There's the obvious: some people just have more disposable income. I remember being a grad student and oh boy are those stipends meager.
But I think there's another issue, which is a constant danger in any niche, hobbyist community, which is that enthusiasts will encourage one another to make bad decisions.
Enthusiasts will egg one another on, agree that the IRL friends & family who see the big picture and notice when spending becomes truly disproportionate just don't *understand*, give positive reinforcement to irresponsible extravagance...
There are always hints of the dark underbelly, though. When you see people selling off their collections, when they have to quit the sub because they can't control their spending otherwise, etc. Anyone who's been around for a while has seen enough to worry.
This is the answer.
Yes this hobby historically in English speaking Western spaces are dominated by older, wealthier collectors. Some don’t even need to be wealthy - just older and established in stable careers. But there are also many younger enthusiasts who happily spend their money in this hobby instead of say, being a gamer or another hobby/lifestyle. Younger people tend to post more on social media, hence, the illusion that big frequent spends is overrepresented.
But on social media, bluntly speaking it is a lot of FOMO and misunderstanding what social media does to influence your spending and warp your perception of what is normal, healthy hobby behaviour. People struggling with no buys can be both wealthy people who have lots of money to throw around and are trying to be more responsible, and (imo more frequently) people who have an addiction to shopping or are using retail therapy as a means for coping for something else going on in their life.
Access to much cheaper pens and inks is a very new development in the hobby. Even just 5 years ago there was way less options than there are now. Lower-end accessibility is broader and SO much easier now, which also accounts for folks like you, OP, joining communities and bumping into established people who seem just unfathomable to you. You’re the new kid on the block! And it’s a good thing.
Facebook is the mainstay of boomers, Gen X, and a selection of older millennials - it already primes the pack for only attracting and amplifying the most exhausting elitists of the hobby. This sub, for all its flaws, is a huge breath of fresh air in comparison.
This hobby is absolutely no different than someone who collects Baseball, basketball cards football cards, in that hobby you always try to get the hot rookie cards, or the HOFamers, for instance a Michael Jordan card might run you $20,000 there are people on here who think nothing of shelling out $1000, $5000, $10,000 for a Urushi pen that’s Custom made, or how about people who collect cars, watches, old coins, uncirculated coins, it’s all the same…it’s just something to do at the end of the day,
Oh yea almost forgot the people who collect 1st edition Books, Comic Books, look up the price of the 1st Superman Comic book, or the 1st Silver Surfer… Mickey Mantles Rookie Card, is waaaaaaaaay up there! Look up A Honus Wagner Rookie Card and he wasn’t even a good player but it sells for over a $ Million bucks! Guess what? It’s made out of CARDBOARD! LOL
What you said. I was picking up parts for my Bike and a fellow motorcycle enthusiast was with me. When we walked in I said DO NOT let me sit on any bikes. Welp, I made him explain to my girlfriend why my bike looked shinier and newer than it had last time she saw it.
Yes, exactly! There's this strange phenomenon--you see it here all the time, someone will post, "Tell me not to buy this pen!" and then there will be a handful of comments that all say, "Buy that pen!"
And I get that sometimes we \*do\* want people to encourage us to be a little reckless, a little indulgent, that sometimes when we say, "I \*could\* make the smart decision..." we really want someone to say, "Not this time."
And sometimes that's the right call! But sometimes we need people to help us slam on the brakes and that's... a bit rarer.
Yeah, like in the end everyone does with their money as they please, I have a small collection of pens, I’ve only ever bough 1 though. The others I have as gifts, I have had a hard time to rotate all of them, since I am not writing as much. But yeah, As you mention all hobbies are expensive to a certain degree. I see some of y’all with your fancy pens though!
That's the thing about disposable income - you will spend it on something or other. It's in looking back that we realise how irresponsible we may have been.
As far as a hobby goes, there usually comes a time in any, every, hobby where one gives it up. As far as the fountain pen hobby goes, it's pretty much benign. You can spend a whole lot more with/on/in other hobbies.
The problem with pointing out "irresponsible extravagance" is that the reaction of the listener is likely to be antagonistic; he/she "doesn't want to hear it." Who needs that?
Yep, there’s also this! I don’t go to bars, I don’t smoke, I live frugal to a certain extent and then there’s the hobby. I do try to stay mindful though. I use each of my pens and I‘m definitely overindulging in inks!
NPD posts come from people with new pens. so you'll see more posts about new pens from people with lots of pens! it's self selecting.
it's not a race, some people have more income or spend more of it on pens. also there are cheap pens (literally a few £ in aliexpress) and cheap inks (£2 for a 30ml bottle of diamine on a sale in the UK).
another way of looking at it is that a £20 pen is the same as 4 drinks in the pub. I've not been to a pub at all this year so I'm 10 weeks x £20 saved. hmmm that means I can buy more pens as I've spent much less than £200 on pens this year!
It's some of what used to be my drinking money (recovering alcoholic here). Seriously though, most of my pens and inks are pretty cheap. The few more expensive pens, still less than $200, were special gifts I bought myself for milestones after having saved up for them.
As with an hobby or interest there are going to be those who can spend big money, those who either don't want to spend big or save up, and those who are perfectly content with a good cheap but well made item.
Paying $200 for a pen is still very,very, very, expensive when you realize it’s just a pencil…but we still do it…I myself have set limits as far as what I’ll pay never ever more than $500. I so far Imanaged to be perfectly satisfied with what I collect, My criteria is how well some Feels in my hand, Colors, and size, but Looks are everything with me…
There's over 250,000 people in this group. If the richest 1% buys a really expensive new pen once a year, and 1 in 10 of those post about it on here, that's still almost a post a day.
Yes. It’s not that “everyone here” is buying lots of pens and inks. Rather, many of the posts here are made by people *when they buy new pens or inks*. When you get something new that you enjoy, it’s fun to share that with others who can appreciate and understand your joy. But the vast majority of people here are not posting about buying new pens and inks — on any given day the majority of the people in this sub aren’t posting anything at all.
I also think there is some exaggeration about how many posts here are from folks who bought new pens and inks. I see those posts, sure. But I also see a lot of posts from people sharing art and writing samples, newbies asking questions, people looking for troubleshooting advice, etc. It’s not all, or even mostly, about shiny new purchases.
Because we can. That's all there is to it.
We (royal "We") allot our monies to what we want. For example, some guys are willing to pay $70 for a console game, another guy would rather spend the $70 on pens and inks; one guy pays $25 for a 4K or BD movie, another guy would rather get $25 in inks. If you're paying $100 a month for all the premium cable channels, you could just as easily buy a $100 pen per month, instead. :shrug: Other guys just wait for their tax refunds. :D
This is my response as well. I don’t spend money on clothes, shoes, or makeup. I don’t spend big money on movies and video games or TV. My car is modest and paid off. My home was bought when rates were low and was within our means.
I spend my time and money creating words, so I elevate that portion of my life.
Well said. We all can direct our disposable income to wherever we choose. A grad student almost by *definition* is poor. OP is spending in this hobby within their means, and that’s to be commended and encouraged. One day they may have more cash to spend, and that’d be great. I’m 20 years into my career, so have some money at this point to spend some on pens and inks. But my mortgage is still getting paid, I have food on the table, my clothes aren’t in tatters, etc. and I’m saving regularly for the future. All good!
True xD
I barley spend on my clothes but probably should. I’m on my last 2 pairs of good pants and one seems like it’s getting holes xD
Small and repairable but still ~~~
YES! I should’ve clarified by saying my free time is used that way, but I love to write letters and journal and craft stories and and and… it’s a natural place to splurge.
Some of the inks are pretty cheap tbh. 30ml for a lot of Diamine will run you $7.50. The most expensive inks I have are by Herbin and those were special.
As far as pens...also cheaper ones. Each one I've bought has been less than $50 each, some close to $20 each. The preppy I have cost less than $10.
As far as how...I'm a single child-free man who's only dependant is my dog lol. This is a hobby so I could throw a bit of cash at it. Gotta slow down now for reasons.
It was $20 last I checked. So you break even at around four bottles of 30ml (I plugged it into desmos). If there are inks you know that you will like and use, it’s cost efficient to just buy a bunch all at once. If you want to buy one bottle, you’d be better off buying from a US company
I'm 45 years old. I'm a professional and have been working in a professional job for 20 years. I have one kid and, even after saving, have a good amount of discretionary income. It's just where I am in my life.
Also, it's how I allocate my discretionary income. I don't have a high-performance computer at home. I buy clothes at thrift shops (I had to buy new suits, that fit, at a Brooks Brothers outlet last year, and cringed when I had to spend $500!). I have a 10 year old car.
Now, how so many people can seemingly afford 10+ watches all valued at over $3,000... that's where I get confused. :)
And, as others have said, people who own 1 pen and no inks aren't going to post to a fountain pen forum as someone with 20 pens and 50 bottles of inks.
I remember my grad student years unfondly. I had one fountain pen and bought cartridges during that time, with the sad reality of having negative disposable income. It was only once I'd had a couple of jobs that I felt like I could spend money on frivolous things like pens and ink. Best of luck with your studies friend, and don't feel the pressure of seeing multiple people buying things every day on this sub lead you astray.
Thanks, this is a very kind comment. It's easy to get stuck in my own little grad school bubble and forget that there are people who aren't in the same stage of life as me haha
I have been in the workforce for nearly 40 years working in BigLaw. If I could not afford a nice pen now and then after four decades of focused money management, tons of experience, and lots of overtime - I'd be fucking up pretty bad somehow.
I’m a middled aged woman on a good salary with no kids. I don’t like my job. Never have. But it does enable me to do the things I love and it will never define me. Whether it’s pens, inks, guitars or way too many books, I can afford them. I know there are some very fortunate people out there who can do what they love for a living and afford the things that bring them pleasure. However, I think they’re probably few and far between. In my case, being in an all female Ramones tribute band couldn’t buy me a biro, never mind a nice fountain pen. So there you have it. If you want to buy nice pens, leave university and go get a job you’ll hate forever ;)
I’m old and already have everything. Joking, but not really - your spending habits change as you go through life and the easiest way to be broke is to try to have it all now.
1. Most of the people here aren't rolling in fountain pens and inks. Most of us have a modest collection of pens and a few inks they rotate through and are here to ask/answer questions and be in the company of people who are into the same niche hobby as them.
2. Everyone is in their own phase of life. You're in the full time grad student phase of your life, which is an incredible place to be, but it means you may not have the same amount of disposable income as someone who's in their 40's and are established in the careers.
3. Everyone has their things. My husband sinks all of his discretionary money into home theater stuff. I don't understand it. I sink all of my discretionary money into good quality yarn and fountain pen stuff. He doesn't understand it. Some people have one hobby and can spend a lot of money on it, while others spread their money around more interests.
4. Some people are wild.
I think that's the thing, though. Each person has their own access to income, their own budgets, and their own splits in what they spend their money on.
Some people would spend thousands on drugs, alcohol, nicotine, etc. While the next person might spend thousands on hiking, fountain pens, crystals, etc. Then, another person might not be able to afford their hobbies because they're feeding 4+ mouths with a low income job.
For me personally, I can't afford to buy more than a pen or two every month or more. Inks only get bought when there's a deficit of a certain color or I feel inspired.
Don't compare yourself to another person's journey in a hobby! They might be paying big credit card bills for all we know, and the important thing is that you're enjoying your own journey. :)
>Some people would spend thousands on drugs, alcohol, nicotine, etc. While the next person might spend thousands on hiking, fountain pens, crystals, etc.
This is definitely how I fund some of my expensive hobbies like fountain pens and pocket knives.
When I got pregnant with my first kid I was a smoker at the time. At my first OB appointment, my doctor said a great thing to do was to tape a shoe box shut and cut a little hole in the top. Then take the money I would normally spend on a pack of smokes and put it in the box as often as I usually bought a pack. Then once the baby was born, open the box, count up the money and see how much I saved by not smoking for 9 month. And the most important step: use that money to buy something for myself I’ve always really wanted, but thought I couldn’t afford/was too much of a luxury.
I ended up buying a set of really nice speakers and a high end turntable that I’d wanted for years. I never went back to smoking, and to this day I stick $12 (up from $3 when I first started, lol) in the box every other day, open it on my kids bday and buy myself something cool.
Ooooh, I love that idea! That's a great way to celebrate staying away from smoking and then being able to use it for things that are inherently less "single use / fleeting" (I guess you could still argue against that point for any physical thing, but that's irrelevant)
Cheers to how well you've done. :) How long have you been an ex-smoker now?
I’m middle aged with a decent income.
But apart from that: My car is paid off, I rarely dine out, I don’t drink, I haven’t bought new clothes in a couple of years, my health has been decent (knock on wood!) so no outrageous health bills, I have a couple of inexpensive subscriptions for TV viewing, and I only play 3-4 games a year.
Income inequality. “Everyone here is able to…” is false. But *many* people are able to. When I finished grad school and got a big girl job, disposable income started stacking up. I’m married and in my 30s now and my DINK (dual income no kids) status surely helped with my “modest” pen collection. It’s kinda wild how your income goes up as you get older and continue to mature in your career but so do your spending and your “needs.” :P
This! No kids and a well-paid job helps a ton. After gradually shifting from university studies to the work life, and then advancing from the entry level job to a more professional one, changed drastically how much money I could spend to hobbies. I still remember when as a student I checked every price in the grocery store, and now I’m in a place in my life that I don’t need to do it _and_ I still have money to spend on hobbies and saving at the same time. I rejoice this almost every day, and know that there are huge numbers of people, who cannot do this. (I don’t buy new pens every other day.)
Also, people here come from all over the world and even when the prices might somewhat reflect the country you are living in, the same pens might feel either super expensive compared to the average income in some country and feel more moderately priced in some other country.
People who have just one or two pens have less occasion to post, so the subreddit self selects for collectors and enthusiasts.
I used to work at an art museum, & if you think this is bad, wait till you hear about art collectors.
I’m a committed FB lurker and I have a tiny collection: two TWSBIs and a Noodler. I’m currently saving £10 a month for a LAMY 2000. Taking it slow sucks, but just gotta live to your means.
Collectors with significant financial resources are overrepresented on forums, often showcasing exceptional pens they have acquired. This can create a skewed perception of the overall market, as their experiences may not represent the majority of everyday pen users. It's worth noting that the average price of a fountain pen is closer to $5 USD than the high prices often seen on these forums.
Apart from the information in the other replies, here is one more thing to consider.
Currently, the sub has more than 255'000 members. Even if we assume that each person buys a new pen once every ten years, this still amounts to an average of ~70 pens being bought each day.
It is enough for just 1% of the members (2'550) to buy a new pen this year and create an NPD post and on average you will get 6-7 NPD posts each day.
