Buy ink samples first – this is one of the things that I wish I had done when I started with the hobby. Ink sampling is now (by far) one of my favorite things in the fountain pen hobby – maybe more than the fountain pen collection itself. Here are a few reasons why.
You get to try a lot of inks for less money
Prices of bottled ink vary from brand, amount, and ink property. You might find a few brands that sell for less than $10 like the 50ml Waterman, the 30ml Pelikan 4001, or the 30ml J. Herbin. It’s a bit easier to justify the cost of these compared to ink samples (priced at approximately $0.75-1 per ml).
Maybe if you do the math (which I won’t and have not), an ink sample of just one ink could be more pricey if you it for x amount of times.
I’d advise against that – because yes, if you’re planning to use the same ink over and over, you really should just buy a bottle of ink.
Buy ink samples from different brands, different colors, different types! You will get the most variety of inks for less. Paying $10 for 7-10 ink samples sounds like a sweet deal compared to buying $10 of bottled ink that you wouldn’t use as often as you’d want to.
Traveling with inks is easier
As someone who moves and travels quite a lot, I understand the importance of portability. I do have a few bottled inks and I try my best not to buy more (even if some bottles are just so darn beautiful).
Having more ink samples gives me a bit of peace of mind when I move or travel. I don’t have to worry about the weight, the volume, or the fragility of the bottle when it’s packed.
It kind of shares the same logic with carrying smaller volumes of perfume rather than taking the big beautiful glass bottle with you.
No commitments!
If you only have ink samples, you’re not inclined to use the same ink all the time just to get your money’s worth.
I tend to reach for the bottled inks more often than the ink samples because I “don’t want my money to go to waste”. I often have a difficult time buying ink because I know that I have a full bottle of ink just sitting on my desk.
Ink samples make me feel less tethered to one ink and allow me to experiment with different types of ink.
You can try a different one every day, if that’s your thing. Because yes, this is a thing in the fountain pen community.
Read: 30 Fountain Pen Inks in 30 Days – #30Inks30Days Challenge
No regrets
I have regretted a few of my bottled ink purchases. Most of them purchased impulsively (I’m not surprised). Most of these ink bottles, I have given away to a few of my fountain pen friends so they weren’t a total waste. Of course, this would have been money better spent on other inks.
If I had considered buying ink samples instead of the entire bottle, I wouldn’t have saved my money and these bottles wouldn’t gather dust in my drawer
Making decisions is easier
There are A LOT of fountain pen ink brands and colors in the market right now. If you’re deep into the hobby, you might have had a specific preference to the hue, shade, or property of inks. Let’s take the blue inks for example – this color alone has a wide variety of choices and it’s not easy to pick which one is best. I’ve been in this hobby for years and I still haven’t found the *right* blue.
Ink sampling really comes into play here. I purchase a lot of blue ink samples and compare them against each other.
Sure, it seems redundant but there are slight differences between each of them – just like paint colors.
Again, no less regrets.
Who knows, maybe you might just find “the one”
Trust me, I’ve been there.
I have tried inks from my sample sets that I have loved so much – enough for me to buy a bottle of ink. Pilot Iroshizuku Yama Budo is one of them. It only took me one sample to convince me to buy a bottle of this ink (just the 15ml, because it was a set).
Sharing ink samples
True fountain pen enthusiasts are willing to share what they are passionate about. If you have a friend or acquaintance who is into fountain pens, they wouldn’t hesitate to share some ink samples with you. If you have some inks that you love (or don’t), you can grab a plastic vial and share it with a fellow fountain pen enthusiast.
I know that ink samples are not an option for some retailers. This is one of the main reasons for advocating ink sample sharing. It wouldn’t cost you a lot to share and you get to share the joy of the fountain pen hobby with someone.
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