Joshua Kennon

When I was a teenager sitting in high school French class, I recall relentlessly mocking my teacher for the idiocy of buying a $200 or $300 pen.  Fast forward to today, and not only do I have a massive pen collection, but I’ve fallen completely and totally in love with Michel Perchin pens to the point that when I have the retail store launch it’s full in-store pen department in the fourth quarter of this year, we are going to bring them in and sell them.

The average retail price for most of these works of art ranges somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000, depending upon the specific model, with many going for far more than that.  They are actually cored out of a rod of solid, pure silver and built using the finest materials available on earth.  When I look at them, my heart rate literally picks up and I feel this incredible urge to acquire.  It’s the exact same feeling as when I see a stock that is being given away (like when we put a massive portion of our assets into General Electric at $6 per share and U.S. Bancorp at $8.50 per share back in March, watching them skyrocket between 100% and 300% in less than 90 days).

Some of my friends think I’m nuts for being so passionate about pens.  What I find remarkable is that they see nothing unusual about their families smoking a pack of cigarettes per day, at an average cost of $7 per pack, or $2,555 per year.  Ten years from now, the smoking left them with no money and lung cancer and my pen is worth $10,000, not the $2,500 I paid for it.  They also wouldn’t see a problem with a woman spending the same amount on a diamond necklace.  Yet, for men, there is a double standard. Continue reading …