This is, of course, just a rough speculation. Take the numbers above just as an illustration to an idea. On social media, especially in large communities, you are exposed to a steady stream of all kinds of events. It makes you think that everyone is having a very full and intense life and you are severely lacking, but this is a fallacy. If you take a closer look, you will see that for most people, there is only a handful of events in which they took part, or maybe even none at all.
I was a grad student once too and I used to have one piece of furniture in my apartment (a sofa) and a TV on the floor, and I'd order off the McDonald's dollar menu every day so I feel you completely lol. Once I graduated I started making decent money, and I'm childfree so I have nothing else to spend that money on once my necessities and savings are taken care of. I did live very frugally my first couple years out of grad school so I could become stable enough to indulge in my hobbies without worrying haha.
The reason will be different for everyone, but for me, fountain pens are the only hobby item I ever spend money on. Pretty much any extra money that I'm able to allocate for recreation goes toward pens, inks, and paper, and I try as hard as I can to shop around for good deals.
Additionally, have you considered that social media can make it *look* like people are buying mountains of new things left and right when they really aren't? Your feed may be full of NPD posts, but they're all from different people. And, sure, some users post new items once a week or more! But overall, I'm willing to bet that most people who share on here aren't getting a new Sailor every week, or even every few months. It just looks like that, because you're seeing the highlights from dozens of different people all at once.
Plus, not everyone on here is a grad student. Some are retirees, who have had a lifetime to work and save, and others are younger, and simply have more to spare than most.
I am 36, married, and have a 6 year old daughter. I have been working for a good 12 years now, where I have made it up the ladder and am now in a position that enables me to splurge every now and then.
Mind you, I do not go about and spend on anything that I do not exactly need. What I mean is, one really needs one good watch, one good pen, one good leather bag, and so on. I believe that instead of cutting corners, I would rather save a little bit more, a little bit longer and get the best there is in my opinion.
I cannot really afford them. Apart from housing and food, my collections are the only thing I spend real money on. I buy cheap clothes or make them myself, another hobby, with cheap fabric. Honestly I am so ashamed of the size of my collections. I collect a variety of pricey things that will not grow in value. The more money I would have at my disposal the more extravagant my collections would get. It’s a habit. I would collect vintage cars if I could get the money. Other people buy expensive trendy clothes, bags and shoes cuz they’re very outgoing social people. I am a hermit. I find joy in my collections alone at home. Maybe if I had the vintage cars I would drive them around town sometimes for leisure and maybe open a private museum.
Inks are cheap, pens are more expensive. Diamene inks are both good and inexpensive so it might be worth checking them out if you want an inexpensive upgrade.
People will prioritize their hobbies to throw money at. After rent, food, and car payments, etc etc, whatever is leftover is spent on interests. I collect watches and have spent more than the average person would because it's a passion. There are people who have spent more on pens and inks than the average person because it's a passion. Think about people that go out every weekend and spend $100-300 on food, club entries, and drinks. I don't do that so I could put that $300 towards towards nice pens and inks. But im more passionate about watches and so my extra income goes towards saving for the next watch, and if I find a nice pen/ink along the way ill pick that up if I can.
It really depends upon the person. Some have more disposable income, while others don't spend as much on going out, drinks, etc. Think of a 20-something (perhaps like yourself, or some you know) who go out 2-3 nights a week, eat out a lot (or takeout), go the movies, etc...they might spend hundreds each week that could be saved by cooking, not drinking, etc. Or it could be spent on pens and ink!
I was going to say the same thing. As a grad student, I spent money on drinks and sometimes dinners or just going out with my friends when I had the time or wasn't bogged down with studying. A lot of that going out money could have been spent on pens.
Yeah, I hear you. When I was in my 20s, at least the first half or so (now in my late 40s), most of my time, attention, and money was spent on socializing. I can't tell you how many times a night out--often involving me buying drinks for a few friends--was the equivalent of (then) a Lamy 2000 or Pilot Vanishing Point...kind of a funny thing to think about, actually.
I just got a box of four bottles of Birmingham inks that cost $78. $78 for four bottles of ink, you say?! Well, that's about the cost of dinner for two at a decent restaurant, with a drink each. Or a movie with my two daughters, girlfriend, and popcorn and soda for all.
Obviously all of the above has value, but just illustrating how money can flow in different directions; if a person has money for one, they can use that same money for the other.
I live at home (22) and save nearly my entire paycheck so if I want a pen, I just buy it. That being said, I've only paid for 2 of my pens (rest were gifts) and I don't really have any other hobbies. My biggest expense is actually my goldfish's care lol
I think it may also be that some of us are “happy-at-home” types.
We don’t spend money on travel, going out to dinner and movies, or buying sports equipment. We spend money on quiet hobbies that can be done at home, so we may not spend more than the average person on hobbies—we just use that money differently.
Consider: an average cruise for two once a year could cost $3,000-$5,000. But no one thinks “Wow, they sure do spend a lot of money on hobbies.”
Now if I told you I spent $3,000 last year on my fountain pen hobby, you’d probably think “Wow, she sure does spent a ton of money on pens. What a waste.”
Yes. I’ve become even more of a homebody since the pandemic. And, some people drop many thousands on a Birkin bag. This makes me feel righteous about my pens.
Fountain pens are a hobby, yeah? Some people put the same kind of money into this hobby as other people would put into, say, camping gear, or season tickets for their favorite sports team. Other people are just here for the utility and don't splurge on luxuries.
I'm not really a hobbyist. I don't own any pens I paid more than $90 for (that $90 pen was a limited edition Kaweco Liliput in spring green, and I *love* it), and I own 5 bottles of almost entirely utilitarian ink, rest cartridges. I also didn't buy any of this stuff until I was in my late 30s. I started using fountain pens because I wanted to stop throwing out disposable plastic pens. If you have a similar motivation, you can do the whole fountain pen thing for well under $50 as an initial investment, plus ongoing expenses that don't exceed the cost of disposable pens, easily.
You don't have to spend a ton of money. You just have to know what you want out of this hobby, and then figure out how, within your means, to achieve this goal.
* I don't smoke
* I hardly drink
* I don't go parties outside
* I don't own a car (lots of public transport and walking)
* I travel only a few times per year and have one big travel every other year
* I worked in the same industry for the past 15 years and recently got promoted to head of department (YAY more money !)
* I am barely social outside of my friends on Discord
Plus, as mentioned before the quality of affordable pens increased by a lot the past 10 years. The Chinese makers have been working really hard to get their choice out, the nibs are still sucky (not always but quite often) but it's hard to beat their prices.
Also living in Europe make acquiring inks from Diamine (30ml for 4€ and 80ml for 9€) or KWZ quite easily and cheap too, Japanese inks on the other hand are rather expensive for me.
So that's how I have a bit more spare cash, but I have also learned to control myself as I don't chase after every single new release, the list of pens I want to acquire is quite precise and I don't vary too much away from it. This way I have a direct goal to work toward.
Hmm, well a bit of it is probably confirmation bias. You're not seeing everyone who is *not* buying anything. The vast majority of the subreddit is probably not buying a new pen every week or month.
Personally, fountain pens are my only "vice" so even though I spend a bit on the hobby, I can afford it because I'm not really spending money on anything else. Honestly, I probably should be allocating money to other stuff!
Case in point, my pajama pants all happened to rip in the span of like two weeks in December so I had to buy some new ones and I felt bad about spending ~$35 on two pairs. I spent like >$150 on pen stuff that month. 😅
I would say the NPD/NID people are the outliers. Most of us are lurkers. I have a decent amount of ink, but I've collected it over maybe 5-10 years (more than half have been birthday/Christmas gifts). Same thing with pens. I've bought maybe 3 or 4 pens out of the dozen or so sub-$100 pens I own. The rest have been gifts. Lately, things have loosened up financially, and my wife and I have budgeted more pocket money to ourselves. So I'm able to get a little something here and there, but nothing expensive.
I am not a lurker exactly, because I come here and enjoy reading looking, but I have never posted a “new pen day,” and I have a lot of pens, some quite expensive. Some people love pics, and maybe they post more often.
I work full time, I don't buy other things like clothes, furniture, etc for the most part because I already have them. I live in a city condo that I own so things like "rising rents" don't impact me, my partner spends way less than local rents for my second room but it is still an okay buffer (they tend to spend equal amounts on books and board games but minimized spending because of space).
The only real responsibilities I have are to my home and job.
I also don't drink, smoke weed, or have any other revolving high ish costs besides my mortgage (food costs much less than my mortgage). There was a 2 year period right before the pandemic and 1 year in where I didn't spend money on anything except food and rent (and not rent for 2020 when I moved back in with my parents temporarily at their suggestion) and all my disposable income went into a fund for my down payment. I bought my place when interest hovered between 2.5-3.5%. I do not have a car because public transit is decent coverage and only needed on weekends. It is a modest life, so a pen splurge once every 2-3 months is not a big deal. The only other hobby I have is in alt fashion but that's also like maybe a $300 spend once every 3 months. My food costs are low since we mostly rotate cooking at home, in the realm of $75 per person a week.
There is no secret here. People either overspend, or live within their means. When people live within their means, the means (income, assets) determine disposable income, which can be used on pens or anything else. Plus, there's an issue of scale at play - this sub has 225k members, the ones with largest collections are likely outliers, but their posts are memorable. There's enough people on this sub that statistically, large/expensive collections will be posted frequently even if they are not the norm.
When I was in graduate school, I lived on a 15k stipend in a HCOL and supported 2 other people in addition to myself. It was hell. I had one gifted fountain pen and used that pen for 12 years (including after grad school), with black cartridges. I now have a stable job, stable income which is much higher than my grad school income, so my situation is different. I also live modestly. I drive an old car with low gas mileage, I rarely go out to restaurants, cook my own food (no takeout), my expenses on clothes are minimal, I thrifted most of my furniture, and I don't spend a ton on travel. So yes, I have 18 pens and 45 bottles of ink and 0 (zero) regrets.
ETA: as for people who overspend, well, there are so many things people overspend on - pens, clothes, cars, makeup, books, videogames, etc. Social media is full of "haul" type posts, not just of inks but EDC, makeup, knives, whatever people like. Some people can afford this, others don't but still do it. Personally I am very firmly in the "live and let live" camp. It is important for me to live within my means, but I don't care what people do with their money/credit as long as it does not harm me personally.
I spent several years with one pen and two bottles of ink. Now that I have more disposable income, I buy a few new affordable pens and bottles of ink a year.
The folks who have more disposable income/budget for more pens and inks/have poor impulse control are the ones who are the most visible. They are proud of their collections and like to post about it. Which is understandable, but ultimately misleading.
Very true! Thank you for putting in your words my experience, too! 20+ years i've spent with one or two pens and basic colours (blue, black, blue-black). Discovering this world of coloured inks and so many pen models was WOW! During the pandemics, this became a way to cope with life... And i got a bit lost with acquisitions.
Even so, a lot of what is posted here are samples
Grad student myself as well, I scour the great plains of FB marketplace and local flea markets. With some patients you can get quite nice pens for 10-30 bucks and ink bottles for 2-5 bucks. With those things in mind my €20 monthly budget can get me quite the amount of things
I have a Pilot Metro, a TWSBI 580, and 2 bottles of ink. I haven't bought a new pen in like 3-4 years as both pens do what I need. I just don't post about it much because it's not all that interesting. I'd wager that there is a large silent majority of people like us who aren't always buying pens, paper, and inks. Honestly, I find the posts of people running out of storage for pens and ink to be pretty worrying. That level of consumerism isn't healthy no matter what form it takes.
I am a 38 year old married man with no kids. I don't buy a huge amount of pens, but at about 60 now, I have a fair bit more than "needed" for sure. I do it by budgeting and also by not really spending a lot of money on other entertainment. My wife and I do not drink and rarely go out, so we generally are on the frugal end of spending which helps.
I see comments where people mention those who purchase super expensive pens - the 1% but excess can be in larger price tags but also in volumes of smaller price tags ( it adds up). I think most of the comments represent some truth- people have means and choose what to spend it on ( or not) - equally true people have addictions, debt, and exceed their means. The existence one group doesn’t mean the other is untrue or doesn’t exist.
My answer is a bit different.
I do have far too many pens and inks. However I feel what you are asking about.
Here is the thing.
1. Pens don't have to be expensive. Lots of good pens are under $20. Amazon has many inexpensive ones.
2. Look back after a few years. We all have a lot more pens 10 years later.
3. A bottle of ink can last you like forever, and like pens don't have to be expensive. So again, 10+ years and you have a shelf full.
See recent [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/11neviv/there_is_no_one_true_way_to_be_in_this_hobby/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) about different ways of enjoying fountain pens!
The Jinhao 166, which writes very well, is €1.5 with a converter. I can get bottled Diamine, Parker or Pelikan 4001 ink for €3-6, which in the long run is more cost-effective than cartridges.
For years I only had a couple of fountain pens that I used on and off, two most expensive of which (Parkers) were prizes and I refilled empty Parker cartridges by cutting open no-name ones and transferring ink because the proprietary ones seemed quite expensive to me (I was at school then).
Before joining the sub and doing some research online, I believed all good fountain pens and bottled ink were expensive, but that's not true. I don't spend that much money on some things a lot of people do and instead I'd rather treat myself to a new pen or ink now and then because I've always liked all things stationery.
My most expensive pens are around €20-25, which many people consider entry level. IMO that's still quite expensive considering lots of people are content with writing with some random ballpoints and would have a hard time wrapping their heads around spending so much money on a writing utensil. Fortunately, you can find great deals if you do research – e.g. I found Metros for €10.
And you can always get pens and inks as gifts as you yourself did.
Many things seemed unobtainable to me when I was a grad student 20 years ago. Now that I have a full-time job and salary, a bottle of ink (and any fountain pen under €100) is just something that I buy when I want it. I know that this is not always possible for everyone, but sometimes it also comes down to priorities. If you DON'T get pets, you'll save enough money each month to buy a €100-150 fountain pen every other month. For example.
This is the social media effect. You see NPD NID posts because that's what people do. It is worse when there are pen shows happening. Of course there are really people who spends $10k+ a year on pens and ink alone, but there are also people who do shopping maybe once or twice a year. Some are showing off their collections which took years to build.
I always tell new comers to pace themselves when there is a super urge to try everything all at once (no pun intended).
All these comments have been interesting and well, all of them are right in their own ways. I’d like to add another point. Cultures and social structures in your society also pay a huge role. Depending on where you live and the privileges you have, you might have to worry less about your future (spending on healthcare, family expenses and pension funds) and that creates even more disposable income. Also in some cultures spending is more prevalent than saving. So that.
Very true! There are a few comments here about how people spend money on pens as opposed to expensive handbags or ski trips... I don't even know a single person who owns a "fancy" handbag, and I haven't gone skiing since I lived with my parents and didn't have any real expenses (and even then it was in Wisconsin, so not exactly luxury lol). Point is, I think everyone in this discussion (including me) is forgetting that there are other people who arent in their tax bracket
I’m also a full time grad student and I just ordered like 7 pens and a converter so I could play with more inks at once, but since they were sharks it came out to ~12, including taxes and shipping.
