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

[Mario]

Thank y'all. Yes, I think I'll enjoy this one. It's my first new hat since June.

I had to replace my Sovereign whose brim got blackened with soot in that nasty cable fire two month ago. I tried to clean it again last week but to no avail.

 

[RobFedoraField]

That's a nice on Mario

 

[CRH]

I just won this interesting Stetson. That it's unlined with the unusual pug made me think it might be a nice felt to wear next summer. Also, the rather fancy label on the inside of the crown appealed to me.

Can anyone tell me more about the hat?

...

I can't add any info on the lid but I'm right with you on the summer felt idea.

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

Not Ebay, but I got a nice 1920s cloche for under 100 bucks from Canada:

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/36717166

 

[Chinaski]

Mario, nice Pilgrim! I'm just curious - how much do you have to pay for shipping? Hope you love the hat when it arrives - we'll look for it in the New Hats thread.

 

[Mario]

Mario, nice Pilgrim! I'm just curious - how much do you have to pay for shipping? Hope you love the hat when it arrives - we'll look for it in the New Hats thread.

Quite a chunk - $36 for Priority Mail. That's about the price I paid for the hat. I've had lots of stuff shipped to Germany using 1st Class and that could go as low as $12 or so.

Ah well...

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

I have to say, I do get annoyed when shipping is almost (or even more) than the item purchased!

 

[Brad Bowers]

After many years of purchasing on eBay, I finally have a gripe. A while back I won my first 1924 Dobbs ad from the Vanity Fair photograph ad series. The seller marked it as shipped, but it seemed odd as every other seller I ever dealt with sent me an email saying it had shipped, and I can't remember the last time I didn't get a tracking number. The ad never showed up, so after a month (I forgot it was coming), I sent a message to the seller through eBay saying that it had never arrived, and asked if there was a tracking number available. I waited a week to hear back from the seller, and discovered yesterday that the seller is no longer registered with eBay. It seemed fishy enough that I opened a case with eBay, but I don't expect a resolution. I'm also only out $8.50, so it's not a big loss, but it is my first real gripe. So far I've done pretty well with eBay.

Brad

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

I have had that happen a few times, actually. I also collect antique photos and political campaign buttons and I've had it happen with both of those. Ripoff seller, never sends the item, then is disappeared by ebay and banned as a seller. Never got the $$ back, either.

 

[Mario]

I have to say, I do get annoyed when shipping is almost (or even more) than the item purchased!

Yes, I'm not too happy about the shipping fees either but what can I do? Most sellers won't go the 1st Class route. Priority might be a good deal more expensive but then it's also safer.

But what's more - every second item I order ends up at the customs - which would make another $14 for this one...

 

[softouch]

I haven't sold much on ebay, but I don't charge extra for shipping. I just hope, and so far it has, the winning bid covers my cost.
To ship the conformer back to Art at VS Custom Hats USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation was only $11.40 & I mailed a Cavanagh using the same service for abnout the same price.
Might consider charging for postage if I knew the bid would not go very high.

 

[rlk]

Beautiful Borsalino Bid Big

Not mine:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...witem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_485wt_1156

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Mario,

Priority shipping is quite expensive, and only quite recently did it get so expensive. The raise in prices brought USPS prices into line with the equivalent prices being charged by other countries for international shipments. There is, of course, a reciprocal agreement between the different national mail companies to handle each others mail when sent internationally. USPS was of the opinion that they were getting shafted a bit by their low pricing scale, and so increased it. The biggest gripe for me was the removal of the sea mail option, which used to be incredibly cheap (I shipped every piece of clothing and every hat I owned in 2007 from Indiana back to the UK, and it cost just under $150 for the lot. It was 5 boxes in total, with about 20 lbs of stuff in each one).

But, for an eBay seller to send anything without a tracking number is suicide. eBay demands that a tracking number accompany every package, even internal mail. If a "case" is opened regarding a package, a lack of tracking will always lead to a decision in favour of the buyer. For this reason I only ever send stuff "Signed for" with tracking and full insurance. The buyer, of course, picks up all those costs, as I build them into the shipping charge.

Yes, I'm not too happy about the shipping fees either but what can I do? Most sellers won't go the 1st Class route. Priority might be a good deal more expensive but then it's also safer.

But what's more - every second item I order ends up at the customs - which would make another $14 for this one...

