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

[CaramelSmoothie]

Just acquired a vintage '70's / 80's (?) 4X Open Road. Very disappointed with this one. What I noticed is that the workmanship and what seems to be a cowhide sweat are very subpar to the earlier Open Roads. The logo on the liner is not covered by plastic, the ribbon work is crooked and pulled too tight in some areas, and the stitching where the sweat was sewn in is visible under the hat ribbon. The leather sweat is stiff and hard. Very uncomfortable. Aside from that, the crown looks to have a noticeable front to back taper and the dumb thing fits too tight. As everyone may recall, I hated my Black Akubra Squatter. This OR is definitely a contender for first place for my most hated hats! I may sell this one real cheap!

Sorry for your bad experience. On the women's side, I wouldn't even consider a 70s/80s hat because the style and workmanship may not be as good as those from earlier decades.

 

[T Jones]

Sorry for your bad experience. On the women's side, I wouldn't even consider a 70s/80s hat because the style and workmanship may not be as good as those from earlier decades.

Thanks CS....that's what I was thinking too. It would make for an interesting conversation though. I have a few earlier Open Roads and the one I recently acquired, (1970's - 1980's ?), comes nowhere near in comparison to matching the quality of materials and workmanship of the earlier ORs, say, from the 1960's and back. It's not the fault of the person I acquired it from, it's just the hat itself...it seems to me that Stetson's quality took a nose dive in the '70's - 80's. Anyway, I think I'm going to keep it and have it reworked.

 

[TheDane]

T Jones: That's the problem with modern hats. Stetson sold the factory to HatCo around 1970, and they moved the production to their own facility - and most of Stetson's knowhow, traditions and processes were lost. The more or less same thing happened to Borsalino. Modern Stetsons and Borsalinos have the name in common with hats, sold under those names back in the 20s-60s. That's about it!

Akubra and some contemporary custom hatters get closer to vintage quality. Some get closer than others, but none of them really make the cut. Processes, materials and time put into the individual hat have changed a lot over the last 50 years. Stetson is trying with a new line (so far two models), and some custom hatters struggle to get back to the quality of earlier days. Some do better than others, but it seems like most of the scene still offers a lot of room for improvements.

 

[T Jones]

T Jones: That's the problem with modern hats. Stetson sold the factory to HatCo around 1970, and they moved the production to their own facility - and most of Stetson's knowhow, traditions and processes were lost. The more or less same thing happened to Borsalino. Modern Stetsons and Borsalinos have the name in common with hats, sold under those names back in the 20s-60s. That's about it!

Akubra and some contemporary custom hatters get closer to vintage quality. Some get closer than others, but none of them really make the cut. Processes, materials and time put into the individual hat have changed a lot over the last 50 years. Stetson is trying with a new line (so far two models), and some custom hatters struggle to get back to the quality of earlier days. Some do better than others, but it seems like most of the scene still offers a lot of room for improvements.

Thanks for the info Dane...That's what I was figuring as well. I know that Stetson sold out to Hatco around that time, so yes, I believe you're correct. The quality in workmanship and the cheaper sweat left Stetson's quality pretty questionable. I wonder if the new Strats are that way too....Also to be fair, I complained to the seller about the hat and he felt so badly that he offered to take the hat back and refund the money. How many sellers do that on ebay now-a-days? Not many. I have to say that the seller in my case is a person of integrity and honesty. Good guy....But, I decided to keep the hat and and have it converted to a Strat clone. The felt body is still good quality. At least that way it'll have a better sweat and better ribbon work...and I'll have something of Strat, just a little heavier felt.

 

[mayserwegener]

Poor auction photos but I have been looking for one these (pre WWII metallic gray Velour) for a long time in a larger size. I am thinking this one was made by JHS (Leineweber was a Berlin clothing store) and has a similar look to my tiny metallic gray JHS Superior Crystal Velour. More details when it arrives.

 

[cchgn]

woohoo, I scored the Adams fur felt "50's Rockabilly Swing jazz" for $36,,,,,

 

[mikespens]

Wow!

 

[Brad Bowers]

Stetson actually sold to Stevens Hat Co. of St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1971, and production moved there, under the name Stetson Hat Co. The Stetson Hat Co. wasn't acquired by the company that would become today's RHE Hatco out of Garland, TX, until mid- to- late 1980s, if I remember correctly. They kept the facility in St. Joseph until about ten years ago, when all Stetson production moved to Garland.

Brad

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

It just dawned on me. Here on the FL, you have an entire community full of men following auctions on hats. Like, if a person states that they won an auction, other members will know about the auction because they either saw it or was bidding on it or thinking about bidding on it. Whereas for women's hats, there is no group of women following hat auctions and discussing auctions so I couldn't go over to the other boards and ask "So who outbid me on that 1940s black tilt hat that just ended?". Believe me, I aint complaining! This leads me to ask if any of you men have your own little secret corners on the internet where you can turn to to get coveted hats without all these prying eyes jockeying for a chance to compete to win/buy hats. I have found some of the most obscure sites for hats that not a lot of people know about, with sellers selling 20s and 30s hats for dirt cheap. I am wondering if some of you men have this luxury?