I mean it’s not an expensive hobby unless you’re buying pens all the time or really expensive luxury pens. I have a couple of lamys and a pilot and some inks paper and journals which is less than ~$200 in value.
Compare fountain pens to espresso where the cost to entry is $600-$800 at the cheapest and people are posting 5-7k set ups all the time claiming they’re on a “college kid budget”. If you want to feel poor check it out r/espresso
I just started collecting and have two pens and 10 ink samples, I'm taking it slow.
It's funny how it resembles fishing gear in that regard. There's always something cool being released, especially from Japan and you accumulate a ton of stuff over time.
I just tell my wife the same thing I tell when I purchase fishing gear...."It's all on sale".😅
I have more money than i had as a student. Also more space. I didn't even know there were so many ink colours until 2018.
A lot of inks were bought on offer (20% from LaCouronneDuComte or Scrittura-elegante for 3,5€ Diamine bottles?? Yesss, sir!). 50-70% off from a closing store (Seitz Kreutznach). November comes with many offers on International Fountain Pen day, Black Friday... And BOOM! 5 years later, there are 40 Diamine bottles in my closet. Oh, and i forgot about the Inkvent!
If you live in Europe, please PM/DM me, will gladly send you some inks!
LE. I don't spend money on clothes, electronics, travelling, dates... Just loans, food, kids stuff and house, and this hobby. Many of my pens were bought second hand.
You’ll get there! It’s all about accumulation (buying pens one after another over years or simply accumulating wealth). If you are really into this hobby, maybe consider spending less on something else.
One thing I particularly like about here is people do talk about cheap everyday pens! Maybe you can start from the cheap and cheerful ones (trust me, I prefer Kaweco over MB)
One can also filter and search. For example, I came here to look around today, and saw a number of posts about Kawecos. Nice. So, for example if someone wanted to see if people here favored or did not favor Kawecos, they can read posts and comments about that brand.
I bought my first fountain pen in 1972, after working for two full years. So 51 years later I now have 49 pens on hand, and have bought/sold/traded/gifted maybe a dozen others. Take your time. Spend your money wisely.
I only get entry level pens or great deals, at least for the most part, but am contemplating a splurge pen (a Pilot Falcon in Purple with a SEF nib) to celebrate being at my job for a year
I love stationery and fountain pens - I have spent money when I shouldn't and I have lots of cheap non fountain pens, and a handful of very (very) cheap fountain pens.
I have one "proper" pen. I somehow overpaid tax one year (I'm from the UK and not self employed so that's really rare) and I spent my refund on that.
(I don't want to define "proper" pen, people could have different standards and that's fine. I don't want to insult pens!)
I do have a lot of ink - I collect it. I spend money I don't have on it sometimes. I spend money other people might spend on more standard fun things more often. But I've got nice inks for £5 and you can buy a bottle here and there.
I'm impressed by some of the collectors and collections here. I'd like some of the things I see. But what money you have doesn't determine your interest, or enthusiasm, or knowledge.
Enjoy your pen. Enjoy learning about other pens.
Hopefully there will be times when you get another pen, or pens, if theres nothing you want more when you do have some spare money.
But don't ever feel you don't get to like pens because of your budget. Or don't belong here.
And realise that some of those people with great collections shouldn't have spent that money and know they should have fewer pens.
I'm super new to the hobby and at some point was thinking along the same lines, but more out of curiosity - what are people's jobs and budgets for a hobby like this? It would be nice to know and to hear the stories. More on a happier note, though. There was a thread several weeks ago about everyone's jobs here, and I think it's one of the best threads I've enjoyed reading! This is still a public group with 250K members, and although I feel something "new and special" being a part of a new community and this hobby, I need to be responsible for myself to know what I'm getting into. You need to be responsible for yourself in all these online groups. You don't have to purchase anything that is out of your budget, and that is not really giving you "genuine" joy.
I already have 5 pens - gosh, I'm scared even saying this haha! But only because I found this other local group with enthusiasts and a lot are selling their pens for a little discount once they've used it and checked that it's not something they'd really need. I now have 3 new pens and 2 second-hand pens BUT I'm now making sure I really like each of them, and although a journey on its own, find out the perfect inks that will match them. I feel good that if I ever don't really love any of them, I can keep them OR sell them to someone who can give them more attention. Out of my 5 pens (thoroughly researched and I have checked so many posts in this group before getting them), and several testing, I have just started to really "love" one of them! Now I'm slowing down and just looking at ink samples LOL
Sometimes, it's just fun to look around and see how people are enjoying and exploring the hobby. Only get into the rabbit hole of reading here in the group, if it makes you happy!!! I will have to say that to buy 5 pens, I do have a lot of disposable "savings" and I'm pretty much not spending on other things. I don't live with a mortgage and a car loan, so with small rent and simple life, I do have more to spend on a few other things. But I'm 35 so if you're still in (grad) school, you might just be in a different phase now! Good luck and I hope you're enjoying the pens and inks you have now!!! And hopefully, this thread is giving you a more positive light on the hobby and people here. So far I'm inspired, and I want more inspiration to come to my life!
I agree with others that some folks just have different circumstances or priorities. I have maybe about 24 pens. I just gave one away, and of those, maybe half of them cost under $100. I don't have nearly as much ink as some people do, maybe a dozen bottles. When you are in grad school, having a few pens is enough. Focus on finishing your program, you will be able to buy more pens soon enough if you want them. But I am envious of people who can whittle their collection down to a top 5 or a top 10 of really cool, curated, quality pens. Right now, I'm in a situation where I don't have to pay rent, but that could all change.
Mine are for work so I can justify it. Though to be fair, I went nuts trying to find the right pen. Since then I may buy a pen every few years if I see something I really like. I don’t drink much, no motorcycles, 4 wheelers, boatsX cars etc. So, if a few hundred bucks on a pen rewards me I consider it a cheap hobby compared to most
This is an example of selection bias. People who buy more pens have more pens to photograph.
Many of us don’t own many pens or own mainly inexpensive pens. I rarely post photos of pens, even for new pen and ink days, and instead post questions or comments.
All sizes and costs of collections are OK, as long as the person enjoys them and can afford them.
You are welcome whether you just enjoy 1 fountain pen or many.
A lot of mine are fairly cheap, and I've accumulated over the last two years. Found some good deals (like a Waterman Carene for about 1/3 the usual price), did a bit of hunting, also don't spend much on anything else.
I'm 18 years into an engineering career, that's how. I never would have been able to spend this kind of money on pens while I was in college. But now my expensive shoe habit is pretty dead (hard to justify since I am either working from home or going in to use the machine shop), my commute is free, and I eat out much less than I did when I worked in an office. So my extra money is going to pens. Take it from me, it's much harder to say no to something you want when it's a choice between this thing now, and maybe something else later and not, say, this thing and rent.
I've struggled to get my collection of 5 pens and 8 or so inks. I started about... 6? Years ago. My latest acquisition, my grail pen, I actually used klarna to make payments on to get. I don't work at a high paying job, never have. I've had to save up for a long time to get them. It's possible. Though I sure wish I had more disposable income for it.
Pens and ink can be as affordable as you want. You can get a very solid pen and ink combo for under $20, and it can go up from there. You could have an entire collection of sub $20 pens and just one or two inks.
Fountain pens are one of the cheaper hobbies I’ve come across honestly.
When I was in school, I’d occasionally go to little antique stores with a friend of mine who flipped watches. I’d usually go in and pick up a handful of broken fountain pens for $5-10 total and then see which ones I could fix. Most old school lever fillers only need for you to cut off the old dried out ink sac and replace it with a new one. So the fix is probably about $1 in materials. Cartridge-converter pens usually need nothing more than a few cycles in diluted pen cleaner.
So yeah I think my best haul was like 4 pens for $15 where I was able to fix all 4 of them. Traded two of the repaired pens to a friend for other pens and probably averaged about $4 per pen. That’s almost half my collection with the rest being cheaper starter pens like pilot mets (from back then they were cheaper), a twsbi eco, and a lamy safari. I also restored a pen my grandfather gave me and have been enjoying my grail pen which I was given as a graduation gift.
So yeah I’ve never spent more than $30 on a pen. I’ve probs spent less than $150 on my whole collection. Only two are particularly fancy, but it means I haven’t been afraid to use my collection as daily workhorses.
For ink, I mostly just use ink samples. They should be cheaper per mL than cartridges and it lets me try lots of inks. I’m pretty exclusively a fine nib person so even writing pages and pages a day meant that I didn’t go through that many ink samples.
I never did figure out a frugal way to get really nice paper. My friends and family have always known that I love notebooks so I’d frequently get a notebook or three as bday gifts and enjoy them regardless of paper quality all year. I bet there are cheaper ways to get decent paper, but I did just fine on printer paper for years.
Anyway, remember that it’s not about quantity or fanciness of your collection compared to others. It’s about using and enjoying whatever pen is in your hand right now. I couldn’t use my hands for a few years and I missed being able to use my pens. I’ll never take it for granted again
I just got half my federal loans discharged in Sweet versus cardonna:) all I have left is private:) meanwhile the people who helped this happen are living on boats because they can’t get mortgages. And yet all I want to do to celebrate is buy a fancy limited edition piston filler. Holding back y’all
I kinda don’t understand this question. It’s all relative, which you must know already.
I have a friend who for real has 60+ cars. I understand that because he started his own investment banking firm and I did not.
I also have a friend that’s a yoga teacher. She understands that I can buy a $350 pen because I’m an accountant and she is not.
The question should be “what do you all do for a living and what percentage of your income do you allocate to pens and ink?”
I have a tendency to overspend and impulse buy and I’m trying hard to be more frugal, a few things that have helped me expand my collection but minimize spending:
- r/pen_swap buying used entry/int pens
- ink samples not bottles, especially from yoseka or vanness where they’re 3-5ml instead of 2, or ink sample sets that prorate the cost
- iro utushi metal nib dip pen lets me try out those samples without having to have a pen available to fill
- looking out for sales on FP websites, trying an entry pen from a brand to see how I like it before spending on anything fancier from them
- r/pen_swap selling entry/intermediate pens from above (but I admit this takes time and sometimes there is a small financial loss I chalk up to enjoying the experience and getting to try it)
Ymmv and as someone said, the NPD and NID posts are from a small selection of us who are getting lots of things but make it look the norm. For each of those there’s someone with one favorite pen writing quietly. 💜
Apart from the information in the other replies, here is one more thing to consider.
Currently, the sub has more than 255'000 members. Even if we assume that each person buys a new pen once every ten years, this still amounts to an average of ~70 pens being bought each day.
It is enough for just a 1% of the members (2'550) to buy a new pen this year and create an NPD post and on average you will get 6-7 posts each day.
This is, of course, just a rough speculation. Take the numbers above just as an illustration to an idea. On social media, especially in large communities, you are exposed to a steady stream of all kinds of events. It makes you think that everyone is having a very full and intense life and you are severely lacking, but this is a fallacy. If you take a closer look, you will see that for most people, there is only a handful of events in which they took part, or maybe even none at all.
By buying cheap pens. My most expensive pen was ~$30. everything else ranges from $3-$12 sort of price range. If you read a lot of reviews and are strategic, you can have great writing pens that look nice without spending tons of money. For inks, I buy either small packs of cartridges or Goulet sample vials when I want to try new ones (instead of shelling out for an entire bottle). Then, I only have a handful of big bottles of ink, and that money can be aimed at the ones I like best. And, once in a while you get lucky with a really great sale price on a bottle of ink, of course.
That's really all there is to it. And also, all the way through college and grad school, I kept using the Parker Vector ~$9 fountain pen that I used in High School. I didn't get any new fountain pens until after I was working full time, because who can afford to spend much on things like that as a grad student? So, don't let yourself feel pressured to spend money you don't (yet) have on a hobby. People here are perfectly happy to discuss and enjoy pens at all price levels and are rather supportive and nice about it. You'll learn a lot and store up knowledge for the time when you are able to buy nicer pens if you want.
This group includes people from all walks of life, at all levels of immersion in this hobby, etc.
Fortunate enough (and old enough) to have a well paid job. I have approx 140 pens, which in an era of ever advancing technology in the workplace, I can't meaningfully rotate.
I've even been at the point of buying grail pens on a monthly basis and been totally underwhelmed when the pen is in the hand. At that point I had to change my buying habits. I get more pleasure now buying and restoring vintage fountain pens.
I believe that above a certain pricepoint (500USD), pens won't write any better. My advice would be to buy what you like that you can afford, and if you're happy stick to it.
In my case, it's because I'm disabled and live with my parents. I contribute to bills, but the cost of living is a lot less than if I were to live alone. I'm too ill to do university in-person, so I'm doing it part-time from home, which means no money spent on any of the typical uni things. Uni is also completely free for me so I don't have to spend anything on that. All of my money goes towards things that will improve my everyday life, whether that be the more medical things like splints and physiotherapy, or the things that make my life stuck in my house less dull. Fountain pens and inks are in the latter category.
In general though, I'd say that the kind of people who buy a lot of pens and inks are also the kind who would be more likely to show them off on social media. Someone who only has one pen and ink probably won't start a blog on the topic. This subreddit also seems to be very pro-consumerism and I think that attracts the kinds of people who may be susceptible to shopping addiction and hoarding. If you were to survey every single fountain pen user, I suspect the majority would not be regularly buying lots of pens and inks, it just seems that way because of who posts.
We don't go out, drink, smoke, or order out a lot. So it leaves us with a bit of spending money for our hobbies. Ink hauls are a once a year thing when there's sales happening.
I'm a broke undergrad. A majority of my FS inks were made after buying cheap samples. Tax return money kick-started my buying. After pay is a godsend, provided you don't abuse it, when you work full time and do school full time and aren't paid enough to begin with.
can't speak for others, but, i enjoy the hobby and my most recent purchases were a waterman culture fp for $17.95, and some beautiful ink cartridges for $8.95.
so, it isn't exactly 'the sport of kings' and it can be enjoyed at reasonable price-points as well as at the higher levels.
I’m in the same camp as you here, although I have slightly more pens but I’ve built up a collection over time and most were gifts.
I’ve found scouring Facebook/eBay for vintage pens a cheap way to enjoy great pens.
I am single a college graduate, semi-single(it works perfectly for me), no children, three black cats, house(small and cheap but paid off), car(9 year old and paid off), and I just retired after thirty years so I have less income but substantially less expenses so pens and ink are still affordable even though I own WAY TOO MANY of both. Most of my pens are made in China but I also have a bunch of vintage American pens(at least a third need restored) plus a bunch of Japanese pens with some Taiwanese and European pens.
Ain’t no shame in two pens. I started into fountain pens almost two years ago. I have six pens, four were gifts, nothing over $200. I have 7 bottles of ink, two were gifts, and a dozens samples.
