Despite the name, it’s not an advertisement of Marxism.

Promarx is a pen brand owned by the California-based Kittrich Corporation, which produces a lot of household and office products that are sold in big box stores all over the country. The local Dollar Tree is where I found these UltraFine porous point pens, which came in a 3-pack for – you guessed it – one dollar.

As expected, the Promarx doesn’t exactly provide a premium experience. It has a fully plastic body with a cheap clip, which easily bends out of shape. The black and gray design is plain and boring, but it gets the job done. The ink is dark and fills in areas well. The line it puts down isn’t as crisp as more premium porous points, but it’s definitely adequate for daily use.

For roughly 34 cents per pen, the Promarx UltraFine is a pretty good deal. More mainstream brands that make porous points, like Sharpie or BIC, often sell them for 3 times the price. This makes Promarx UltraFine a good budget buy.