Over the years I’ve learned it’s always a good idea to carry a pen. I always carry one in my left pants pocket, where I also keep some other things, so my pens tend to get fucked up. My pens also tend to mysteriously vanish sooner or later, so I don’t want to spend any extra money on some kind of fancy pen.
My favorite kind of disposable pens are those hourglass-shaped retractable ballpoint pens (from what I can gather via Google, known as “Ion” pens). I find them to be comfortable, sturdy, and reliable, but I’ve only ever acquired one when someone’s given me one for free: usually some type of white-collar service, like real estate agents, loan officers, lawyers, etc.
Problem is, I can only find them for sale as promotional items, that must be bought in bulk. I like them, and I’ll probably buy a lot of them, but I really don’t need to spend $150 for 300 at a time.
I suppose I could just go to a bunch of real estate agents and lawyers and ask them for pens, but I’d really rather just buy them.
You might ask someone who gives them away if they’d sell you some. If a local realtor for example orders 300 or 500 of them, and you bought two dozen, he might feel like it would still be advertising (esp. if you lose them around town) and might sell them for what they cost him.
You can get two pounds of promotional pens (approx. 100 pens) from American Science & Surplus for ten bucks. Might not be as nice as the ones you’re describing though although they are the wider body design than your standard disposable.
