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Ebay can be a great place to look for vintage pens, especially when you are looking for a specific model, or you don’t know of other places to buy vintage pens. But, you need to make sure that the pen you think you are buying is the one you will actually receive. This week I will be showing you how to look for and purchase vintage pens on Ebay.

When you search for a certain pen and you’re scrolling through the listings, you want to make sure that a listing you are looking at is legitimate before you really start looking at the pen.

Before looking at the pen itself

Make sure the photo is not faked. No stock images, and make sure to reverse image search the picture when taking a look at more expensive pens.

Beware of misleading titles. Sketchy sellers like to put misleading words in the title like “rare” “special” and even “holy grail” may be used when the pen isn’t really rare at all. “Mint” is sometimes used even if the pen has some staining or defects. Even worse, some sellers will put “restored” in the title when they didn’t actually restore the pen, only cleaned it. In that case, be sure to contact the seller and ask how exactly they restored the pen, and if the pen fills up and writes properly.

Check the seller’s feedback. Make sure the seller you’re dealing with has good feedback and that the pens he/she sells are delivered as described. Make sure there isn’t a common theme of “pen did not arrive in expected condition” in their feedback. Also, make sure the feedback is not faked. The same person probably didn’t buy a pen from the same person 15 times in the last week, so that positive feedback is probably not real. Use a website like ToolHaus.org to check the feedback.

Check if the seller accepts returns. If the pen you receive doesn’t match the description of what you ordered, make sure the seller allows you to return it. Usually, if a seller with great, legitimate feedback does not accept returns, they will allow you to return the pen because they care more about a negative review from you (you will most likely pay return shipping, though).

Make sure the pen is actually vintage. This doesn’t matter much if you are looking for a specific pen, but it does if you are just looking for a random vintage pen. Sellers (especially those from China, selling Chinese pens) like to put “VINTAGE” in the title even though the pen is brand new. They just use it as a keyword to hopefully mislead some people into buying pens. Don’t fall for it.

Now that you have covered that the seller of the pen you are looking at is great and reputable, lets move on to what to look for while examining the photos of the pen.

Looking at the pen

Don’t trust bad photos. A seller can use out of focus photos or poor lighting to hide certain aspects of the pen’s condition they may not want to reveal. In this day and age, bad photos are on purpose or done out of laziness, both of which don’t deserve your sale. Ask the seller for better photos instead of trusting their poor photography.

Scrupulously check for flaws in the photos. Cracks, scratches, staining may be visible but not described in text. Cracks are more prevalent at the section, finials, and threads. Check for bite marks on the cap and back of the pen.

Check the condition and style of the nib. Make sure it is the original nib for that model and see if it is damaged or if it has little to no tipping material left. Also, check for markings on the nib that give away its material, size, and other information.

Look for smaller details like the condition of the blue diamond on some Parker pens, flaws on the end of the section, marks on the cap band, etc. Check for tarnishing, plating wearing off, or other less noticeable flaws in the pen’s condition. Judge the condition yourself, as sellers often exaggerate the condition of the pen in the title and description.

Read the description carefully and take into account all of the details that they give. They may say things like “cap band loose” or “cap stays on loosely” which give away more about the pen’s condition than what is visible in the photos. Although, they like to put phrases along the lines of “works well” and “very nice nib” but they may be lying or have no idea how it writes in reality. Assume all vintage pens will need at least some cleaning or fixing to work.

Try and determine a pen model. If a seller says the pen’s origins are unknown, ask them to describe any markings on the nib, clip, finials, cap band, etc. Try to figure out what brand and model of pen it is you are looking at and check prices that it has sold for previously. With this information you can better determine whether you are getting a good deal.

Good and bad examples of listings

Here is a good listing:

In this example, the seller provides an accurate, informative title, and they even use “mint” correctly, as the pen looks perfect. The seller even included a photo of the clean nib outside of the body. They provide many well-lit, clear pictures of the pen at every angle, showing that they are hiding nothing. This pen is exactly the beautiful Parker 45 they are advertising it as.

Here is a terrible listing:

The photos are poor quality, not allowing you to see the details in the pen’s body like small scratches. Also, the nib’s detail is difficult to see, so you don’t really know if it is aligned or not. Not to mention the title is horrendous. “EXTREMELY RARE” It’s not. Parker 51s were one of the most produced fountain pens ever. They are just as rare as water.

Where else to buy vintage pens

If all of this was too much and you decide against buying from eBay, there are still plenty of great websites and people who sell perfectly functional, beautiful pens. Here’s a list of some of my favorite places:

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