Lisa and I worked hard in 2013 on a number of pen-related goals. Make it to each of the 14 US Pen Shows, open a store, and put together a more full featured website. Well, the first two were successful, and the last item has now become a reality.
While the site is not done, and I am still working on adding images and features, it is now up and running. There are a number of new features you will find of interest:
- Wish List – Add items you are interested in without keeping them in your cart
- Credit Card Processing – If you don’t use or prefer Paypal, we have an option to process credit cards directly on the site with full PCI compliance.
- Over 250 new items – Everything from calligraphy items and books to lots and lots of paper and everything in between. We also found a bunch of stuff we didn’t even know we had, so those are added in as well.
- Quantity Discounts on ink – Buy five or more bottles and get a discount, buy ten or more and save even more on qualifying brands, all day, every day.
- Speaking of ink, all brands are now broken out by bottled, cartridge, ink samples, and other refills (yes, we have some ballpoint and rollerball refills now available!) to make searching easier.
- New Library page – Look for Reference items to appear here, including our Ink Volume Comparison, Esterbrook Nib Chart and links to great pen sites we love. A never ending work in progress!
- Better cart – just plain easier to see what you have in the cart.
- Better address book – keep multiple addresses for shipping to work, your mother’s house, or your brother in Sacramento.
So, that’s a brief overview of some of the benefits you will expect to see. We tried to keep the look pretty much the same. I’ll be working hard over the next week or two to get the rest of the images up and new product images taken. One thing all users will have to do is reset their password, since it did not transfer over from the previous site. Just use the forgot password link to reset it. Some users may also need to add in address information as well.
As always, constructive criticism, comments, suggestions, etc., are welcome.
Happy 2014!
Brian & Lisa