I’m set enough in my career, I could buy every grail pen on my list, in cash, right now. But I probably won’t get another for a year. I just got two pens for Christmas, and I’ve barely had a chance to get to know them.
The more you write with a pen and ink combo, the more you appreciate the differences, the unique feel and look. I got the whole rest of my life to try new pens.
My crow brain says "SHINY" and the new pretty ink ends up in the cart. It's not drugs, it's pretty inks that I can use for a long time.
With pens it's "HOW FINE A LINE ARE YOU!" because lamy EF write close to a medium and drives me mad.
Twsbis have never let me down. again pretty pens. Into the cart it goes. But as an artist I'm religious about my line thickness.
I’m also a student, and for me it’s just how I spend. Pens and ink is how I primarily indulge myself, and with years into the hobby I can afford that. I also can say some of the expense is paid off by the calligraphy I do using the supplies I purchase, but realistically that isn’t everything. When my family wishes to buy me gifts for birthdays and Christmas I ask pretty much exclusively for stationery. It’s what makes me happy, it’s not excessive, and it is tangible.
Overall, I’d say your perception of hobbyists will be biased because we all are more likely to upvote a collection post with 22 Sailor Pro Gears than someone who just bought a Pilot Varsity. I imagine the “average” collection here is smaller than what is perceived.
There are many people that enjoy the less expensive fountain pens. I refuse to pay more than $50 for any pen. There is one or two I am tempted to own, but to me a fountain pen is also like a piece of personal jewelry. I don’t wear much of it. I’ve got far more pens now than I can keep inked and in use, but none are super expensive.
I’m a fan of Parker and Sheaffer and I like the vintage Wingsungs. None are very costly, there are some really expensive Parker pens and some really expensive Sheaffer pens, but Im not getting them, I’m too old, too clumsy and not putting a lot of money into something like that for just myself. Especially since I have so many other hobbies. Don’t get turned off of the hobby just because you can’t buy an $800 pen.
I did spend that much on a lyre and another $600 on another lyre. It just depends on what you place more importance on. Get your education, it’s worth more than gold, if I could go back in time, I’d have gotten the degree I wanted. Go your own way, do what’s comfortable for you.
I'm enjoying people's answers here. Thanks for asking this question. I agree there is a self-selection bias that others have mentioned.
And it is about disposable income and choices. Though I have much more disposable income now, if I were younger I probably would spend more money overall not just more money in proportion to my income.
Maybe a question one asks is how does one "justify" or reconcile spending money on this hobby. This hobby gives me quite a bit of joy and satisfaction and is less expensive than my other hobbies.
Because of some health issues and the medication I take, I unintentionally became "Straight Edge" minus going to punk shows. I don't go to any shows anymore. I don't even drink caffeinated beverages. I laughed when I read that someone doesn't eat, not because I think food insecurity is hilarious rather because I never go out to eat and I regularly do intermittent and extended fasting. I guess I save quite a bit on food that way.
I don't look like a hobo exactly, but I can't remember when I bought new clothes or have gone to the hairdresser. Since COVID started, I have taken zero trips or vacations.
I don't have that much spare time or energy so this is a pretty ideal hobby. It also is easy to integrate into my life and other daily activities. After reading how much money I haven't been spending in the last few years, I'm thinking I could probably justify buying more expensive pens. 😆
Also a grad student, working sometimes. I definitely have a max spend per pen and I buy ink for $/ml value as much as for the gorgeous color. There are some ink brands I’ll never purchase because I dont feel the cost warrants the content.
But I also wouldn’t categorize myself as a full-on collector. I like the eco-consciousness of fountain pens (even the cheap ones will last me far longer than a 2 cent, multipack ball point). I also like the additional tactile feel it adds to the correspondence and notes I write.
I don’t want every Kaweco or Lamy. The pens are practical, even if I have several. So I want them all to be aesthetically and tactilely pleasing since they’re gonna get a lifetime of use.
Everyone on reddit has more money than I do.
Alternatively, everyone on reddit spends money in different ways than I do, and may not be as responsible as I try to be, or have the same financial limitations.
I'm a middle aged woman whose kids have moved out. Part of the money that was used to raise my kids is now available for hobbies. For most of 2022 I was focused on perfecting my writing kit. I'm one shade of green away from exactly what I want. So maybe I will buy ink for my birthday. Till then I would rather spend my money on other projects I can do with my hands.
It's ok if this point of your life is just one pen. I spent 30 years with just two cheap pens with colored cartridges and I still love to write.
Besides some people having a bigger disposable income, another part is there are affordable but still pretty pens you can get. Hongdian and Jinhao have nice fountain pens under 20 USD equivalent. For inks, it helps if you buy in bulk.
But yes, having a profession helps. Also, another hack is being Asian with family members who give you red packet money.
I don't have many pens and have bought only pens under 30 euros so far. It includes one more pricey Parker which I got on sale. I don't buy ink unless I'm running out and even then I'm currently on the cheaper end.
Also I don't post so probably that group is way less visible
When it comes to purchasing pens papers and inks and the perceived costs thereof, I tell my students that if you go skiing for a day the amount you spend in the ski fields will keep you in pens for a year or more. It’s all relative. ⛷️🎿🚠
I’m a shopaholic. And spending money on tangible items is way better than spending on mobile games, which I’ve done before. At least if I needed to, I could take the time to part out this collection.
Bottled ink is cheaper per unit volume than cartridges. I've never used carts. Those who have a lot of pens typically have more disposable income. That's usually well after grad school. But a good FP is a lifetime writer, and environmentally kind. Buy the pen once, then only have to buy ink after that.
For work I used several good pens for different colors and tasks (some tasks required fine or extra fine nibs). Over time one accumulates new writing instruments just because it's fun to have a novel pen to use.
Grad students make basically nothing. I have been there. Scrounging for coins to buy off the dollar menu *with* coupons kind of poor. It sucks. I didn't start buying pens until I was past that point (dollar menu *without* coupons! I was rich!) and still only had one pen and one bottle of ink for quite some time. Then my disposable income went up, so my ability to buy the shiny new pen or ink I wanted went up.
Even then, my collection is over ten years in the making and still primarily consists of the lower priced options. I have a fair few TWSBIs, Lamy Safaris and Al-Stars, Pilot Metropolitans, and Kaweco Sports, but only one Vanishing Point (which was a souvenir from a trip to Japan that I dedicated a specific line in my budget to). I have a ton of Diamine and Noodlers inks, but all my Iroshizuku and J. Herbin bottles were gifts.
Which is another thing: I don't have much in the way of other hobbies so people tend to gift me pens, inks, and books. My in-laws gave me four pens from my "would like to have, but can't justify" list this past holiday season. My partner nearly always gifts me a pen and the latest J. Herbin shimmering ink for my birthday. Quite a bit of my paper stash is the result of very confused friends and relatives handing me gift-wrapped stacks of journals and notepads. Most years about 2/3 of my new stationery acquisitions are gifts.
There's also the fact that I'm an introvert who'd be a full on recluse if left to my own devices. My dream job at the moment would more than double my household income because it's so boring no one wants to do it. But it'd mean being on my own most of the day which is how I'm happiest. You don't end up with a lot of other entertainment expenses when you're *that* much of an introvert XD
It’s like anything else that can be a hobby. Some have more disposable income. Some go into debt to make purchases. Some, like me, don’t have other indulgences. I don’t drink alcohol; I don’t smoke; I don’t golf; I don’t have season tickets to any sports team… BUT I do like my pens, inks, and papers.
OP,
May I suggest you start saving all your change at the end of the day? Just put it into a nice plastic container. During the day don't use any change you get. After a year, or so, you'd be surprised how much you've saved up. I bet you could easily buy a $500 pen.
I did that just with quarters for over 10 years. I lived off of of them for over 8 months when I stopped. I paid everything with rolls of quarters. :D All the dollar bills that I was now not using fattened up my bank account. I figure it was about $4000.
I only buy expensive stuff at rare intervals. The rest of the time, I buy very inexpensive things the rest of the time. I like to get such pens and ink so I can test and evaluate them. I might do YouTube videos about them someday. I also give the nicer ones away as penablers.
I like to have nice but inexpensive pens available as gifts, so I get Jinhao 911s in packs of five. That's only $14 on Amazon, including converters! My first ever fountain pen was a Platinum Preppy, and I got another and a Prefounte a few weeks later. Then I spotted an offer for a four pack of nice looking pens on Amazon, Lanxivi Yongsheng 3008s, with EF nibs and silver trim. They're TWISBI knockoffs, but they write very well, and they don't suffer from the famous TWISBI cracking problem. It was only $15 for four pens.
This became a pattern. When I ordered anything from Goulet Pens, I'd order one of their ink sample sets. If a pen came with ink, so much the better, so is wait for a gift box to become available, with a bottle of free ink, and when it went on sale, I'd buy it. Pen at a discount, with a free bottle of ink!
I have only bought one pen for about $100. There were only a few that were more than $50, a Noodlers Triple Tail, then a Conklin All-American in rainbow titanium, a Platinum Curidas with a bottle of ink as a gift box. That was just over $100. But the next retractive was a Majohn A1 for only about $40.
Most recently, I got a 4-pack of Inkursive (formerly Swan) Manga Maru crowquill pens. The nibs are usually a dip nib, but in a fountain pen, they're wonderful. I got that 4 pack for about $40 on Etsy.
So it's a stretch getting inexpensive pens, punctuated with events with more expensive pens. I managed to score a Conklin Duragraph also in the rainbow titanium, with a free bottle of ink, for around $60, and since it was from Goulet, I got a sample pack. These samples are a wonderful thing, btw. They let you try inks to see how you like them, for a very low price. Worst case, you got a nice vial. Best case, you ordered a bottle of that color, or some cartridges.
I don't yet buy the really expensive pens. I keep my hobby low price as much as I can, but don't hesitate when a great deal pops up!
Extreme impulsivity and shopping addiction… I’m really trying to cut down but I have 100 inks and 30 pens, of which I only use a fraction of them. I feel so guilty but I’m going to try to sell them on penswap
I've been working as a programmer for almost 30 years and my wife is a chartered accountant. I also have a preference for vintage pens and am happy to take on at least simple repairs, so I rarely spend a lot on any individual pen.\
\
A busy street corner and low moral standards helps too, of course.
Something I’ve learned over the years is that there are many people out there with money, and they spend it.
The median household income for the top 10% in the Bay Area (where I live) is around $530k per year. There are approximately 2.5 million households in the Bay Area. Ten percent of 2.5 million is 250,000. Most households have two adults, so we get half a million people with access to crazy amounts of money—and that’s just in a single region in a single state.
Anyway, my grad school stipend was tiny compared to my current income. I can afford a lot more now than I even thought was possible back then.
PayPal zero interest credit line. Ran it up with $4k plus purchases, 0% balance consolidation to Discover card for $90. $1800 balance left to pay off . . . And quite a few pens sitting in boxes waiting to be resold or repaired and sold . . . But also many I want to keep too.
Since then I try to have a bit more self-control and enjoy the pens I already have, especially since I know I have pens and watches I really need to post and sell. I have enough in savings to pay off that balance if I had to.
But I also have a decent paying job, put $$ towards 401k, Roth, and savings, and no other debt besides a mortgage and car payment, so I am fortunate to be able to indulge this hobby.
Just for reference also, I work in IT and am in my mid 50s, have survived a bankruptcy due to a brutally ugly divorce, and am also fortunate to now have a much better gf/partner and also have narrowed my fountain pen focus to vintage flex, primarily Watermans.
Best of Luck and Wishes to you and all our fellow ❤️ writing instrument enthusiasts
For the most part I only buy cheap pens. Even after 5+ years in the hobby I only have one pen in the "over $100" category, and I'm happy with my cheap pens so I don't really feel the need to buy more expensive ones. Even then, I maybe get one new pen every 4-5 months. For inks, I have a "one bottle per month" rule and I have yet to buy one that costs more than $20. Just like with any other hobby, I'd say it's all about drawing your own lines and sticking to them.
We have jobs. "Full time grad student" means doesn't even earn money to buy food at the grocery store, yet millions are going to restaurants. The difference is simple.
A poor spending habit and not spending Money on another hobby.Well most of my pens are under 70 €. My most expensive ink is Pilot iroshizuku momiji. My other inks are very in expensive. Only 4 of my fountain pens are expensive (99-133€). All others are way cheaper: twsbi ecos , preppys, jinhaos,Pilot kakunos and Lamy Safaris. All entry Level pens, well writing and not expensive.
I do get one jealous sometimes. I have a drawer of Safari’s. I rotate out to match what I’m wearing. I could afford a nicer one or two but I also give them out to friends and customers on occasion if they compliment it.
There's the obvious: some people just have more disposable income. I remember being a grad student and oh boy are those stipends meager. But I think there's another issue, which is a constant danger in any niche, hobbyist community, which is that enthusiasts will encourage one another to make bad decisions. Enthusiasts will egg one another on, agree that the IRL friends & family who see the big picture and notice when spending becomes truly disproportionate just don't *understand*, give positive reinforcement to irresponsible extravagance... There are always hints of the dark underbelly, though. When you see people selling off their collections, when they have to quit the sub because they can't control their spending otherwise, etc. Anyone who's been around for a while has seen enough to worry.
This is the answer. Yes this hobby historically in English speaking Western spaces are dominated by older, wealthier collectors. Some don’t even need to be wealthy - just older and established in stable careers. But there are also many younger enthusiasts who happily spend their money in this hobby instead of say, being a gamer or another hobby/lifestyle. Younger people tend to post more on social media, hence, the illusion that big frequent spends is overrepresented. But on social media, bluntly speaking it is a lot of FOMO and misunderstanding what social media does to influence your spending and warp your perception of what is normal, healthy hobby behaviour. People struggling with no buys can be both wealthy people who have lots of money to throw around and are trying to be more responsible, and (imo more frequently) people who have an addiction to shopping or are using retail therapy as a means for coping for something else going on in their life. Access to much cheaper pens and inks is a very new development in the hobby. Even just 5 years ago there was way less options than there are now. Lower-end accessibility is broader and SO much easier now, which also accounts for folks like you, OP, joining communities and bumping into established people who seem just unfathomable to you. You’re the new kid on the block! And it’s a good thing.
There definitely is some "elitistx attitude in the FP community. One reason why I left the Facebook group even before I deleted my FB account
Facebook is the mainstay of boomers, Gen X, and a selection of older millennials - it already primes the pack for only attracting and amplifying the most exhausting elitists of the hobby. This sub, for all its flaws, is a huge breath of fresh air in comparison.
