Editing The Pen Addict 368/transcript (section)

== Listener Question ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Ed has a great question here. That I also wanted to bring. Up to the listeners. Says. Hello. I've been attending. The Raleigh Pen Show. For the last couple of years. And it's the only. Pen Show I've been to. I have a question. Most vendors. Don't seem to post prices. Or even a range. Of prices. For a tray. I don't like to ask about a pen. Have the vendors. Start talking it up. And then find out. It's massively. Out of my budget. Why don't vendors. Usually post prices. Is it a haggling situation. Or a presumed level of knowledge. Or something else. I lean towards. Something else. And that something else. Is just.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's a cross between. Laziness. And know-it-all-ism. I don't think. It's a haggling situation. I don't think. They're going into it. Saying. I'm not going to put a price on this. Because. I can get $150. From this person. And $200. From that person. I genuinely. Don't think that's it. Presumed level of knowledge. Might be. A little bit of it. But honestly. I think. For vendors. Who don't price it. They just don't care. They're doing this as a hobby. It's not their full-time business. People. That it is. Their full-time business. Generally. Do have it priced. You know. I don't know. I don't know that I have a super clear. Answer for that. But I feel like. It's more of. I just don't care. If someone wants it. They know what it's worth. Kind of like a. I don't know. I don't know if it's. I don't know. I think it's more just. Laziness. And kind of not caring. About it. As much. Because they're not. Taking it. As seriously. As someone who's. Like. Necessarily. Like. Making a living. From doing this. Right. And making it easier. For the consumer. They're not looking at it that way. They're looking at it. Hey. I'm going to show. All my pens. To all my friends. And then maybe. I'll sell some. To someone. Who kind of. Maybe knows what it is. And then we can talk about price. Um. You know. And I generally. You know. Since I'm not. Always shopping for vintage. Like. I'll just glance at the table. And if anything catches my eye. You know. I'll tend to move on. Like. I'm probably kind of like Ed. Like. If I see a table full of pens. Not priced. I'm probably not going to shop there. Because I need. Just kind of that. I need that bit of information. When I'm having those discussions. In my head. About. Do I want this? Do I want that? And that's just one more. Hurdle. I have to overcome. In the buying process. And. If the person's not going to make it easy for me. Well. There's. Other. Opportunities. Throughout the show. For. For that to happen. So. You know. I don't think it's any. Like. Conspiracy. Or. Trying to. Get a better price. From. From. A certain person. I just think it's just. That. It's a non-issue. To that person. And they're not. In it. For the same reason. Other people are. Yep. Yeah. And. If anyone else. Has any. Specific ideas. Let me know. Because I know. I know a lot of you. You know. Have some more experience. Especially on the vintage side of things. Modern pens. I would hope. All modern type stuff. Is priced. Because you have a. Competition there. And you're probably selling it. To make it living. And so. Those will be. Accurately priced. Yep. All right. Bill.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Says. And. This comes up a lot. And I don't have a good answer. Which is probably why. I had this in the show notes. He says. A pen pal is thinking of getting. His first nib ground. The catch is. That he lives in Germany. Would you. Could you. Please. Suggest. Some nib grinders in Europe. Hopefully. Ones that travel to shows. I have a hard time. Coming up with non-US ones. I do too. Like. I put in. Some time. Searching. And. I came up with. Almost nothing. There. So. John Twist. Who's a pen maker. In the UK. I thought. Well let me go to him. And see what he does. And what he offers. And. He doesn't do the work himself. He outsources it. To a friend. There's a gentleman. By the name. And. I apologize. Just if I get this wrong. Because I forgot to write it down. But I think it's a John Soroka. And. I'll see if I can find him. But he doesn't. Publicize his services. He shows up at pen shows. And at the Dutch pen show. I think Drees. Went. From the pencil case blog. Or someone else went. And he asked not to have his picture taken. So. It's like. He's the guy that. Everyone uses. But you can't. Get a hold of him. To do the work. So. I'm grasping for straws. To help Bill out. And. You know. He. I just couldn't find an easy answer. But there has to be. There's so many. You know what? I should email Sarge. The one man pen show. And get some information from him. He would know. He knows everybody. And he's in. He's in the UK. And he probably knows people. All throughout Europe. Who could do this work. It was just not easy. For me to find. So. If anyone has any information. I would be happy. To take it. And pass it on to Bill. Because I think it's a great question. That's such a huge market. There has to be. Opportunities. And options. For. Fountain pen users. In. At least in the Western Europe. Side of things. To get nib work done. It's got to be easy. So. Y'all help me out here. With this one. But. Yeah. I found that. Super interesting. How difficult it was. For me. To help Bill out here.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Last one. From our good friend. And.