 

[T Jones]

It just dawned on me. Here on the FL, you have an entire community full of men following auctions on hats. Like, if a person states that they won an auction, other members will know about the auction because they either saw it or was bidding on it or thinking about bidding on it. Whereas for women's hats, there is no group of women following hat auctions and discussing auctions so I couldn't go over to the other boards and ask "So who outbid me on that 1940s black tilt hat that just ended?". Believe me, I aint complaining! This leads me to ask if any of you men have your own little secret corners on the internet where you can turn to to get coveted hats without all these prying eyes jockeying for a chance to compete to win/buy hats. I have found some of the most obscure sites for hats that not a lot of people know about, with sellers selling 20s and 30s hats for dirt cheap. I am wondering if some of you men have this luxury?

I'm giving up ebay. You can't compete with people who must have pockets full of money to spend. I did find one site that I was going to and found some real bargains there. Unfortunately, some chatter-jaws told everybody else about the site and the guys with bags of money are going over there now. I decided to hit a few local thrift shops and local antique stores instead. Also, I've been looking around on another site where it's just bin prices there. It makes the playing field a little more fair.

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

I'm giving up ebay. You can't compete with people who must have pockets full of money to spend. I did find one site that I was going to and found some real bargains there. Unfortunately, some chatter-jaws told everybody else about the site and the guys with bags of money are going over there now. I decided to hit a few local thrift shops and local antique stores instead. Also, I've been looking around on another site where it's just bin prices there. It makes the playing field a little more fair.

Aww, poor thing! I can even hear your exasperation with the whole thing through your posts! I was just thinking how it would severely cramp my style if there were a forum full of women following every ebay auction for the hats that I want, it would really piss me off to tell you the truth!. Not saying that there isn't any competition on the hats, but not as much as for men's hats. I think many women are more into handbags, shoes and jewelry so that is where the competition is. Men are at the top of the economic hierarchy so those with excess discretionary income would be the ones breathing down your neck when you are trying to get a hat for a decent price. I have more than a few sites and sellers that I can rely on to get hats. I never reveal my sources because the last thing that I need is for the wives or girlfriends of the men with excess discretionary income to swoop in and start buying up all the hats! I only post etsy and ebay wins because everybody knows about those sites anyway.

 

[cchgn]

It just dawned on me. Here on the FL, you have an entire community full of men following auctions on hats.....Whereas, for women's hats, there is no group of women following hat auctions and discussing auctions so I couldn't go over to the other boards and ask "So who outbid me on that 1940s black tilt hat that just ended?". Believe me, I aint complaining!

Yes, Sounds like the perfect situation, then,,,,lol The only things us men have going for us is first the size, then, most men are looking for a certain style of hat( and no other, however, most look at them all), so very few are actually bidding on most, however most are bidding on "that rare one".

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

Yes, Sounds like the perfect situation, then,,,,lol The only things us men have going for us is first the size, then, most men are looking for a certain style of hat( and no other, however, most look at them all), so very few are actually bidding on most, however most are bidding on "that rare one".

That "rare one" that has dozens of grown men fighting over it like a pride of lions fighting over a fresh kill! How sweet!

 

[Joao Encarnado]

I'm giving up ebay. You can't compete with people who must have pockets full of money to spend. I did find one site that I was going to and found some real bargains there. Unfortunately, some chatter-jaws told everybody else about the site and the guys with bags of money are going over there now. I decided to hit a few local thrift shops and local antique stores instead. Also, I've been looking around on another site where it's just bin prices there. It makes the playing field a little more fair.

Speculating, I think some sellers have dual accounts were one is the seller account and the other the account that raises final bid making the winner pay more than it should.
I find funny that I can score a 20x beaver stetson for a bit more than $100 and see some modern 4x beaver (yes, 4x beaver) sky rocket to $150 or more.

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

Speculating, I think some sellers have dual accounts were one is the seller account and the other the account that raises final bid making the winner pay more than it should.
I find funny that I can score a 20x beaver stetson for a bit more than $100 and see some modern 4x beaver (yes, 4x beaver) sky rocket to $150 or more.

So in other words, shill bidding. I am always on the lookout for this type of bidding activity.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

That is why I like to snip auctions on the last 10 seconds.

 

[fedoracentric]

Speculating, I think some sellers have dual accounts were one is the seller account and the other the account that raises final bid making the winner pay more than it should.

That is actually not the case. If ebay finds someone bidding against their own auctions and driving up the price artificially they will first sanction the owner of the accounts and if they find it again they cancel both accounts and any credit cards and names associated are banned.

It's actually a pretty easy computer code to operate, too. All they do is look for two accounts that seem to always be bidding against each other. Then the software flags it and the accounts are immediately locked.

So, no, it isn't very common that someone will have two accounts like that. Sure it happens, but not for long before ebay locks them down.

 

[Monte]

woohoo, I scored the Adams fur felt "50's Rockabilly Swing jazz" for $36,,,,,

Congrats. I think that was a highly watched lid.
I received a Lee that was advertised as 23 inches three times in the ad, but it was far from. I should be able to send it back but will have to pay shipping. I'm tired of paying for others mistakes.
I allso just won a nice looking Brent which I hope fits better since they stated the actual hat size.

 

[Brian Niebuhr]

I've about had enough as well. I don't shop ebay for myself anymore since my 7 1/2 head makes it too expensive. Why would I spend 100+ bucks on a 70's or newer Stetson? No thanks!

 

[T Jones]

I've about had enough as well. I don't shop ebay for myself anymore since my 7 1/2 head makes it too expensive. Why would I spend 100+ bucks on a 70's or newer Stetson? No thanks!

Agree on the Stetsons made in the '70s and after. They're just lower quality reproductions by hatco. They're not even real Stetsons as far as I'm concerned.