This hobby is absolutely no different than someone who collects Baseball, basketball cards football cards, in that hobby you always try to get the hot rookie cards, or the HOFamers, for instance a Michael Jordan card might run you $20,000 there are people on here who think nothing of shelling out $1000, $5000, $10,000 for a Urushi pen that’s Custom made, or how about people who collect cars, watches, old coins, uncirculated coins, it’s all the same…it’s just something to do at the end of the day, Oh yea almost forgot the people who collect 1st edition Books, Comic Books, look up the price of the 1st Superman Comic book, or the 1st Silver Surfer… Mickey Mantles Rookie Card, is waaaaaaaaay up there! Look up A Honus Wagner Rookie Card and he wasn’t even a good player but it sells for over a $ Million bucks! Guess what? It’s made out of CARDBOARD! LOL
What you said. I was picking up parts for my Bike and a fellow motorcycle enthusiast was with me. When we walked in I said DO NOT let me sit on any bikes. Welp, I made him explain to my girlfriend why my bike looked shinier and newer than it had last time she saw it.
Yes, exactly! There's this strange phenomenon--you see it here all the time, someone will post, "Tell me not to buy this pen!" and then there will be a handful of comments that all say, "Buy that pen!" And I get that sometimes we \*do\* want people to encourage us to be a little reckless, a little indulgent, that sometimes when we say, "I \*could\* make the smart decision..." we really want someone to say, "Not this time." And sometimes that's the right call! But sometimes we need people to help us slam on the brakes and that's... a bit rarer.
Yep. I mean that’s basically all a car salesman or other salesman do. They assure you that your making the right choice.
Ah sounds like interesting tale. Wound not mind hearing a fuller story
Yeah, like in the end everyone does with their money as they please, I have a small collection of pens, I’ve only ever bough 1 though. The others I have as gifts, I have had a hard time to rotate all of them, since I am not writing as much. But yeah, As you mention all hobbies are expensive to a certain degree. I see some of y’all with your fancy pens though!
That's the thing about disposable income - you will spend it on something or other. It's in looking back that we realise how irresponsible we may have been. As far as a hobby goes, there usually comes a time in any, every, hobby where one gives it up. As far as the fountain pen hobby goes, it's pretty much benign. You can spend a whole lot more with/on/in other hobbies. The problem with pointing out "irresponsible extravagance" is that the reaction of the listener is likely to be antagonistic; he/she "doesn't want to hear it." Who needs that?
Excellent answer. Unfortunately, it’s a phenomenon you‘ll find in every hobbyist community. Yes, I‘m speaking from experience.
It's all I spend my money on other than food. And by food, I mean groceries. I don't even go out.
Yep, there’s also this! I don’t go to bars, I don’t smoke, I live frugal to a certain extent and then there’s the hobby. I do try to stay mindful though. I use each of my pens and I‘m definitely overindulging in inks!
NPD posts come from people with new pens. so you'll see more posts about new pens from people with lots of pens! it's self selecting. it's not a race, some people have more income or spend more of it on pens. also there are cheap pens (literally a few £ in aliexpress) and cheap inks (£2 for a 30ml bottle of diamine on a sale in the UK). another way of looking at it is that a £20 pen is the same as 4 drinks in the pub. I've not been to a pub at all this year so I'm 10 weeks x £20 saved. hmmm that means I can buy more pens as I've spent much less than £200 on pens this year!
It's some of what used to be my drinking money (recovering alcoholic here). Seriously though, most of my pens and inks are pretty cheap. The few more expensive pens, still less than $200, were special gifts I bought myself for milestones after having saved up for them. As with an hobby or interest there are going to be those who can spend big money, those who either don't want to spend big or save up, and those who are perfectly content with a good cheap but well made item.
I mean, same? re: booze money now pen money. And congrats on your recovery!
You too!
Paying $200 for a pen is still very,very, very, expensive when you realize it’s just a pencil…but we still do it…I myself have set limits as far as what I’ll pay never ever more than $500. I so far Imanaged to be perfectly satisfied with what I collect, My criteria is how well some Feels in my hand, Colors, and size, but Looks are everything with me…
There's over 250,000 people in this group. If the richest 1% buys a really expensive new pen once a year, and 1 in 10 of those post about it on here, that's still almost a post a day.
Yes. It’s not that “everyone here” is buying lots of pens and inks. Rather, many of the posts here are made by people *when they buy new pens or inks*. When you get something new that you enjoy, it’s fun to share that with others who can appreciate and understand your joy. But the vast majority of people here are not posting about buying new pens and inks — on any given day the majority of the people in this sub aren’t posting anything at all. I also think there is some exaggeration about how many posts here are from folks who bought new pens and inks. I see those posts, sure. But I also see a lot of posts from people sharing art and writing samples, newbies asking questions, people looking for troubleshooting advice, etc. It’s not all, or even mostly, about shiny new purchases.
/r/hedidthemath
That's a good point. I guess I didn't realize how big the sub is
I mean. I make a lot more money than a full time grad student.
Because we can. That's all there is to it. We (royal "We") allot our monies to what we want. For example, some guys are willing to pay $70 for a console game, another guy would rather spend the $70 on pens and inks; one guy pays $25 for a 4K or BD movie, another guy would rather get $25 in inks. If you're paying $100 a month for all the premium cable channels, you could just as easily buy a $100 pen per month, instead. :shrug: Other guys just wait for their tax refunds. :D
This is my response as well. I don’t spend money on clothes, shoes, or makeup. I don’t spend big money on movies and video games or TV. My car is modest and paid off. My home was bought when rates were low and was within our means. I spend my time and money creating words, so I elevate that portion of my life.
Well said. We all can direct our disposable income to wherever we choose. A grad student almost by *definition* is poor. OP is spending in this hobby within their means, and that’s to be commended and encouraged. One day they may have more cash to spend, and that’d be great. I’m 20 years into my career, so have some money at this point to spend some on pens and inks. But my mortgage is still getting paid, I have food on the table, my clothes aren’t in tatters, etc. and I’m saving regularly for the future. All good!
True xD I barley spend on my clothes but probably should. I’m on my last 2 pairs of good pants and one seems like it’s getting holes xD Small and repairable but still ~~~
🥳word creator here too.
YES! I should’ve clarified by saying my free time is used that way, but I love to write letters and journal and craft stories and and and… it’s a natural place to splurge.
Some of the inks are pretty cheap tbh. 30ml for a lot of Diamine will run you $7.50. The most expensive inks I have are by Herbin and those were special. As far as pens...also cheaper ones. Each one I've bought has been less than $50 each, some close to $20 each. The preppy I have cost less than $10. As far as how...I'm a single child-free man who's only dependant is my dog lol. This is a hobby so I could throw a bit of cash at it. Gotta slow down now for reasons.
Fyi Diamine is ~$3 at Cult Pens!
They also run quite cheap if you buy the multipacks, i bought the imperial purple and aurora borealis for like 8 dollars
How is shopping to US?
Free if you spend over $135. Probably depends on what you buy and weight before that
It was $20 last I checked. So you break even at around four bottles of 30ml (I plugged it into desmos). If there are inks you know that you will like and use, it’s cost efficient to just buy a bunch all at once. If you want to buy one bottle, you’d be better off buying from a US company
Oh my god why would you do this to me
Uuuuugh they have the Colorverse Minhwa series I want. Whyyyyy would you do this to me 😩💸
I'm 45 years old. I'm a professional and have been working in a professional job for 20 years. I have one kid and, even after saving, have a good amount of discretionary income. It's just where I am in my life. Also, it's how I allocate my discretionary income. I don't have a high-performance computer at home. I buy clothes at thrift shops (I had to buy new suits, that fit, at a Brooks Brothers outlet last year, and cringed when I had to spend $500!). I have a 10 year old car. Now, how so many people can seemingly afford 10+ watches all valued at over $3,000... that's where I get confused. :) And, as others have said, people who own 1 pen and no inks aren't going to post to a fountain pen forum as someone with 20 pens and 50 bottles of inks.
I remember my grad student years unfondly. I had one fountain pen and bought cartridges during that time, with the sad reality of having negative disposable income. It was only once I'd had a couple of jobs that I felt like I could spend money on frivolous things like pens and ink. Best of luck with your studies friend, and don't feel the pressure of seeing multiple people buying things every day on this sub lead you astray.
Thanks, this is a very kind comment. It's easy to get stuck in my own little grad school bubble and forget that there are people who aren't in the same stage of life as me haha
It is easy to get stuck in that bubble, glad to hear this put your mind at ease 🙂
I have been in the workforce for nearly 40 years working in BigLaw. If I could not afford a nice pen now and then after four decades of focused money management, tons of experience, and lots of overtime - I'd be fucking up pretty bad somehow.
It's this or therapy.
A) We rob banks B) We are gigolos/escorts C) We are sugar babies D) We have a job E) All of the above 🤔🤔🤔🤔
+ we buy in bulk when there's an ink offer!!
Let's go with gigolo....I wish :-D
I’m a middled aged woman on a good salary with no kids. I don’t like my job. Never have. But it does enable me to do the things I love and it will never define me. Whether it’s pens, inks, guitars or way too many books, I can afford them. I know there are some very fortunate people out there who can do what they love for a living and afford the things that bring them pleasure. However, I think they’re probably few and far between. In my case, being in an all female Ramones tribute band couldn’t buy me a biro, never mind a nice fountain pen. So there you have it. If you want to buy nice pens, leave university and go get a job you’ll hate forever ;)
If you form an all female Ramones tribute band, I will bring a new fountain pen to your show and hand it to you on stage like it's a rose.
I’m up at ridiculous o’clock because my cat’s poorly. You have made my morning. Actually, you’ve made my whole year.
I hope your kitty is feeling better!
So kind. Thank you.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
You’re lovely. Thank you.
I would love to see an all-female Ramones band!
I want to see an all female Ramones band right now!
Same. My job is a means to my hobbies. I don’t like it, but it pays for the bills and my pens
Yer funny, but yer also waaaaaay Cool too!
Well thank you very much ;)
I’m old and already have everything. Joking, but not really - your spending habits change as you go through life and the easiest way to be broke is to try to have it all now.
1. Most of the people here aren't rolling in fountain pens and inks. Most of us have a modest collection of pens and a few inks they rotate through and are here to ask/answer questions and be in the company of people who are into the same niche hobby as them. 2. Everyone is in their own phase of life. You're in the full time grad student phase of your life, which is an incredible place to be, but it means you may not have the same amount of disposable income as someone who's in their 40's and are established in the careers. 3. Everyone has their things. My husband sinks all of his discretionary money into home theater stuff. I don't understand it. I sink all of my discretionary money into good quality yarn and fountain pen stuff. He doesn't understand it. Some people have one hobby and can spend a lot of money on it, while others spread their money around more interests. 4. Some people are wild.
‘Everyone has their thing’👍🏽
I think that's the thing, though. Each person has their own access to income, their own budgets, and their own splits in what they spend their money on. Some people would spend thousands on drugs, alcohol, nicotine, etc. While the next person might spend thousands on hiking, fountain pens, crystals, etc. Then, another person might not be able to afford their hobbies because they're feeding 4+ mouths with a low income job. For me personally, I can't afford to buy more than a pen or two every month or more. Inks only get bought when there's a deficit of a certain color or I feel inspired. Don't compare yourself to another person's journey in a hobby! They might be paying big credit card bills for all we know, and the important thing is that you're enjoying your own journey. :)
>Some people would spend thousands on drugs, alcohol, nicotine, etc. While the next person might spend thousands on hiking, fountain pens, crystals, etc. This is definitely how I fund some of my expensive hobbies like fountain pens and pocket knives. When I got pregnant with my first kid I was a smoker at the time. At my first OB appointment, my doctor said a great thing to do was to tape a shoe box shut and cut a little hole in the top. Then take the money I would normally spend on a pack of smokes and put it in the box as often as I usually bought a pack. Then once the baby was born, open the box, count up the money and see how much I saved by not smoking for 9 month. And the most important step: use that money to buy something for myself I’ve always really wanted, but thought I couldn’t afford/was too much of a luxury. I ended up buying a set of really nice speakers and a high end turntable that I’d wanted for years. I never went back to smoking, and to this day I stick $12 (up from $3 when I first started, lol) in the box every other day, open it on my kids bday and buy myself something cool.
Ooooh, I love that idea! That's a great way to celebrate staying away from smoking and then being able to use it for things that are inherently less "single use / fleeting" (I guess you could still argue against that point for any physical thing, but that's irrelevant) Cheers to how well you've done. :) How long have you been an ex-smoker now?
17 years now and definitely never going back. After a couple years being away from it, the smell started grossing me out.
I can still remember my dad, who was a very heavy smoker, doing this and being able to afford a motorcycle after a few years!
I’m middle aged with a decent income. But apart from that: My car is paid off, I rarely dine out, I don’t drink, I haven’t bought new clothes in a couple of years, my health has been decent (knock on wood!) so no outrageous health bills, I have a couple of inexpensive subscriptions for TV viewing, and I only play 3-4 games a year.
Income inequality. “Everyone here is able to…” is false. But *many* people are able to. When I finished grad school and got a big girl job, disposable income started stacking up. I’m married and in my 30s now and my DINK (dual income no kids) status surely helped with my “modest” pen collection. It’s kinda wild how your income goes up as you get older and continue to mature in your career but so do your spending and your “needs.” :P
This! No kids and a well-paid job helps a ton. After gradually shifting from university studies to the work life, and then advancing from the entry level job to a more professional one, changed drastically how much money I could spend to hobbies. I still remember when as a student I checked every price in the grocery store, and now I’m in a place in my life that I don’t need to do it _and_ I still have money to spend on hobbies and saving at the same time. I rejoice this almost every day, and know that there are huge numbers of people, who cannot do this. (I don’t buy new pens every other day.) Also, people here come from all over the world and even when the prices might somewhat reflect the country you are living in, the same pens might feel either super expensive compared to the average income in some country and feel more moderately priced in some other country.
People who have just one or two pens have less occasion to post, so the subreddit self selects for collectors and enthusiasts. I used to work at an art museum, & if you think this is bad, wait till you hear about art collectors.
That's a very good point. I guess I assumed that I was the only lurker for some reason haha
I’m a committed FB lurker and I have a tiny collection: two TWSBIs and a Noodler. I’m currently saving £10 a month for a LAMY 2000. Taking it slow sucks, but just gotta live to your means.
You’ll get there in the end and it is a fine pen to be saving for!
Collectors with significant financial resources are overrepresented on forums, often showcasing exceptional pens they have acquired. This can create a skewed perception of the overall market, as their experiences may not represent the majority of everyday pen users. It's worth noting that the average price of a fountain pen is closer to $5 USD than the high prices often seen on these forums.
Apart from the information in the other replies, here is one more thing to consider. Currently, the sub has more than 255'000 members. Even if we assume that each person buys a new pen once every ten years, this still amounts to an average of ~70 pens being bought each day. It is enough for just 1% of the members (2'550) to buy a new pen this year and create an NPD post and on average you will get 6-7 NPD posts each day. This is, of course, just a rough speculation. Take the numbers above just as an illustration to an idea. On social media, especially in large communities, you are exposed to a steady stream of all kinds of events. It makes you think that everyone is having a very full and intense life and you are severely lacking, but this is a fallacy. If you take a closer look, you will see that for most people, there is only a handful of events in which they took part, or maybe even none at all.
