eBay can be a great resource—if you know what you are looking for. The latest modern pen I acquired there was a Platinum ultra-extra-fine 3776 Century Bourgogne with a 14k nib. I managed to get it for an extremely reasonable price, given it was shipping from Japan. It cost less than those available on Amazon, as well as at other online sellers, for the gold nib version I was after.
Since Dan and I have begun restoring pens as well, buying auction lots on eBay has yielded some wins and some losses. Overall I have been fairly lucky in the quality of pens I've managed to snag. There have been nice vintage ones available in the last few months, good prices and good quality. Most of them will be quick to restore, others not as quick or necessarily easy (or in some cases not even worth attempting, though the rest of the lot was worth getting despite the dud or two included). ...continue reading "The Hit-and-Miss of buying on eBay"