New GouletPens Site

Is it me or did Goulet drop the ability to know which inks were bullet proof. I was perusing the site, went to the inks and none of the comparisons I could access said anything about which inks are bullet proof.

If they did, indeed, drop this comparison anybody know why?

I suppose I could e-mail them directly, but if somebody has already asked I thought I'd save them the hassle of responding "one more time."

Thanks.

Couldn't quickly find it. But, the bullet proof inks are a sub-set of the Noodler's brand. One could look for the "Bad" label, or the "bulletproof" label, but those hints are not comprehensive.

I hate the new site. It's very pretty, and I know they had to do it because the old one (according to IT people) was barely hanging on, but the intuitiveness, quickness, and ease of use is completely gone.

I'll still shop there. I've shopped there since they started, I'm in Virginia and even though I have to pay sales tax, I consider them a local business I want to support. But they can sing all the songs they want about how awesome the new site is and all the new tools...I still hate it. Using "check filters" to search when a few lines of code would allow for expanding menus like the old site had...why didn't they do this? The fun "browsing experience" of the old site was miles better than this. IMO, anyway.

And even after they fix all the bugs and the problems calm down, it probably still won't be as easy, quick, intuitive and well-organized as the old one was.

As for the OP's question, I guess your options are to use the search box for key words ("Bulletproof", then filter by "bottled ink" to get rid of the samples that show up in the results) or use the check filters for Water-Resistant--->Noodlers, and then pick through your results by reading their descriptions.

I guess. *shrug*

I agree, I am not a fan of the new website. And all of the Wishlists were lost. Would have been nice to let everyone know. I would've printed it out and re-created it, but now, I am nothing but a failing memory to go by. Ultimately, while I will still search out the items I "need", they will lose my business for those items I might have added as an "extra add-on" to an order, simply because it's not in my wishlist for easy access.

Time will tell how the new site truly works out...

Haven't shopped there since the new site, but ...

... they've taken away the "out of stock" info when viewing multiple items ... you have to click on each individual item to see if it's in stock or not. And, you can no longer sort items by availability.

And, you can no longer see the subcategories within a specific manufacturer, especially useful in pens. If you click on Noodler's pens, for example, you start off seeing ALL the pens, and there's no easy one-click way to see just the acrylic Konrads or whatever interests you ... or even to see what categories there ARE, that you might not have known about.

Doc4 said:

Haven't shopped there since the new site, but ...

... they've taken away the "out of stock" info when viewing multiple items ... you have to click on each individual item to see if it's in stock or not. And, you can no longer sort items by availability.

And, you can no longer see the subcategories within a specific manufacturer, especially useful in pens. If you click on Noodler's pens, for example, you start off seeing ALL the pens, and there's no easy one-click way to see just the acrylic Konrads or whatever interests you ... or even to see what categories there ARE, that you might not have known about.

Click to expand...

That part really bugs me. I understand trying to balance out form vs. function but going through multiple clicks to then get an out-of-stock notification is bad form.

I'll agree to the not a fan of the new site for a lot of the above reasons but I will more than likely keep supporting them because of the great service after purchase they take.

I'm sure I'll keep supporting them. For me it seems like the old pictures just stood out better or something, maybe something to do with the plain white background. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I don't find myself visiting the site as often, and I've purchased from them several times in the past. But good luck to them!

I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't like the new site.

There seems to be a lot of things not working on the new site yet and they are probably working on them judging by some of the apology statements on the new site.

It's not just the bugs, though. It's the stuff that was taken away. Expandable drop-down menus. The ability to easily search within a brand's ranges. Enlarge pictures (why on earth take THAT away?) Wishlists (I never had one but I understand it's important to people).

At least they kept the ability to read a notebook/paper's ruling at a glance. I just checked...I feared that was gone too.

I was a big fan - until I got a pen that I didn't want. No good solution, so I've moved back to Amazon, and very much enjoy the free shipping!

ChefJohnBoy-ardee said:

I'll agree to the not a fan of the new site for a lot of the above reasons but I will more than likely keep supporting them because of the great service after purchase they take.

Click to expand...

Exactly! I do not like Westcoast shavings new site either!

Doc4 said:

Haven't shopped there since the new site, but ...

... they've taken away the "out of stock" info when viewing multiple items ... you have to click on each individual item to

Click to expand...

This....You practically have to pick a specific pen and nib size before you finally find out it is not in stock. Surprisingly when I read the blog about the issues and complaints I never say this topic listed.

I'm all for a shiny new sight but this one is a step backwards as far as usability goes. I hope they smooth it out soon as there is a lot of potential there.

PMT said:

Exactly! I do not like Westcoast shavings new site either!

Click to expand...

Crap...I saw your post and freaked out a bit, rushed over there to WCS...I don't like the new site. I'll keep buying from both sites, but I don't dig either layout. Not that it matters, lol.

PMT said:

Exactly! I do not like Westcoast shavings new site either!

Click to expand...

WCS changed their site?! I didn't know. Now I have to go check....

Hmm. It seems similar to the Goulets' new site with the checkbox filters, but whoever built it did a better job. The organization is better. The browsing is easier. You can easily browse within brand ranges. You can enlarge the pictures.

See? Different" doesn't have to mean "bad." It'll just take some getting used to. But they didn't alter the useability of the site as badly as the Goulets did.

MRGAP said:

I was a big fan - until I got a pen that I didn't want. No good solution, so I've moved back to Amazon, and very much enjoy the free shipping!

Click to expand...

What exactly was wrong with the solutions offered? I've never returned a pen to them so I don't know, but their return policy makes it seem rather straightforward. So I'm interested in hearing your experience.

While I do agree about the shipping on Amazon (I wish the Goulets had a free shipping option/threshold. Especially since we Virginia residents have to pay sales tax, it would help to not have to pay shipping as well), sometimes you have to be careful with pens on Amazon. Although all my purchases have been fine, I did get a Pilot pen with a broken case held together with a rubber band once. And people sometimes complain that the discounts you get on Amazon disguise wonky nibs with tine misalignment, and I've heard at least one complaint about a guy getting a pen that was secondhand, probably returned and sealed back up and sold as new.

I think most of these problems stem from items that are "sold by company x, fulfilled by Amazon."

I bought my last Lamy 2000 from Amazon and will do so again soon too, maybe even something else from Pilot/Namiki. I bought my L2000 for about $110 with free shipping and it was brand new and works great. I wouldn't mind ordering from Goulets or whoever, but I have a hard time justifying paying an additional $50 for the same item.

RichieRich3902 said:

I bought my last Lamy 2000 from Amazon and will do so again soon too, maybe even something else from Pilot/Namiki. I bought my L2000 for about $110 with free shipping and it was brand new and works great. I wouldn't mind ordering from Goulets or whoever, but I have a hard time justifying paying an additional $50 for the same item.

Click to expand...

I hear you on this one. I bought both of my L2000's from Todd at isellpens.com. At the time Todd had his for around $125 with free shipping and Goulet had them for $150 or so with no free shipping. If I was in your position I would have done the same thing.

I very nearly got my Lamy 2000 from Amazon, but was dissuaded by one review of a guy getting his with a crappy nib. And with reports varying widely about the nibs on the 2000, I decided to get it from Goulet because I could ask them to test the nib. I have gotten 3 Pilots and a Monteverde from Amazon, though. One of the Pilots (Custom Heritage 91) was the one that came with the broken box with a blue rubber band around it to keep it shut. I was slightly alarmed but at the end of the day the pen was fine.

Amazon is also where I get Iroshizuku inks. You can save a few more bucks than the pen stores.