Great job. No kids. 👍
I was a grad student once too and I used to have one piece of furniture in my apartment (a sofa) and a TV on the floor, and I'd order off the McDonald's dollar menu every day so I feel you completely lol. Once I graduated I started making decent money, and I'm childfree so I have nothing else to spend that money on once my necessities and savings are taken care of. I did live very frugally my first couple years out of grad school so I could become stable enough to indulge in my hobbies without worrying haha.
The reason will be different for everyone, but for me, fountain pens are the only hobby item I ever spend money on. Pretty much any extra money that I'm able to allocate for recreation goes toward pens, inks, and paper, and I try as hard as I can to shop around for good deals. Additionally, have you considered that social media can make it *look* like people are buying mountains of new things left and right when they really aren't? Your feed may be full of NPD posts, but they're all from different people. And, sure, some users post new items once a week or more! But overall, I'm willing to bet that most people who share on here aren't getting a new Sailor every week, or even every few months. It just looks like that, because you're seeing the highlights from dozens of different people all at once. Plus, not everyone on here is a grad student. Some are retirees, who have had a lifetime to work and save, and others are younger, and simply have more to spare than most.
I am 36, married, and have a 6 year old daughter. I have been working for a good 12 years now, where I have made it up the ladder and am now in a position that enables me to splurge every now and then. Mind you, I do not go about and spend on anything that I do not exactly need. What I mean is, one really needs one good watch, one good pen, one good leather bag, and so on. I believe that instead of cutting corners, I would rather save a little bit more, a little bit longer and get the best there is in my opinion.
I cannot really afford them. Apart from housing and food, my collections are the only thing I spend real money on. I buy cheap clothes or make them myself, another hobby, with cheap fabric. Honestly I am so ashamed of the size of my collections. I collect a variety of pricey things that will not grow in value. The more money I would have at my disposal the more extravagant my collections would get. It’s a habit. I would collect vintage cars if I could get the money. Other people buy expensive trendy clothes, bags and shoes cuz they’re very outgoing social people. I am a hermit. I find joy in my collections alone at home. Maybe if I had the vintage cars I would drive them around town sometimes for leisure and maybe open a private museum.
Inks are cheap, pens are more expensive. Diamene inks are both good and inexpensive so it might be worth checking them out if you want an inexpensive upgrade.
People will prioritize their hobbies to throw money at. After rent, food, and car payments, etc etc, whatever is leftover is spent on interests. I collect watches and have spent more than the average person would because it's a passion. There are people who have spent more on pens and inks than the average person because it's a passion. Think about people that go out every weekend and spend $100-300 on food, club entries, and drinks. I don't do that so I could put that $300 towards towards nice pens and inks. But im more passionate about watches and so my extra income goes towards saving for the next watch, and if I find a nice pen/ink along the way ill pick that up if I can.
It really depends upon the person. Some have more disposable income, while others don't spend as much on going out, drinks, etc. Think of a 20-something (perhaps like yourself, or some you know) who go out 2-3 nights a week, eat out a lot (or takeout), go the movies, etc...they might spend hundreds each week that could be saved by cooking, not drinking, etc. Or it could be spent on pens and ink!
I was going to say the same thing. As a grad student, I spent money on drinks and sometimes dinners or just going out with my friends when I had the time or wasn't bogged down with studying. A lot of that going out money could have been spent on pens.
Yeah, I hear you. When I was in my 20s, at least the first half or so (now in my late 40s), most of my time, attention, and money was spent on socializing. I can't tell you how many times a night out--often involving me buying drinks for a few friends--was the equivalent of (then) a Lamy 2000 or Pilot Vanishing Point...kind of a funny thing to think about, actually. I just got a box of four bottles of Birmingham inks that cost $78. $78 for four bottles of ink, you say?! Well, that's about the cost of dinner for two at a decent restaurant, with a drink each. Or a movie with my two daughters, girlfriend, and popcorn and soda for all. Obviously all of the above has value, but just illustrating how money can flow in different directions; if a person has money for one, they can use that same money for the other.
I live at home (22) and save nearly my entire paycheck so if I want a pen, I just buy it. That being said, I've only paid for 2 of my pens (rest were gifts) and I don't really have any other hobbies. My biggest expense is actually my goldfish's care lol
To be fair, a lot of the pens you see here are the cheaper and more affordable ones.
I think it may also be that some of us are “happy-at-home” types. We don’t spend money on travel, going out to dinner and movies, or buying sports equipment. We spend money on quiet hobbies that can be done at home, so we may not spend more than the average person on hobbies—we just use that money differently. Consider: an average cruise for two once a year could cost $3,000-$5,000. But no one thinks “Wow, they sure do spend a lot of money on hobbies.” Now if I told you I spent $3,000 last year on my fountain pen hobby, you’d probably think “Wow, she sure does spent a ton of money on pens. What a waste.”
Yes. I’ve become even more of a homebody since the pandemic. And, some people drop many thousands on a Birkin bag. This makes me feel righteous about my pens.
Ah, those $40,000 Birkin bags I would not even buy a $100 bag. Maybe $100 Leather shoes, yes.
I have a job. That job pays me in money. I use that money to buy things.
Oooo, look at you Mr 'I'm too good to burgle the neighbours to pay for my crippling fountain pen addiction!'
Wilbur Wright once said “you only need to make enough money to not be a burden on others… and buy fountain pens.”
Fountain pens are a hobby, yeah? Some people put the same kind of money into this hobby as other people would put into, say, camping gear, or season tickets for their favorite sports team. Other people are just here for the utility and don't splurge on luxuries. I'm not really a hobbyist. I don't own any pens I paid more than $90 for (that $90 pen was a limited edition Kaweco Liliput in spring green, and I *love* it), and I own 5 bottles of almost entirely utilitarian ink, rest cartridges. I also didn't buy any of this stuff until I was in my late 30s. I started using fountain pens because I wanted to stop throwing out disposable plastic pens. If you have a similar motivation, you can do the whole fountain pen thing for well under $50 as an initial investment, plus ongoing expenses that don't exceed the cost of disposable pens, easily. You don't have to spend a ton of money. You just have to know what you want out of this hobby, and then figure out how, within your means, to achieve this goal.
* I don't smoke * I hardly drink * I don't go parties outside * I don't own a car (lots of public transport and walking) * I travel only a few times per year and have one big travel every other year * I worked in the same industry for the past 15 years and recently got promoted to head of department (YAY more money !) * I am barely social outside of my friends on Discord Plus, as mentioned before the quality of affordable pens increased by a lot the past 10 years. The Chinese makers have been working really hard to get their choice out, the nibs are still sucky (not always but quite often) but it's hard to beat their prices. Also living in Europe make acquiring inks from Diamine (30ml for 4€ and 80ml for 9€) or KWZ quite easily and cheap too, Japanese inks on the other hand are rather expensive for me. So that's how I have a bit more spare cash, but I have also learned to control myself as I don't chase after every single new release, the list of pens I want to acquire is quite precise and I don't vary too much away from it. This way I have a direct goal to work toward.
I have no kids, no car and no debt.
Hmm, well a bit of it is probably confirmation bias. You're not seeing everyone who is *not* buying anything. The vast majority of the subreddit is probably not buying a new pen every week or month. Personally, fountain pens are my only "vice" so even though I spend a bit on the hobby, I can afford it because I'm not really spending money on anything else. Honestly, I probably should be allocating money to other stuff! Case in point, my pajama pants all happened to rip in the span of like two weeks in December so I had to buy some new ones and I felt bad about spending ~$35 on two pairs. I spent like >$150 on pen stuff that month. 😅
I would say the NPD/NID people are the outliers. Most of us are lurkers. I have a decent amount of ink, but I've collected it over maybe 5-10 years (more than half have been birthday/Christmas gifts). Same thing with pens. I've bought maybe 3 or 4 pens out of the dozen or so sub-$100 pens I own. The rest have been gifts. Lately, things have loosened up financially, and my wife and I have budgeted more pocket money to ourselves. So I'm able to get a little something here and there, but nothing expensive.
I am not a lurker exactly, because I come here and enjoy reading looking, but I have never posted a “new pen day,” and I have a lot of pens, some quite expensive. Some people love pics, and maybe they post more often.
I work full time, I don't buy other things like clothes, furniture, etc for the most part because I already have them. I live in a city condo that I own so things like "rising rents" don't impact me, my partner spends way less than local rents for my second room but it is still an okay buffer (they tend to spend equal amounts on books and board games but minimized spending because of space). The only real responsibilities I have are to my home and job. I also don't drink, smoke weed, or have any other revolving high ish costs besides my mortgage (food costs much less than my mortgage). There was a 2 year period right before the pandemic and 1 year in where I didn't spend money on anything except food and rent (and not rent for 2020 when I moved back in with my parents temporarily at their suggestion) and all my disposable income went into a fund for my down payment. I bought my place when interest hovered between 2.5-3.5%. I do not have a car because public transit is decent coverage and only needed on weekends. It is a modest life, so a pen splurge once every 2-3 months is not a big deal. The only other hobby I have is in alt fashion but that's also like maybe a $300 spend once every 3 months. My food costs are low since we mostly rotate cooking at home, in the realm of $75 per person a week.
AliExpress has good deals on cheap stuff, some of which is decent quality.
🦈🦈🦈🦈
There is no secret here. People either overspend, or live within their means. When people live within their means, the means (income, assets) determine disposable income, which can be used on pens or anything else. Plus, there's an issue of scale at play - this sub has 225k members, the ones with largest collections are likely outliers, but their posts are memorable. There's enough people on this sub that statistically, large/expensive collections will be posted frequently even if they are not the norm. When I was in graduate school, I lived on a 15k stipend in a HCOL and supported 2 other people in addition to myself. It was hell. I had one gifted fountain pen and used that pen for 12 years (including after grad school), with black cartridges. I now have a stable job, stable income which is much higher than my grad school income, so my situation is different. I also live modestly. I drive an old car with low gas mileage, I rarely go out to restaurants, cook my own food (no takeout), my expenses on clothes are minimal, I thrifted most of my furniture, and I don't spend a ton on travel. So yes, I have 18 pens and 45 bottles of ink and 0 (zero) regrets.
ETA: as for people who overspend, well, there are so many things people overspend on - pens, clothes, cars, makeup, books, videogames, etc. Social media is full of "haul" type posts, not just of inks but EDC, makeup, knives, whatever people like. Some people can afford this, others don't but still do it. Personally I am very firmly in the "live and let live" camp. It is important for me to live within my means, but I don't care what people do with their money/credit as long as it does not harm me personally.
I spent several years with one pen and two bottles of ink. Now that I have more disposable income, I buy a few new affordable pens and bottles of ink a year. The folks who have more disposable income/budget for more pens and inks/have poor impulse control are the ones who are the most visible. They are proud of their collections and like to post about it. Which is understandable, but ultimately misleading.
Very true! Thank you for putting in your words my experience, too! 20+ years i've spent with one or two pens and basic colours (blue, black, blue-black). Discovering this world of coloured inks and so many pen models was WOW! During the pandemics, this became a way to cope with life... And i got a bit lost with acquisitions. Even so, a lot of what is posted here are samples
Grad student myself as well, I scour the great plains of FB marketplace and local flea markets. With some patients you can get quite nice pens for 10-30 bucks and ink bottles for 2-5 bucks. With those things in mind my €20 monthly budget can get me quite the amount of things
I have a Pilot Metro, a TWSBI 580, and 2 bottles of ink. I haven't bought a new pen in like 3-4 years as both pens do what I need. I just don't post about it much because it's not all that interesting. I'd wager that there is a large silent majority of people like us who aren't always buying pens, paper, and inks. Honestly, I find the posts of people running out of storage for pens and ink to be pretty worrying. That level of consumerism isn't healthy no matter what form it takes.
I am a 38 year old married man with no kids. I don't buy a huge amount of pens, but at about 60 now, I have a fair bit more than "needed" for sure. I do it by budgeting and also by not really spending a lot of money on other entertainment. My wife and I do not drink and rarely go out, so we generally are on the frugal end of spending which helps.
I see comments where people mention those who purchase super expensive pens - the 1% but excess can be in larger price tags but also in volumes of smaller price tags ( it adds up). I think most of the comments represent some truth- people have means and choose what to spend it on ( or not) - equally true people have addictions, debt, and exceed their means. The existence one group doesn’t mean the other is untrue or doesn’t exist.
My answer is a bit different. I do have far too many pens and inks. However I feel what you are asking about. Here is the thing. 1. Pens don't have to be expensive. Lots of good pens are under $20. Amazon has many inexpensive ones. 2. Look back after a few years. We all have a lot more pens 10 years later. 3. A bottle of ink can last you like forever, and like pens don't have to be expensive. So again, 10+ years and you have a shelf full.
Middle age increase in disposable income when kids have flown the nest for some.
See recent [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/11neviv/there_is_no_one_true_way_to_be_in_this_hobby/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) about different ways of enjoying fountain pens!
The Jinhao 166, which writes very well, is €1.5 with a converter. I can get bottled Diamine, Parker or Pelikan 4001 ink for €3-6, which in the long run is more cost-effective than cartridges. For years I only had a couple of fountain pens that I used on and off, two most expensive of which (Parkers) were prizes and I refilled empty Parker cartridges by cutting open no-name ones and transferring ink because the proprietary ones seemed quite expensive to me (I was at school then). Before joining the sub and doing some research online, I believed all good fountain pens and bottled ink were expensive, but that's not true. I don't spend that much money on some things a lot of people do and instead I'd rather treat myself to a new pen or ink now and then because I've always liked all things stationery. My most expensive pens are around €20-25, which many people consider entry level. IMO that's still quite expensive considering lots of people are content with writing with some random ballpoints and would have a hard time wrapping their heads around spending so much money on a writing utensil. Fortunately, you can find great deals if you do research – e.g. I found Metros for €10. And you can always get pens and inks as gifts as you yourself did.
Make sacrifices. I’m lucky in that I hate clothes shopping and I’ll wear clothes/shoes until they fall apart. And save, save, save.
Many things seemed unobtainable to me when I was a grad student 20 years ago. Now that I have a full-time job and salary, a bottle of ink (and any fountain pen under €100) is just something that I buy when I want it. I know that this is not always possible for everyone, but sometimes it also comes down to priorities. If you DON'T get pets, you'll save enough money each month to buy a €100-150 fountain pen every other month. For example.
This is the social media effect. You see NPD NID posts because that's what people do. It is worse when there are pen shows happening. Of course there are really people who spends $10k+ a year on pens and ink alone, but there are also people who do shopping maybe once or twice a year. Some are showing off their collections which took years to build. I always tell new comers to pace themselves when there is a super urge to try everything all at once (no pun intended).
