working their way through the courts to prevent visa & MasterCard from doing this.
That's interesting. If they're offering a discounted price for cash payments, that may be just enough to get around the law!
To your point, I have a Debit card for most purchases. Checks seem out of date. I do not have a credit card.
It's extremely rare that I write a check. They are more common in the US than in most countries. When I lived in Turtle Lake, ND, a lot of businesses had "counter checks" where you would write your account number on the check they had right there and pay for an item. It's been 20 years since I lived there, so I wonder if that's still the case...
@@WaskiSquirrelBank transfers are common here. You simply transfer the funds into the bank account. Plus direct transfer, such as first of month payment for lawn and garden.
You have more consumer protection if you use a credit card.
@@awesomebeautiful8782 And with using a debit card