The madness of decorated pens: a lucrative phenomenon for brands

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In the hands of children, fascinated by these animal pens, they are worth gold. They even become objects of desire. “I have a lot, around 50. My girlfriend gave me ten at once, I exchanged too,” confides a schoolgirl.

This madness from Japan also attracts manufacturers. Some pens sell for four times more than traditional models. A race for cuteness where no brand intends to be overtaken. In a Bic factory, even the markers now come out decorated. Each color has its animal. “We start with the felt which is neutral, and the felt goes into the machine and we will simply attach a film to it with the decoration and the little monkeys on this felt”, shows Lorène Schantz, world writing director at Bic.

Increase brand turnover

It therefore does not cost much more to produce, but allows you to increase turnover. “It energizes a little, it brings a little impulse buying, a little more pleasure buying. Whether during the start of the school year like at the moment, but also throughout the year,” continues Lorène Schantz.

And the temptation is even greater when they are everywhere. The brand's strategy: release new products regularly. The graphics team is working on the next figurines. “The idea is that we can perfectly take the little frog, put it on the cat's pen, and interchange it to create our perfect little range as we want to have it, and possibly exchange it in the playground,” explains Gauthier Flagel, design manager at Bic.

A factory price of 10 euro cents, resold between 1 and 3 euros per unit

Popular figurines, which allow these pens to be sold for an average of 1 to 3 euros each. Many European brands obtain their supplies in China, at the Yiwu market from wholesalers, a few kilometers from the factories. A company opened the doors of its warehouse to us. “Here, we have the giraffe. That’s the lion. And there, a unicorn,” shows Wang Shi Cheng, of the Yiwu Tong Zhuxing company. He has been marketing them since last year. “The factory price of these pens is 10 euro cents. Since the start of the year, we have sold around 200,000,” he explains.

A few cents, which sometimes turn into hundreds of euros on the internet. On resale, prices soar to 350 or even 370 euros for rare limited editions, and even 580 euros for a complete collection. At these prices, we still need to find buyers.