In March 2016 I were on the website of a canal society — I'd gone on for another reason, which I won't go into here — and I noticed they had a page selling pens with the society's name on. It struck me as a sensible thing for a website to have, so I looked into it.
There is a printing firm in Batley that does pens. The minimum order is 250. I only wanted about thirty, but 250 it were, so I have 250. They came in a cardboard box inside a second cardboard box, which I thought was good practice.
It is a black ballpoint with a push button on the top and white printing down the barrel. The printing says SHOES I'VE SEEN and underneath that the website address. The ink is blue. I did think about black ink to match the barrel but the man at the firm said blue is what most people want in a pen, and he would know. It writes well. I have been using one myself since April 2016 and it is still going, which I mention as a point in its favour.
The pen weighs 9 grams. I weighed it on Our Linda's kitchen scales. This matters for postage, see below.
A pen is 60p. I appreciate a cheque seems a lot of bother for 60p but it is the only way I can do it, so it's a cheque payable to K. Plimmer, or coins taped securely to a piece of card, which is what Barry did and it arrived fine. You will also need to send a stamped addressed envelope. Because the pen is only 9 grams, an ordinary first class stamp covers it comfortably. I have checked this at the post office in Lindley rather than take it on trust.
For the address, email me at keithplimmer1963 [at] hotmail.co.uk and I will send it by return. I'm not putting the house address on the internet. Gary agreed with me on that, and he built the site, so that settled it.
Gary also put a button on this page marked Order Now. The button does not do anything. He wanted to connect it to PayPal but I decided against, so follow the instructions above and ignore the button. I've left it on because taking it off seemed more trouble than it's worth and it isn't doing any harm.
I keep a record of pens sold, the same as I keep a record of everything else.
| Year | Pens sold | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 9 | Barry took three. |
| 2017 | 4 | One posted to a man in Otley who'd heard of the site through the forum. |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | Linda's cousin Marjorie. She paid in stamps, which I've allowed. |
| 2020 | 0 | Understandable. |
| 2021 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 1 | A walker I got talking to at Blackmoorfoot. He paid cash on the spot, which simplified matters considerably. |
| 2023 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 0 |
Seventeen pens sold in total, which at 60p comes to £10.20. The pens cost £68.00 for the 250, so the shop is £57.80 down over its lifetime, not counting stamps. I'm not doing it for the money.
Update, November 2018. The box had been in the garage near the wall that gets the damp, and a number of pens were affected. I tested every pen in the box individually on a sheet of A4, which took an evening. 31 no longer write and have been removed from stock. I should have kept them off that wall and I've said as much.
Update, June 2023. Stuart has taken a dozen for the trade counter at the merchant's. No charge — I'm counting that as promotion rather than sales, so it doesn't appear in the ledger above.
Update, February 2026. I did a full stock count. By my reckoning it should be: 250 ordered, less 17 sold, less 31 damp, less 12 to Stuart, less 14 that have gone into the house over the years and not come back — Linda keeps one by the telephone pad and I'm not raising it — which leaves 176. I counted 174. So two are unaccounted for, and I've noted that.
The shop is open, in the sense that I still have the pens.