The Day I Learned Price Is Not the Point
It was September 2022. I was sitting at my desk, staring at a stack of forty unopened Lamy Safari boxes. Each one felt like a little brick of disappointment. The order was supposed to be a classy corporate gift for our top clients. Instead, it became a $1,200 lesson in everything I thought I knew about pens.
The order had been simple enough. Forty Lamy Safari fountain pens, fine nibs, black ink cartridges. Twenty in matte charcoal, twenty in vibrant red. Each pen would come with a Lamy Z28 converter, because I'd read (on some blog) that converters were essential for fountain pen newbies. The total: about $1,500 including shipping. A solid investment for client relations, I thought.
I was wrong. And honestly, the mistakes were entirely mine.
The First Mistake: The Nib Size
Most buyers focus on the pen body—the color, the brand, the sleekness. And yes, the Lamy Safari is a classic in that department. But the question everyone asks is, 'which color looks best?' The question they should ask is, 'which nib width works for non-writers?'
I ordered fine nibs. In my head, 'fine' equals 'professional.' But here's the thing: most of our clients had never used a fountain pen. They were used to ballpoints. A fine nib on a fountain pen? It feels scratchy. It needs a lighter touch. It can be intimidating.
After the event, I got six calls from clients saying the pen 'didn't write well.' Six. That's 15% of the order. One client said it felt like they were 'drawing with a needle.'
If I had ordered medium nibs instead—the Lamy M nib—they would have had a smoother, more forgiving experience. The medium nib lays down a wetter line, glides over paper, and is much closer to what non-enthusiasts expect from a pen.
Lesson one: If your audience isn't fountain pen people, default to medium nibs. Always.
The Second Mistake: The Ink Sourcing
I bought Lamy ink cartridges. Standard black. A lot of them. Figured it was easier than explaining converters and bottled ink to non-users.
But I also bought those converters (because some blog said so). So now each box had a pen, a cartridge, and a converter. It looked like a confusing kit of spare parts. Several clients asked, 'What's this other piece?'
Here's what I should have done: Make a choice. Either-include a converter AND a bottle of Lamy ink (like Lamy Crystal Ink in a cool color like Amazonite or Agate), or skip the converter entirely and just include a pack of 5 cartridges. Don't confuse people with options they didn't ask for.
The best approach for a corporate gift? Skip the cartridges. Include a converter and a small bottle of Lamy ink in a non-black color. Something like Lamy Turquoise or Lamy Dark Lilac (if you can find it). It becomes a talking point. It's personal. It's memorable.
I ended up with a drawer full of orphaned converters that nobody wanted. Waste.
The Third Mistake: I Didn't Test the Order
I knew I should open a few boxes and test the pens before shipping. But I thought, 'What are the odds? It's Lamy. It's German quality. They work.'
Well, the odds caught up with me.
One of the red pens had a misaligned tine. It was scratchy out of the box. Another had a baby's bottom issue—it wouldn't start writing until you'd scribbled for five seconds. A third had a crack in the barrel near the section. Three out of forty. That's 7.5% defect rate.
And because I'd shipped them straight from the distributor without checking, I had to deal with returns, replacements, and angry clients who had already received the pen.
Lesson two: Always test at least 10% of a new batch. Open the boxes. Write with the pens. Check for nib alignment. Check for barrel cracks. It takes 30 minutes and saves a week of headaches.
The Fourth Mistake: I Ignored the 'Pen Not Flowing' Complaints
Two weeks after the event, I started getting emails. 'My pen stopped writing.' 'The ink is coming out too thick.' 'The pen is skipping.'
I assumed it was the nibs. But after some research (and a call to a specialty pen shop), I learned the truth: It was the ink.
Lamy cartridges are decent, but they can be temperamental with converters. If you're using a converter, you really should be using Lamy bottled ink (which is slightly different from the cartridge ink) or a high-quality third-party ink like Diamine or Pilot Iroshizuku. The cartridge ink is designed for quick replacement, not for use with a converter.
Also, some clients were trying to use the converter without cleaning it first. New converters sometimes have manufacturing oil inside. That oil mixes with the ink and causes flow issues. Simple fix: rinse the converter with warm water before first use.
Lesson three: If you include a converter, include a one-line instruction: 'Rinse converter with warm water before first use.' Or just skip the converter and include 5 cartridges. Pick one. Don't confuse.
How I Fixed It for the Next Order
In Q1 2023, we had another corporate gift opportunity. This time, I did it right.
- Pens: Lamy Safari, but with medium nibs (M).
- Ink: No cartridges. No converters. Instead, each pen came with a Lamy ink bottle in Violet (a limited-edition color that was a big hit). The bottle itself looks like a little jewel. It's a gift within a gift.
- Extras: A small microfiber cloth for cleaning the nib. (I learned from the previous mistake that new fountain pen users will inevitably get ink on their fingers.)
- Testing: I opened and tested 5 pens from the batch. All wrote perfectly.
- Instructions: I included a one-page guide: 'How to fill your Lamy for the first time' with three simple steps. No jargon. No 'priming the feed' or 'flushing the converter.' Just fill, wipe, write.
The result? Zero complaints. Zero returns. Several clients actually called to say they loved the pen and had started using fountain pens regularly. One even asked where to buy more ink.
That's the difference a little education makes.
The Real Takeaway
Look, I'm not a pen expert. I'm a procurement guy who made a lot of expensive mistakes. But I'd rather spend 10 minutes explaining options than deal with mismatched expectations later. An informed customer asks better questions and makes faster decisions.
If you're buying Lamy pens in bulk for your company—whether for gifts, for employees, or for your own office—here's my checklist:
- Nib size: Medium (M) for non-enthusiasts. Fine (F) only if you know they like fine lines.
- Ink delivery: Either a converter + a bottle of Lamy ink, OR 5 cartridges. Not both. Not neither.
- Color choice: A non-black ink is a better conversation starter. Lamy Dark Lilac, Lamy Turquoise, Lamy Pacific Blue.
- Test before shipping: Open and test 10% of the batch. Don't skip this step. Ever.
- Include simple instructions: One page, three steps. Assume the recipient has never used a fountain pen.
Is the premium fountain pen option worth it for corporate gifts? Sometimes. Depends on context. But if you make the mistakes I made, it's definitely not worth it.
I still have a box of fine-nibbed Lamy Safaris sitting on my shelf. Forty pens. I gave a few away to friends. The rest? Well, they're a reminder that experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
Take it from someone who wasted $1,200 on a pen order: the research is free. The mistakes are not.
