At pen shows, goods in very different price categories are laid out. Many sellers put a so-called rummage box on the table, in which older fountain pens are to be found from around 10 euros upwards; that was the entry price at the Munich show in July 2004. The exclusive and expensive pieces, by contrast, are rarely laid out openly, but remain safely kept in a box or in a bag under the table and are shown only on request. Anyone looking specifically for high-quality items must therefore ask and not merely look.
The range on offer also includes the entire environment of the writing instrument: tools for fountain pen repair, cork seals and spare parts as well as boxes, promotional material and collectables extending as far as ashtrays. The original boxes form a collecting field of their own that receives little attention. Some are elaborately and artistically designed, others bear merely the name of the fountain pen. A systematic listing or specialist literature on these boxes was largely lacking in 2004.