01 December 2012

On Line Channels

Fellow stylophiles Dan and Eric of FPGeeks have reported the final release of a maki-e Pelikan pen based on the Souverän M1000 model. Well, Eric and Dan reported on the release in the US market as this pen had been in the Japanese market since October. But there are more differences other than the release date. The price in Japan is JPY 210000, tax included, whereas in the US it is about USD 1000 more—USD 3638 (MSRP).


The Japanese brochure of the Pelikan Sunlight in raden costume.


The maki-e Pelikan on display at a stationery shop in Kawasaki, Japan. The picture was taken on November 10th (2012).

It is very hard to understand these variations. It really looks like some –if not all— pen brands had not understood the idea of globalization or, even worse, they wanted a globalized world in just one direction—for them to sell their good anywhere without obstacles but not for the buyer to choose the most convenient conditions.


The medium nib is the only one available on this pen. 300 units were released worldwide. This unit is number 284.

On line mechanisms allow for a quick transmission of information away from the official channels as well as for electronic commerce. Is this so hard to understand?


Pilot Bamboo – Unknown blue ink

Bruno Taut
Madrid, November 30th, 2012
etiquetas: Japón, Estados Unidos, Mercado, Pelikan, metabitácora

2 comments:

Bana Sıkça Yaz said...

We live the same problem with TWSBI. Diamond 540 is sold for 94 USD in Turkey. Vac 700 is sold for 164 USD. Prices are nearly doubled in Turkey. I hate this situation because I know the retail prices of these pens are 50 USD and 85 USD. This is just cruel.

Bruno Taut said...

Thanks for your comment, Zeynep.

However, the situation in Turkey might be different. Turkey has very strict regulations on imports, and that makes imports allowed only to professionals who, in return, inflate the prices. You do not have the choice to buy the maki-e Pelikan through the Internet as Americans might and you are bound --should you want it-- to pay the expensive price set by the importer.

Your only option is to change the Turkish law on imports.

Thanks for passing by.

Cheers,

BT

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