Before we get started, I want to make clear that in this post I’m not criticizing any single brand, company or online pen show, even if they happen to be mentioned by name in this article. Any such discussion is solely for illustrative purposes since I suspect what I talk about here is going to be an emerging industry-wide trend that is here to stay and that everyone is going to have to live with in some way or another.
When literally all of the post-Baltimore pen shows were cancelled in 2020, both sellers and enthusiasts were faced with the prospect of having a primary revenue stream completely shut down, an existential threat for many. As a way to adapt, many retailers and makers turned to “online pen shows” - essentially, windows in which exclusive, limited, or discounted products were made available for purchase online. The way in which an online pen show works varies. For example, Franklin-Christoph announces ahead of time that certain models will be made available in their Stock Room, similar to how C.W. Pencil Enterprise released their Pencil Advent Calendar. Others attempted to duplicate an actual in-person pen show experience. Ian Schon offered time slots for customers to peruse pens via Zoom, and the St. Louis Pen Show went virtual, offering courses and content via YouTube. But while I’m thankful that these options were available to help keep the pen industry and associated community viable throughout the pandemic, I hope they don’t replace traditional shows and opportunities for in-person shopping over the long-haul, as some are suggesting they should. Here are my thoughts on both the advantages and disadvantages of these types of shows.
Benefits of Online Pen Shows
Safety. This one goes without saying. Depending on COVID-19 levels at any given time in any given area, it may not be safe to attend in-person events. Online options are a viable alternative should an event or retailer need to cancel.
Increased Accessibility. Even setting aside the pandemic, one key benefit to these sorts of online events is increased accessibility to those who can’t make it to an in-person pen show due to health, distance, etc. The beauty of the internet (for the most part) stems from its ability to bring otherwise geographically distant people together.
Small-Business Friendly. Extremely small makers, or those just starting out, may not have the resources to travel to shows or to stock any sort of in-person store. The ability to operate online levels the playing field to a certain degree, not only in terms of accessibility but in allowing smaller retailers with higher costs to compete on price.
I likely would never have purchased many of the pens in my current collection (including these Franklin-Christoph Model 20s) without the opportunity to see the material and handle each pen in person.
Drawbacks to the Online-Only Model
Amazonification of the Experience. Part of what I love about visiting pen shows (as well as brick-and-mortar pen stores) is the ability to not only view products in person before I make a purchase, but to interact and engage with the makers and retailers themselves. If you take away this aspect of the experience, to me it becomes much less attractive. Buying a pen online, especially a handmade or secondhand pen, sight unseen, doesn’t hold the same cachet, especially since I often want to experience in-person a pen that I plan to use for writing over the long-haul.
Loss of Community. The friendships I’ve made through pen shows are priceless. Whether it’s gathering around a table discussing a new release or prototype design, having a friend let me write with a pen from their collection so I can decide whether it works for me, or simply meeting like-minded people who you keep in touch with outside of shows, the ability to socialize with others is a key part of what makes in-person pen shows irreplaceable, IMHO.
Consumer Frustration. When dealing with limited run or limited release products, it can be extremely frustrating for fans and enthusiasts to take time out of their workday or schedule to be online at the time of a “drop,” only to have the product sell out in less than 2 minutes (i.e., before most people can add the product to their cart and pay). However unfair it may be to the retailer or maker, who often has no control over the quantities available and/or techniques buyers use to jump to the head of the queue (see third bullet below), it creates resentment at what the shopper perceives as wasted time. Many people, myself included, don’t enjoy a “gamified” experience where part of the thrill is not knowing whether you will “get one” or not, or knowing that I will have to quickly drop $500 (or sometimes more) unless I’m willing to risk never being able to buy one of these products again.
Benefiting Profiteers and Resellers. Adding to customer resentment over their inability to have a fair shot at getting a limited run pen or other special release is the fact that many of these products immediately appear on third-party retailer websites, often marked up 2x or 3x. This isn’t a new trend by any means, as it’s plagued other industries for years, but it may become more prevalent in the pen community if people move to an online-only model. Japan has recently seen a proliferation of companies whose business consists entirely of buying up store exclusives and other limited releases solely for the purpose of reselling, primarily to overseas buyers.
Takeaways and Final Thoughts
Look, there’s no avoiding the fact that the past two years have been a giant unknown filled with uncertainty for pretty much everyone involved in our industry and community (most of all the makers and retailers), and everyone has had to get creative just to keep the lights on. That said, I personally am of the opinion that every effort needs to be made to preserve traditional retail and show options, or else we lose not just the social aspect of this community in general but the accessibility of products to all but the most tech-saavy or those willing to pay reseller mark-ups. While I understand that online shows and product drops are beneficial to retailers from a revenue perspective (i.e., you sell a lot of pens without incurring the costs of traveling to shows, working through distributors, etc.), I can also see how this runs the risk of frustrating/alienating a large portion of the market, and encouraging things like hoarding/FOMO buying/profiteering. There is a segment of the pen community with a strong focus on accumulation and “buying all the things,” regardless of intent to actually use the product, and while people are free to spend their money however they want, certain retail and marketing strategies cater more to this group than others.
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