Recently some readers (or perhaps just one reader) have started leaving comments about the pens that my husband makes by hand which we have for sale online at:
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
There have also been some personal remarks about me.
I have decided to address these statements in this manner because I am unable to reply to comments except by email.
Below are the comments to which I am referring:
“Your husband's pens are the same ones the 7th graders at my school make for much less money to support school programs. I can buy the same of any of the ones on your website to support our yearbook or to support our student government for $2-$4 each - and that means 50% profit. Your husband charges $30 - $55!”
“Did you and i touch base in Greece a few years back? I recall the need for funds.”
“Several years ago, an individual who frequently blogged on a similar site, fleeced a bunch of good people out of hard earned money claiming he/she had needed money to pay part of a hotel bill in Athens. Caring bloggers, who had developed an online relationship with individual over time were out hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Turned out it was a scam. The urgent need for money was the same as is frequently on this site. I thought about this when reading this site. And agree, the pens are the same as kids make in tech ed.”
First, I have never been to Greece. I have never been out of the U.S.A. So, to the person who wrote about being fleeced, please take your hostility elsewhere.
Now, about the pens my husband makes. The reader states that they can purchase the pens for “$2-$4 each - and that means 50% profit.”
I can’t say if that statement is true or false but I can say that the materials my husband uses to make each pen costs a lot more than $4. My son, who makes pens professionally, supplies some of the materials. My husband gets wood and corian from contractors who have left overs from jobs. As a reference, here is a link to one of the sites where my son purchases pen making supplies.
If you search for pen kits, the lowest priced complete pen kit available is $1.95. These kits only include the guts of the pen and metal clip, tip and center band. The material for the body of the pen is not included.
Then the person says “Your husband's pens are the same ones the 7th graders at my school make for much less money to support school programs. I can buy the same of any of the ones on your website”
My husband designs the pens he makes himself. There is no template to go by so I highly doubt the person can buy the same pen. They might be similar but any handcrafted ink pen is going to be one of a kind unless a duplicating machine is used. My husband doesn’t duplicate any of his pens although he does make some that are similar to others.
If the school the person refers to can make pens of the quality that hubby’s are, sell them for that price and make a 50% profit then they must be using all donated materials.
I don’t begrudge the school fundraising but why attack us? I am fairly sure we aren’t competing with them for sales. Hubby puts hours of work into every pen he makes. He is an artist, if you will and his time and effort are worth something.
I think these remarks are made vindictively and with the motive of trying to make hubby’s pens seem so overpriced that no one will buy them but why?
Lee, school mum or whoever you are, if you have something personal to take up with me, my email address is included in every post. Please email me instead of leaving remarks to make my husband’s pens look like overpriced junk.
My husband and I are both disabled. We both have multiple medical problems which require visits to specialists. Hubby’s pension doesn’t cover all the medical expenses we have. We live in an area that is very rural. Healthcare, other than the basics requires travel. We need to sell those pens to get to appointments which one or the other of us has nearly every week.
I am not begging for people to give us money. We are selling a product to try to raise the money we need.
I hope this post doesn’t offend anyone. Most of the people who come here are great and have been so helpful. Hubby and I are sincerely grateful to all of you.
Hubby was diagnosed with skin cancer on his nose yesterday and it just seems like the bad times will never end.
This will be the last post where I ask people to please purchase pens or at least share our site with others. I can’t deal with the negativity anymore.
When I have time, I will still put up Palin related posts.
Here is the link to the pen site one more time:
http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/product-catalog.php
If anyone has information or comments for me that they would like me to reply to please send them via email.
PS: To a reader called NYAH: I have noticed that your comments for some reason do not appear on the website. They arrived in my email and I replied to them by email but I don’t know where they went. I just want to let you know that I do appreciate the information you have given me and I apologize because I know from your last comments that you think I have ignored you. If you have anymore suggestions for me, please send them to the email address above.
Thanks to all my readers!
Blade
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