 

[hatophile]

Not mine:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...witem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_485wt_1156

Gorgeous Borso, no wonder it went so high.

 

[BanjoMerlin]

I've pretty much stopped fuming about shipping charges. My bid takes the shipping cost into account so I'm really only concerned with the total - that is how much the hat costs me.

My Byer-Rolnick made Sears fedora cost $7.95 - $2.00 bid plus $5.95 shipping. My Stetson Eagle was $20.95 - $6.95 bid plus $14.00 shipping. My Stetson Wanderer was $19.50 - $19.50 bid with free shipping. I figure if the seller overcharged for shipping then eBay was underpaid - and I don't really care about that.

One thing I have found is you need to be really careful about the package dimensions when putting the info into the ebay shipping calculator. If the box is more than 1 cubic foot the "dimensional weight" deal kicks in for zone 5 and further. This would make a 2 lb package ship as a 10 lb (or more) package in priority mail.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Software issues,...

After many years of purchasing on eBay, I finally have a gripe. A while back I won my first 1924 Dobbs ad from the Vanity Fair photograph ad series. The seller marked it as shipped, but it seemed odd as every other seller I ever dealt with sent me an email saying it had shipped, and I can't remember the last time I didn't get a tracking number. The ad never showed up, so after a month (I forgot it was coming), I sent a message to the seller through eBay saying that it had never arrived, and asked if there was a tracking number available. I waited a week to hear back from the seller, and discovered yesterday that the seller is no longer registered with eBay. It seemed fishy enough that I opened a case with eBay, but I don't expect a resolution. I'm also only out $8.50, so it's not a big loss, but it is my first real gripe. So far I've done pretty well with eBay.

Brad

The most likely cause of these problems.
I have recently brought a machine online with a lot of expensive hardware, and Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit OS.
State of the art,.......NOT.
I have tried 3 different browsers now in my attempts to print shipping labels through ebay. Paypal charges me for the postage, but the label does not get to my printer and hence does not get printed. Also, the buyer will not receive that nice little notification that the item has shipped.
So then I must void the label, make a special trip to the post office and print a label there, then wait for the funds to be refunded through paypal for the misfired postage. All of which adds up to a major pain in the azz. :eusa_doh:
Labels printed at the post office do not automatically include tracking numbers, of course, as they are not transmitted via the internet. Any transaction number or customs number from the post office must be sent via email to the buyer. A detail that many sellers would of course overlook or with which they would simply not be bothered. It's as if ebay is making selling,(and hence collecting fees from us sellers) more and more difficult every day. To the point that a lot of sellers will find alternatives to greedbay, and the site will be taken over by large volume "power sellers" that offer nothing but the same Chinese made junk you will find at any Walmart. No doubt an effect of the "Globalization" we are all being forced into.
Not exactly sure just what the problem is regarding software,...but my patience with all of ebay's fees and foibles is about at it's end after 6 years of deals with a perfect feedback score. I think the seller you had this problem with was less patient than I am in such matters, and may not have been a seller for as long a time.
I think I might have found the next online marketplace as an alternative to greedbay's ever-increasing fees and gross lack of concern for their customers here: http://www.ioffer.com/

 

[gholla]

just won this sweet vintage stetson... can anyone tell me anything about it... is it 40's or 50's... any info much appreciated...........or 60's?? just looking through the stetson liner thread a bit.....hmmm....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=290492093073&si=mnal1kVTikz2v03r5whKkLBza54%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3ABCA%3AUS%3A1123#ht_4129wt_1141

 

[Dreispitz]

Cavanagh Lord´s Hat

Just fetched this mid 1930ies Cavanagh Lord´s Hat. My first hat purchase in months.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

What tells you it's mid 1930s? I would have guessed the seller was right with their 1950s timing. The patent only gives an earliest possible date for the sweatband manufacture. (An awful lot of ties you'll find, for example, have a construction that was patented in 1929, and a label which states this, but that doesn't mean they were all made in 1929).

 

[Dreispitz]

Hello BK,

it is basically the taped sweatband that makes me put it 30ies rather than later. You are right, this style is still prominent in the 50ies. Brad has a similar one with a taped sweat and a triangular plate attached. He put his around 1936. The "John Cavanagh Ltd. Park Avenue at 47th Street New York" print in the liner might also help date the hat. We will have more evidence once I can get pictures of the undersweatband lables.