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Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

EggHead

Practically Family
Messages
858
Location
San Francisco, CA
Not disagreeing with you here, but I think we are looking at this from different points of view. I am looking for a hat that would protect me from the elements, would match with my clothing and not cost an arm and a leg, and I do own a Winchester beaver felt hat and several vintage ones well under $100, along with some Akubras, so I can compare. Some people here are collectors and they prize difference in vintage felts and for historical reasons. Buying hats on ebay makes sense to me when I can have 4 to 6 hats for the price of 1 custom.

I may differ from many people in the way I view ebay, for me, it's a flea market were I can buy something inexpensive, for others it's an auction house.
It's also a gamble - buying something without seeing first hand or trying on carries an uncertainty. All the ebay items I bought had something that I did not unticipate, but because I built the lower price into the risk, I was OK with that.

A custom $300+ hat will always be the same felt. To my knowledge, all of the custom hatters in the US, save Optimo, use Winchester felt. There's nothing wrong with Winchester felt, but it means that the difference between the felt of a hat from Art, TonyB, Black Sheep, Falcon Park, etc. is going to be small. The variation in vintage felt is huge as to density, thickness, color, etc. IMO, anyone willing to pay $300+ for a custom, but unwilling to pay that much for a high-end, vintage Borso or Stetson (when we're talking large sizes), is paying a heck of a lot for a pretty ribbon and some initials in a sweatband.
 
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scooter

Practically Family
Messages
905
Location
Arizona
I wouldn't worry about it. You fairly described the hat, the photos were good. If anything, tell him to send hat back and resell it. I think he's splitting hairs.

I am glad that I have very few hats left to sell. Just got this email from the guy who bought my Fabroc. Instead of emailing immediately to ask for a refund, I get this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250919899586

"Hat had considerably more than some staining on ribbon. Both ribbon and binding on brim were stained considerably, going through to the back side of ribbon, hat needs complete cleaning and reblock with ribbon replacement. This is my best guess but I have forwarded it to a hatter for a professional opinion. With the lighting on pic these stains can not be seen."


What do you think this guy wants? For me to pay for reblocking his hat and replacing the ribbon?
 

DJH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,355
Location
Ft Worth, TX
Received this thin ribbon Borsalino that I bought from the enigmatic colonelwth in a very reasonably priced BIN

When I've had the chance to give it a good old steaming and brushing, I'll post more in the Brotherhood thread.

smugshot8121587-L.jpg
 

DJH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,355
Location
Ft Worth, TX
I was curious about that oddly low BIN price... I hope it turned out to be in good shape. Look forward to your pictures.

Exceptionally good shape as it happens, Alan.

A little dusty, but the felt, sweatband and liner all seem to be as good as new. As you know, I'm rather partial to a nice Borsalino.
 

John Galt

Vendor
Messages
2,080
Location
Chico
Yeah, I was watching this one, then saw the shipping cost and deleted it from my watch list. What does Optimo charge for shipping - $20.00.
 

Marc Chevalier

Gone Home
Messages
18,192
Location
Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California
If anything, tell him to send hat back and resell it.


This is excellent advice. Even if you are in the right, DO NOT try to fight the buyer on this. If you do, the buyer will probably file a chargeback claim with his credit card company: PayPal will yank the money right out of your bank account, and the buyer WILL win the claim -- no matter how much proof you provide that he's wrong. Furthermore, the buyer's credit card company will yank an extra $20 from you as a "claim processing fee".


I speak from bitter experience as a seller. Trust me, it's much better to just refund the price, get the hat back, and resell it.
 

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