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> The TWSBI ECO offers phenomenal value in the under $50 bracket. Most piston-filling fountain pens cost north of $100,

Does anyone know why fountain pens are just so expensive? I figure its a low volume niche but a piston filling pen really I'd think would cost a few cents to make. You can get good smartphones for $50.

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I guess they’re more popular in China - you can get good quality Chinese fountain pens online for a lot less than these brands.

I'll add my $0.02 here -- I exclusively bought these Chinese fountain pens for a while, before I upgraded to some better ones (like TWSBI Eco).

My experience was that these ultra-cheap Chinese pens are fun to play with, but extremely unreliable. The number-one issue was that they'd dry up after a day without use, which renders them annoying as writing tools (but they're still fun to look at and play with!)

Yeah I don’t think it’s worth the money, the extra QC is worth a lot to me.

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