Lost $35 on a fancy bullet journal notebook that bled right through

I bought this $35 notebook from a small shop downtown last month because the paper felt thick and everyone online raved about it. Big mistake. First week I used my regular fountain pen and the ink bled through to the next page so bad I couldn't even use the back side. I even tried different pens and markers but nothing worked with that paper. The weird thing is my old $10 notebook from Target never had this issue even with the same pens. So now I'm stuck with a half-ruined journal and wasted money. Has anyone else had a so-called premium notebook that just didn't hold up to basic use? What brand do you swear by now?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmag2220d ago

Got a "luxury" leather-bound one that fell apart in three weeks.

umar5919d ago

Gonna play the other side here a bit. Maybe the problem wasn't the notebook but your expectations for a premium paper. A lot of those small shop notebooks use handmade or specialty paper that's designed for certain inks, not just any random fountain pen you grab off your desk. You basically threw a wet noodle at a fancy wall and blamed the wall for getting soggy.

sam_thomas20d ago

dude that sucks so bad. $$35 is way too much for paper that cant even handle a basic fountain pen. I had the same issue with a "premium" Moleskine years ago and swore them off forever. Honestly the cheap notebooks from places like Walmart or the generic store brand ones are way more reliable than the fancy stuff half the time. Its like they put all the money into the cover design and forgot that the actual paper needs to work. Stick with what works, not what looks good on Instagram.