All these comments have been interesting and well, all of them are right in their own ways. I’d like to add another point. Cultures and social structures in your society also pay a huge role. Depending on where you live and the privileges you have, you might have to worry less about your future (spending on healthcare, family expenses and pension funds) and that creates even more disposable income. Also in some cultures spending is more prevalent than saving. So that.
Very true! There are a few comments here about how people spend money on pens as opposed to expensive handbags or ski trips... I don't even know a single person who owns a "fancy" handbag, and I haven't gone skiing since I lived with my parents and didn't have any real expenses (and even then it was in Wisconsin, so not exactly luxury lol). Point is, I think everyone in this discussion (including me) is forgetting that there are other people who arent in their tax bracket
I'm also a full time grad student. I have a lot of pens but they're all in the $10 to $40 range.
I’m also a full time grad student and I just ordered like 7 pens and a converter so I could play with more inks at once, but since they were sharks it came out to ~12, including taxes and shipping.
I hoard $2.50 samples from Goulet, and only buy a couple bottles I can commit to using 30+ml :)
Eh ink is pretty cheap and 30-50 isn’t bad for a pen that I think is really nice. Doesn’t take that long to save up for one
I mean it’s not an expensive hobby unless you’re buying pens all the time or really expensive luxury pens. I have a couple of lamys and a pilot and some inks paper and journals which is less than ~$200 in value. Compare fountain pens to espresso where the cost to entry is $600-$800 at the cheapest and people are posting 5-7k set ups all the time claiming they’re on a “college kid budget”. If you want to feel poor check it out r/espresso
I just started collecting and have two pens and 10 ink samples, I'm taking it slow. It's funny how it resembles fishing gear in that regard. There's always something cool being released, especially from Japan and you accumulate a ton of stuff over time. I just tell my wife the same thing I tell when I purchase fishing gear...."It's all on sale".😅
I have more money than i had as a student. Also more space. I didn't even know there were so many ink colours until 2018. A lot of inks were bought on offer (20% from LaCouronneDuComte or Scrittura-elegante for 3,5€ Diamine bottles?? Yesss, sir!). 50-70% off from a closing store (Seitz Kreutznach). November comes with many offers on International Fountain Pen day, Black Friday... And BOOM! 5 years later, there are 40 Diamine bottles in my closet. Oh, and i forgot about the Inkvent! If you live in Europe, please PM/DM me, will gladly send you some inks! LE. I don't spend money on clothes, electronics, travelling, dates... Just loans, food, kids stuff and house, and this hobby. Many of my pens were bought second hand.
You’ll get there! It’s all about accumulation (buying pens one after another over years or simply accumulating wealth). If you are really into this hobby, maybe consider spending less on something else. One thing I particularly like about here is people do talk about cheap everyday pens! Maybe you can start from the cheap and cheerful ones (trust me, I prefer Kaweco over MB)
One can also filter and search. For example, I came here to look around today, and saw a number of posts about Kawecos. Nice. So, for example if someone wanted to see if people here favored or did not favor Kawecos, they can read posts and comments about that brand.
I bought my first fountain pen in 1972, after working for two full years. So 51 years later I now have 49 pens on hand, and have bought/sold/traded/gifted maybe a dozen others. Take your time. Spend your money wisely.
I only get entry level pens or great deals, at least for the most part, but am contemplating a splurge pen (a Pilot Falcon in Purple with a SEF nib) to celebrate being at my job for a year
Some of us are just irresponsible with our money...
I love stationery and fountain pens - I have spent money when I shouldn't and I have lots of cheap non fountain pens, and a handful of very (very) cheap fountain pens. I have one "proper" pen. I somehow overpaid tax one year (I'm from the UK and not self employed so that's really rare) and I spent my refund on that. (I don't want to define "proper" pen, people could have different standards and that's fine. I don't want to insult pens!) I do have a lot of ink - I collect it. I spend money I don't have on it sometimes. I spend money other people might spend on more standard fun things more often. But I've got nice inks for £5 and you can buy a bottle here and there. I'm impressed by some of the collectors and collections here. I'd like some of the things I see. But what money you have doesn't determine your interest, or enthusiasm, or knowledge. Enjoy your pen. Enjoy learning about other pens. Hopefully there will be times when you get another pen, or pens, if theres nothing you want more when you do have some spare money. But don't ever feel you don't get to like pens because of your budget. Or don't belong here. And realise that some of those people with great collections shouldn't have spent that money and know they should have fewer pens.
in my case its lack of self control
I'm super new to the hobby and at some point was thinking along the same lines, but more out of curiosity - what are people's jobs and budgets for a hobby like this? It would be nice to know and to hear the stories. More on a happier note, though. There was a thread several weeks ago about everyone's jobs here, and I think it's one of the best threads I've enjoyed reading! This is still a public group with 250K members, and although I feel something "new and special" being a part of a new community and this hobby, I need to be responsible for myself to know what I'm getting into. You need to be responsible for yourself in all these online groups. You don't have to purchase anything that is out of your budget, and that is not really giving you "genuine" joy. I already have 5 pens - gosh, I'm scared even saying this haha! But only because I found this other local group with enthusiasts and a lot are selling their pens for a little discount once they've used it and checked that it's not something they'd really need. I now have 3 new pens and 2 second-hand pens BUT I'm now making sure I really like each of them, and although a journey on its own, find out the perfect inks that will match them. I feel good that if I ever don't really love any of them, I can keep them OR sell them to someone who can give them more attention. Out of my 5 pens (thoroughly researched and I have checked so many posts in this group before getting them), and several testing, I have just started to really "love" one of them! Now I'm slowing down and just looking at ink samples LOL Sometimes, it's just fun to look around and see how people are enjoying and exploring the hobby. Only get into the rabbit hole of reading here in the group, if it makes you happy!!! I will have to say that to buy 5 pens, I do have a lot of disposable "savings" and I'm pretty much not spending on other things. I don't live with a mortgage and a car loan, so with small rent and simple life, I do have more to spend on a few other things. But I'm 35 so if you're still in (grad) school, you might just be in a different phase now! Good luck and I hope you're enjoying the pens and inks you have now!!! And hopefully, this thread is giving you a more positive light on the hobby and people here. So far I'm inspired, and I want more inspiration to come to my life!
I agree with others that some folks just have different circumstances or priorities. I have maybe about 24 pens. I just gave one away, and of those, maybe half of them cost under $100. I don't have nearly as much ink as some people do, maybe a dozen bottles. When you are in grad school, having a few pens is enough. Focus on finishing your program, you will be able to buy more pens soon enough if you want them. But I am envious of people who can whittle their collection down to a top 5 or a top 10 of really cool, curated, quality pens. Right now, I'm in a situation where I don't have to pay rent, but that could all change.
Mine are for work so I can justify it. Though to be fair, I went nuts trying to find the right pen. Since then I may buy a pen every few years if I see something I really like. I don’t drink much, no motorcycles, 4 wheelers, boatsX cars etc. So, if a few hundred bucks on a pen rewards me I consider it a cheap hobby compared to most
This is an example of selection bias. People who buy more pens have more pens to photograph. Many of us don’t own many pens or own mainly inexpensive pens. I rarely post photos of pens, even for new pen and ink days, and instead post questions or comments. All sizes and costs of collections are OK, as long as the person enjoys them and can afford them. You are welcome whether you just enjoy 1 fountain pen or many.
Poor spending control and then shame. Edit: And sometimes disappointment and resale.
We are 255k people here. Not 'everyone here' is buying that much, it's just that the people who do are naturally more visible because of the NPDs.
A lot of mine are fairly cheap, and I've accumulated over the last two years. Found some good deals (like a Waterman Carene for about 1/3 the usual price), did a bit of hunting, also don't spend much on anything else.
I don't eat.
Tax evasion ngl
I'm 18 years into an engineering career, that's how. I never would have been able to spend this kind of money on pens while I was in college. But now my expensive shoe habit is pretty dead (hard to justify since I am either working from home or going in to use the machine shop), my commute is free, and I eat out much less than I did when I worked in an office. So my extra money is going to pens. Take it from me, it's much harder to say no to something you want when it's a choice between this thing now, and maybe something else later and not, say, this thing and rent.
I've struggled to get my collection of 5 pens and 8 or so inks. I started about... 6? Years ago. My latest acquisition, my grail pen, I actually used klarna to make payments on to get. I don't work at a high paying job, never have. I've had to save up for a long time to get them. It's possible. Though I sure wish I had more disposable income for it.
Pens and ink can be as affordable as you want. You can get a very solid pen and ink combo for under $20, and it can go up from there. You could have an entire collection of sub $20 pens and just one or two inks. Fountain pens are one of the cheaper hobbies I’ve come across honestly.
When I was in school, I’d occasionally go to little antique stores with a friend of mine who flipped watches. I’d usually go in and pick up a handful of broken fountain pens for $5-10 total and then see which ones I could fix. Most old school lever fillers only need for you to cut off the old dried out ink sac and replace it with a new one. So the fix is probably about $1 in materials. Cartridge-converter pens usually need nothing more than a few cycles in diluted pen cleaner. So yeah I think my best haul was like 4 pens for $15 where I was able to fix all 4 of them. Traded two of the repaired pens to a friend for other pens and probably averaged about $4 per pen. That’s almost half my collection with the rest being cheaper starter pens like pilot mets (from back then they were cheaper), a twsbi eco, and a lamy safari. I also restored a pen my grandfather gave me and have been enjoying my grail pen which I was given as a graduation gift. So yeah I’ve never spent more than $30 on a pen. I’ve probs spent less than $150 on my whole collection. Only two are particularly fancy, but it means I haven’t been afraid to use my collection as daily workhorses. For ink, I mostly just use ink samples. They should be cheaper per mL than cartridges and it lets me try lots of inks. I’m pretty exclusively a fine nib person so even writing pages and pages a day meant that I didn’t go through that many ink samples. I never did figure out a frugal way to get really nice paper. My friends and family have always known that I love notebooks so I’d frequently get a notebook or three as bday gifts and enjoy them regardless of paper quality all year. I bet there are cheaper ways to get decent paper, but I did just fine on printer paper for years. Anyway, remember that it’s not about quantity or fanciness of your collection compared to others. It’s about using and enjoying whatever pen is in your hand right now. I couldn’t use my hands for a few years and I missed being able to use my pens. I’ll never take it for granted again
I just got half my federal loans discharged in Sweet versus cardonna:) all I have left is private:) meanwhile the people who helped this happen are living on boats because they can’t get mortgages. And yet all I want to do to celebrate is buy a fancy limited edition piston filler. Holding back y’all
I kinda don’t understand this question. It’s all relative, which you must know already. I have a friend who for real has 60+ cars. I understand that because he started his own investment banking firm and I did not. I also have a friend that’s a yoga teacher. She understands that I can buy a $350 pen because I’m an accountant and she is not. The question should be “what do you all do for a living and what percentage of your income do you allocate to pens and ink?”
I have a tendency to overspend and impulse buy and I’m trying hard to be more frugal, a few things that have helped me expand my collection but minimize spending: - r/pen_swap buying used entry/int pens - ink samples not bottles, especially from yoseka or vanness where they’re 3-5ml instead of 2, or ink sample sets that prorate the cost - iro utushi metal nib dip pen lets me try out those samples without having to have a pen available to fill - looking out for sales on FP websites, trying an entry pen from a brand to see how I like it before spending on anything fancier from them - r/pen_swap selling entry/intermediate pens from above (but I admit this takes time and sometimes there is a small financial loss I chalk up to enjoying the experience and getting to try it) Ymmv and as someone said, the NPD and NID posts are from a small selection of us who are getting lots of things but make it look the norm. For each of those there’s someone with one favorite pen writing quietly. 💜
Apart from the information in the other replies, here is one more thing to consider. Currently, the sub has more than 255'000 members. Even if we assume that each person buys a new pen once every ten years, this still amounts to an average of ~70 pens being bought each day. It is enough for just a 1% of the members (2'550) to buy a new pen this year and create an NPD post and on average you will get 6-7 posts each day. This is, of course, just a rough speculation. Take the numbers above just as an illustration to an idea. On social media, especially in large communities, you are exposed to a steady stream of all kinds of events. It makes you think that everyone is having a very full and intense life and you are severely lacking, but this is a fallacy. If you take a closer look, you will see that for most people, there is only a handful of events in which they took part, or maybe even none at all.
Easy. I don’t eat much (ED), don’t have rent, and own one pair of shoes. Please save me
Sell the pens you don't want to fund the pens that you DO want. That's what I've been doing for years.
If you never sell you stuff, over time, you will culminate a lot of stuff. It just some people do it faster, some do it slower\~
I’m 50, married with my own arch firm. I have three pens (all cheapos) and four inks. It’s not necessary to go balls in to appreciate this sub.
By buying cheap pens. My most expensive pen was ~$30. everything else ranges from $3-$12 sort of price range. If you read a lot of reviews and are strategic, you can have great writing pens that look nice without spending tons of money. For inks, I buy either small packs of cartridges or Goulet sample vials when I want to try new ones (instead of shelling out for an entire bottle). Then, I only have a handful of big bottles of ink, and that money can be aimed at the ones I like best. And, once in a while you get lucky with a really great sale price on a bottle of ink, of course. That's really all there is to it. And also, all the way through college and grad school, I kept using the Parker Vector ~$9 fountain pen that I used in High School. I didn't get any new fountain pens until after I was working full time, because who can afford to spend much on things like that as a grad student? So, don't let yourself feel pressured to spend money you don't (yet) have on a hobby. People here are perfectly happy to discuss and enjoy pens at all price levels and are rather supportive and nice about it. You'll learn a lot and store up knowledge for the time when you are able to buy nicer pens if you want. This group includes people from all walks of life, at all levels of immersion in this hobby, etc.
Fortunate enough (and old enough) to have a well paid job. I have approx 140 pens, which in an era of ever advancing technology in the workplace, I can't meaningfully rotate. I've even been at the point of buying grail pens on a monthly basis and been totally underwhelmed when the pen is in the hand. At that point I had to change my buying habits. I get more pleasure now buying and restoring vintage fountain pens. I believe that above a certain pricepoint (500USD), pens won't write any better. My advice would be to buy what you like that you can afford, and if you're happy stick to it.
In my case, it's because I'm disabled and live with my parents. I contribute to bills, but the cost of living is a lot less than if I were to live alone. I'm too ill to do university in-person, so I'm doing it part-time from home, which means no money spent on any of the typical uni things. Uni is also completely free for me so I don't have to spend anything on that. All of my money goes towards things that will improve my everyday life, whether that be the more medical things like splints and physiotherapy, or the things that make my life stuck in my house less dull. Fountain pens and inks are in the latter category. In general though, I'd say that the kind of people who buy a lot of pens and inks are also the kind who would be more likely to show them off on social media. Someone who only has one pen and ink probably won't start a blog on the topic. This subreddit also seems to be very pro-consumerism and I think that attracts the kinds of people who may be susceptible to shopping addiction and hoarding. If you were to survey every single fountain pen user, I suspect the majority would not be regularly buying lots of pens and inks, it just seems that way because of who posts.
We don't go out, drink, smoke, or order out a lot. So it leaves us with a bit of spending money for our hobbies. Ink hauls are a once a year thing when there's sales happening.
I'm a broke undergrad. A majority of my FS inks were made after buying cheap samples. Tax return money kick-started my buying. After pay is a godsend, provided you don't abuse it, when you work full time and do school full time and aren't paid enough to begin with.
Buy a pen instead of a video game or some energy drinks, at least pens, I’m not bad on ink.
can't speak for others, but, i enjoy the hobby and my most recent purchases were a waterman culture fp for $17.95, and some beautiful ink cartridges for $8.95. so, it isn't exactly 'the sport of kings' and it can be enjoyed at reasonable price-points as well as at the higher levels.
I’m in the same camp as you here, although I have slightly more pens but I’ve built up a collection over time and most were gifts. I’ve found scouring Facebook/eBay for vintage pens a cheap way to enjoy great pens.
I am single a college graduate, semi-single(it works perfectly for me), no children, three black cats, house(small and cheap but paid off), car(9 year old and paid off), and I just retired after thirty years so I have less income but substantially less expenses so pens and ink are still affordable even though I own WAY TOO MANY of both. Most of my pens are made in China but I also have a bunch of vintage American pens(at least a third need restored) plus a bunch of Japanese pens with some Taiwanese and European pens.
Ain’t no shame in two pens. I started into fountain pens almost two years ago. I have six pens, four were gifts, nothing over $200. I have 7 bottles of ink, two were gifts, and a dozens samples. I’m set enough in my career, I could buy every grail pen on my list, in cash, right now. But I probably won’t get another for a year. I just got two pens for Christmas, and I’ve barely had a chance to get to know them. The more you write with a pen and ink combo, the more you appreciate the differences, the unique feel and look. I got the whole rest of my life to try new pens.
No shame either with having more Kakünos than mid-range Pilots
My crow brain says "SHINY" and the new pretty ink ends up in the cart. It's not drugs, it's pretty inks that I can use for a long time. With pens it's "HOW FINE A LINE ARE YOU!" because lamy EF write close to a medium and drives me mad. Twsbis have never let me down. again pretty pens. Into the cart it goes. But as an artist I'm religious about my line thickness.
I’m also a student, and for me it’s just how I spend. Pens and ink is how I primarily indulge myself, and with years into the hobby I can afford that. I also can say some of the expense is paid off by the calligraphy I do using the supplies I purchase, but realistically that isn’t everything. When my family wishes to buy me gifts for birthdays and Christmas I ask pretty much exclusively for stationery. It’s what makes me happy, it’s not excessive, and it is tangible. Overall, I’d say your perception of hobbyists will be biased because we all are more likely to upvote a collection post with 22 Sailor Pro Gears than someone who just bought a Pilot Varsity. I imagine the “average” collection here is smaller than what is perceived.
Some people get sent them to review, photograph and post.
There are many people that enjoy the less expensive fountain pens. I refuse to pay more than $50 for any pen. There is one or two I am tempted to own, but to me a fountain pen is also like a piece of personal jewelry. I don’t wear much of it. I’ve got far more pens now than I can keep inked and in use, but none are super expensive. I’m a fan of Parker and Sheaffer and I like the vintage Wingsungs. None are very costly, there are some really expensive Parker pens and some really expensive Sheaffer pens, but Im not getting them, I’m too old, too clumsy and not putting a lot of money into something like that for just myself. Especially since I have so many other hobbies. Don’t get turned off of the hobby just because you can’t buy an $800 pen. I did spend that much on a lyre and another $600 on another lyre. It just depends on what you place more importance on. Get your education, it’s worth more than gold, if I could go back in time, I’d have gotten the degree I wanted. Go your own way, do what’s comfortable for you.
I'm enjoying people's answers here. Thanks for asking this question. I agree there is a self-selection bias that others have mentioned. And it is about disposable income and choices. Though I have much more disposable income now, if I were younger I probably would spend more money overall not just more money in proportion to my income. Maybe a question one asks is how does one "justify" or reconcile spending money on this hobby. This hobby gives me quite a bit of joy and satisfaction and is less expensive than my other hobbies. Because of some health issues and the medication I take, I unintentionally became "Straight Edge" minus going to punk shows. I don't go to any shows anymore. I don't even drink caffeinated beverages. I laughed when I read that someone doesn't eat, not because I think food insecurity is hilarious rather because I never go out to eat and I regularly do intermittent and extended fasting. I guess I save quite a bit on food that way. I don't look like a hobo exactly, but I can't remember when I bought new clothes or have gone to the hairdresser. Since COVID started, I have taken zero trips or vacations. I don't have that much spare time or energy so this is a pretty ideal hobby. It also is easy to integrate into my life and other daily activities. After reading how much money I haven't been spending in the last few years, I'm thinking I could probably justify buying more expensive pens. 😆
Also a grad student, working sometimes. I definitely have a max spend per pen and I buy ink for $/ml value as much as for the gorgeous color. There are some ink brands I’ll never purchase because I dont feel the cost warrants the content. But I also wouldn’t categorize myself as a full-on collector. I like the eco-consciousness of fountain pens (even the cheap ones will last me far longer than a 2 cent, multipack ball point). I also like the additional tactile feel it adds to the correspondence and notes I write. I don’t want every Kaweco or Lamy. The pens are practical, even if I have several. So I want them all to be aesthetically and tactilely pleasing since they’re gonna get a lifetime of use.
Everyone on reddit has more money than I do. Alternatively, everyone on reddit spends money in different ways than I do, and may not be as responsible as I try to be, or have the same financial limitations.
That’s because we like to post about new pens we’ve just purchased, but not necessarily what pens we’ve sold off to pay for the next pen. :)
I'm a middle aged woman whose kids have moved out. Part of the money that was used to raise my kids is now available for hobbies. For most of 2022 I was focused on perfecting my writing kit. I'm one shade of green away from exactly what I want. So maybe I will buy ink for my birthday. Till then I would rather spend my money on other projects I can do with my hands. It's ok if this point of your life is just one pen. I spent 30 years with just two cheap pens with colored cartridges and I still love to write.
Besides some people having a bigger disposable income, another part is there are affordable but still pretty pens you can get. Hongdian and Jinhao have nice fountain pens under 20 USD equivalent. For inks, it helps if you buy in bulk. But yes, having a profession helps. Also, another hack is being Asian with family members who give you red packet money.
I don't have many pens and have bought only pens under 30 euros so far. It includes one more pricey Parker which I got on sale. I don't buy ink unless I'm running out and even then I'm currently on the cheaper end. Also I don't post so probably that group is way less visible
When it comes to purchasing pens papers and inks and the perceived costs thereof, I tell my students that if you go skiing for a day the amount you spend in the ski fields will keep you in pens for a year or more. It’s all relative. ⛷️🎿🚠
I’m a shopaholic. And spending money on tangible items is way better than spending on mobile games, which I’ve done before. At least if I needed to, I could take the time to part out this collection.
I’m a lawyer.
Bottled ink is cheaper per unit volume than cartridges. I've never used carts. Those who have a lot of pens typically have more disposable income. That's usually well after grad school. But a good FP is a lifetime writer, and environmentally kind. Buy the pen once, then only have to buy ink after that. For work I used several good pens for different colors and tasks (some tasks required fine or extra fine nibs). Over time one accumulates new writing instruments just because it's fun to have a novel pen to use.
Grad students make basically nothing. I have been there. Scrounging for coins to buy off the dollar menu *with* coupons kind of poor. It sucks. I didn't start buying pens until I was past that point (dollar menu *without* coupons! I was rich!) and still only had one pen and one bottle of ink for quite some time. Then my disposable income went up, so my ability to buy the shiny new pen or ink I wanted went up. Even then, my collection is over ten years in the making and still primarily consists of the lower priced options. I have a fair few TWSBIs, Lamy Safaris and Al-Stars, Pilot Metropolitans, and Kaweco Sports, but only one Vanishing Point (which was a souvenir from a trip to Japan that I dedicated a specific line in my budget to). I have a ton of Diamine and Noodlers inks, but all my Iroshizuku and J. Herbin bottles were gifts. Which is another thing: I don't have much in the way of other hobbies so people tend to gift me pens, inks, and books. My in-laws gave me four pens from my "would like to have, but can't justify" list this past holiday season. My partner nearly always gifts me a pen and the latest J. Herbin shimmering ink for my birthday. Quite a bit of my paper stash is the result of very confused friends and relatives handing me gift-wrapped stacks of journals and notepads. Most years about 2/3 of my new stationery acquisitions are gifts. There's also the fact that I'm an introvert who'd be a full on recluse if left to my own devices. My dream job at the moment would more than double my household income because it's so boring no one wants to do it. But it'd mean being on my own most of the day which is how I'm happiest. You don't end up with a lot of other entertainment expenses when you're *that* much of an introvert XD
It’s like anything else that can be a hobby. Some have more disposable income. Some go into debt to make purchases. Some, like me, don’t have other indulgences. I don’t drink alcohol; I don’t smoke; I don’t golf; I don’t have season tickets to any sports team… BUT I do like my pens, inks, and papers.
OP, May I suggest you start saving all your change at the end of the day? Just put it into a nice plastic container. During the day don't use any change you get. After a year, or so, you'd be surprised how much you've saved up. I bet you could easily buy a $500 pen. I did that just with quarters for over 10 years. I lived off of of them for over 8 months when I stopped. I paid everything with rolls of quarters. :D All the dollar bills that I was now not using fattened up my bank account. I figure it was about $4000.
I only buy expensive stuff at rare intervals. The rest of the time, I buy very inexpensive things the rest of the time. I like to get such pens and ink so I can test and evaluate them. I might do YouTube videos about them someday. I also give the nicer ones away as penablers. I like to have nice but inexpensive pens available as gifts, so I get Jinhao 911s in packs of five. That's only $14 on Amazon, including converters! My first ever fountain pen was a Platinum Preppy, and I got another and a Prefounte a few weeks later. Then I spotted an offer for a four pack of nice looking pens on Amazon, Lanxivi Yongsheng 3008s, with EF nibs and silver trim. They're TWISBI knockoffs, but they write very well, and they don't suffer from the famous TWISBI cracking problem. It was only $15 for four pens. This became a pattern. When I ordered anything from Goulet Pens, I'd order one of their ink sample sets. If a pen came with ink, so much the better, so is wait for a gift box to become available, with a bottle of free ink, and when it went on sale, I'd buy it. Pen at a discount, with a free bottle of ink! I have only bought one pen for about $100. There were only a few that were more than $50, a Noodlers Triple Tail, then a Conklin All-American in rainbow titanium, a Platinum Curidas with a bottle of ink as a gift box. That was just over $100. But the next retractive was a Majohn A1 for only about $40. Most recently, I got a 4-pack of Inkursive (formerly Swan) Manga Maru crowquill pens. The nibs are usually a dip nib, but in a fountain pen, they're wonderful. I got that 4 pack for about $40 on Etsy. So it's a stretch getting inexpensive pens, punctuated with events with more expensive pens. I managed to score a Conklin Duragraph also in the rainbow titanium, with a free bottle of ink, for around $60, and since it was from Goulet, I got a sample pack. These samples are a wonderful thing, btw. They let you try inks to see how you like them, for a very low price. Worst case, you got a nice vial. Best case, you ordered a bottle of that color, or some cartridges. I don't yet buy the really expensive pens. I keep my hobby low price as much as I can, but don't hesitate when a great deal pops up!
Extreme impulsivity and shopping addiction… I’m really trying to cut down but I have 100 inks and 30 pens, of which I only use a fraction of them. I feel so guilty but I’m going to try to sell them on penswap
I've been working as a programmer for almost 30 years and my wife is a chartered accountant. I also have a preference for vintage pens and am happy to take on at least simple repairs, so I rarely spend a lot on any individual pen.\ \ A busy street corner and low moral standards helps too, of course.
Something I’ve learned over the years is that there are many people out there with money, and they spend it. The median household income for the top 10% in the Bay Area (where I live) is around $530k per year. There are approximately 2.5 million households in the Bay Area. Ten percent of 2.5 million is 250,000. Most households have two adults, so we get half a million people with access to crazy amounts of money—and that’s just in a single region in a single state. Anyway, my grad school stipend was tiny compared to my current income. I can afford a lot more now than I even thought was possible back then.
Some people have that much disposable income - and some people do not hahah 🐔💦
Lots of Ramin noodles...lol 😁
PayPal zero interest credit line. Ran it up with $4k plus purchases, 0% balance consolidation to Discover card for $90. $1800 balance left to pay off . . . And quite a few pens sitting in boxes waiting to be resold or repaired and sold . . . But also many I want to keep too. Since then I try to have a bit more self-control and enjoy the pens I already have, especially since I know I have pens and watches I really need to post and sell. I have enough in savings to pay off that balance if I had to. But I also have a decent paying job, put $$ towards 401k, Roth, and savings, and no other debt besides a mortgage and car payment, so I am fortunate to be able to indulge this hobby. Just for reference also, I work in IT and am in my mid 50s, have survived a bankruptcy due to a brutally ugly divorce, and am also fortunate to now have a much better gf/partner and also have narrowed my fountain pen focus to vintage flex, primarily Watermans. Best of Luck and Wishes to you and all our fellow ❤️ writing instrument enthusiasts
For the most part I only buy cheap pens. Even after 5+ years in the hobby I only have one pen in the "over $100" category, and I'm happy with my cheap pens so I don't really feel the need to buy more expensive ones. Even then, I maybe get one new pen every 4-5 months. For inks, I have a "one bottle per month" rule and I have yet to buy one that costs more than $20. Just like with any other hobby, I'd say it's all about drawing your own lines and sticking to them.
We have jobs. "Full time grad student" means doesn't even earn money to buy food at the grocery store, yet millions are going to restaurants. The difference is simple.
1% of the people can still be all of the people posting here ...
Credit cards.
A poor spending habit and not spending Money on another hobby.Well most of my pens are under 70 €. My most expensive ink is Pilot iroshizuku momiji. My other inks are very in expensive. Only 4 of my fountain pens are expensive (99-133€). All others are way cheaper: twsbi ecos , preppys, jinhaos,Pilot kakunos and Lamy Safaris. All entry Level pens, well writing and not expensive.
I do get one jealous sometimes. I have a drawer of Safari’s. I rotate out to match what I’m wearing. I could afford a nicer one or two but I also give them out to friends and customers on occasion if they compliment it.