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

[RickP]

Ah-hah, you’re just north of Huntsville, TX.

I have been through your area trying to find the best route from Houston to the I-20 with a load heading east. I remember it as barren flatland. I was hauling rolls of industrial paper from some god-forsaken paper mill just north of Houston. That was a memorable trip not least because it took so long just to get to the I-20.

Glad to hear there is something in the area worth stopping for!

US 59 is basically being upgraded to eventually be converted to an Interstate northeast out of Houston. Pretty soon it will be extended into Louisiana where youll be able to jump onto I49 and zip up to Shreveport and i20. Currently you get ALMOST to the Louisiana border and then have to take 59 on up to i20. A buddy here is a retired Fed Ex Driver that used to do a houston/ Memphis/ Houston run, He said Both US59 and US79 are regular commercial trucking routes through east texas... WAY preferable to going up to DALLAS then then to shreveport. Youre right about being pretty desolate.... not much in parts of deep east texas but meth, single wide trailers and cars up on blocks lol

 

[RickP]

Ah-hah, you’re just north of Huntsville, TX.

I have been through your area trying to find the best route from Houston to the I-20 with a load heading east. I remember it as barren flatland. I was hauling rolls of industrial paper from some god-forsaken paper mill just north of Houston. That was a memorable trip not least because it took so long just to get to the I-20.

Glad to hear there is something in the area worth stopping for!

Last time I drove that route towards Knoxville, I left Crockett at midnight, then went east to Nacadoches and was in Shreveport before dawn.. not a bad route, just not real exciting

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

US 59 is basically being upgraded to eventually be converted to an Interstate northeast out of Houston. Pretty soon it will be extended into Louisiana where youll be able to jump onto I49 and zip up to Shreveport and i20. Currently you get ALMOST to the Louisiana border and then have to take 59 on up to i20. A buddy here is a retired Fed Ex Driver that used to do a houston/ Memphis/ Houston run, He said Both US59 and US79 are regular commercial trucking routes through east texas... WAY preferable to going up to DALLAS then then to shreveport. Youre right about being pretty desolate.... not much in parts of deep east texas but meth, single wide trailers and cars up on blocks lol

Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound critical - I remember it as a pleasant drive. The area around the National Forest was actually quite lovely. It just took soooo looong….

Thanks for the truck route advice, I’ll remember it if I have to make a similar journey!

 

[rogueclimber]

Big relief... the tape / glue spots on the brim are just about gone. Looks way better with about a pound of dust brushed off! This should end up pretty nice. Really soft felt, really comfy fit, and I love the color

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That cleaned up well. Seems a good gamble

 

[rogueclimber]

it is impossible for anything to go from Huntsville to LA in four hours.

Lower Alabama isn't that far away from you is it?

Sorry, I'm not making fun of your pain. I despise how poorly done USPS tracking is

Fingers crossed for an equally quick trip back for your niece's gift

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Lower Alabama isn't that far away from you is it?

Sorry, I'm not making fun of your pain. I despise how poorly done USPS tracking is

Fingers crossed for an equally quick trip back for your niece's gift

Lower Alabama, lol. Took me a second to get that. Thanks for the well-wishes!

 

[The Shoe]

Mailman just dropped off my latest ebay gamble. A Graphite color Stetson Soverign Firenze. My first thought was " thats a mighty slim box" lol. The dog thought is was a strange shape for a hat box too (either that or there used to be something with a strange smell in the box lol)

First glance out of box made me glad its a really soft Soverign felt... May take a bit of work but should be ok

Knocked a bit of dust off and pulled the ugly feather out

Little more cleaning and I think it will be fine... only concern is a sticky spot on the brim where the feather and decorative ribbon was stuck to the brim... wish me luck

I guess its not horrible for 30 something dollars


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Different people have their own varied opinions on feathers, but I think we should all be able to agree that that is truly repulsive! And they’ve done their best to further accentuate that repulsiveness with their method of attachment.
Glad to see it looks great after a bit of work.

 

[RickP]

Different people have their own varied opinions on feathers, but I think we should all be able to agree that that is truly repulsive! And they’ve done their best to further accentuate that repulsiveness with their method of attachment.
Glad to see it looks great after a bit of work.

not sure that Buzzard feathers were ever a thing lol

 

[Jimvint]

Here's another fedora I picked up from the 'bay.
It's a modern Knox in a blue color. Got it cheap and looks like it's hardly been worn. Fits well too.
The center crease stays but I have to do some steaming and use a stiffener on the pinches.

 

[Rmccamey]

I have had many hats delivered by USPS for almost ten years now and other than one that went from Boston to Alabama via Guam, I have had zero complaints.

I had a hat that took a trip around the States last year and USPS finally flagged it as "lost". It showed up the next day!

Im in Crockett, Tx. Find Centerville about 1/2 way between Houston and Dallas on I45, then take right and go east 40 miles or so. One of the best grills here (Davy Crockett Bar and Grill)has all fresh made stuff ( no prepackaged plastic food.... Monstorous Catfish filets, great Ribeyes, Wonderful Chicken Fried Steaks, Fried Okra, Poblabano Pepper corn, green beans,and fresh made lumpy mashed potatoes). Some good cheap BBQ, and one really world class Craft BBQ place. My favorite steak though is the local Cattle Auction Barn cafe. Several Decent tex Mex places too

You've had some weather this last week...or was it all west of you?

 

[RickP]

I had a hat that took a trip around the States last year and USPS finally flagged it as "lost". It showed up the next day!

You've had some weather this last week...or was it all west of you?

It was definately wet and windy. Got to fire my generator up twice Friday . Tornado just to the north near Palestine, ANother tornado over in Temple to the west, and then of course Houston to the south got hammered pretty bad. Weather all around us. The dog and I just stayed inside

 

[CRH]

It was definately wet and windy. Got to fire my generator up twice Friday . Tornado just to the north near Palestine, ANother tornado over in Temple to the west, and then of course Houston to the south got hammered pretty bad. Weather all around us. The dog and I just stayed inside

It's funny that what I desire most from life lately
is a safe place,
preferably underground, away from the wind

 

[Jimvint]

On the subject of sellers, I know it's been posted about in some of the posts that I have read...
The more I learn about fedoras I have to chuckle at some of the listings on eBay.
Brand names that don't match tags in photos, "original" boxes with a different brand name, size tags in photos that don't match what's listed.....
Maybe a lot of is that sellers don't notice details. But man, I have sold stuff online and you have to get details correct!

 

[Jimvint]

I bought this dark blue Resistol Jet 707 off eBay.
This hat has the tag under the sweatband. The paper United Hatters size tag fell out of it.
It's got some minor damage on the front of the sweatband but it fits well and looks more blue than in the photos.
Anyone have an idea on the age of it?

 

[The Hatted Professor]

Well, crap. I was excited to buy this original pencil drawing, obviously the preliminary sketch for a famous advertisement from 1930, but I just got an email from the seller that they can't find it in their inventory. This would have been the next best thing to having the original painting.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3869976416...00&osub=-1~1&crd=20240529095453&segname=11050

 

[steur]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13510084...NME7GR&hash=item1f74a34ece:g:PakAAOSw5wpmaUTe

How this type of straw is not a bestseller is beyond me. Best of both worlds!

 

[BobHufford]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13510084...NME7GR&hash=item1f74a34ece:g:PakAAOSw5wpmaUTe

How this type of straw is not a bestseller is beyond me. Best of both worlds!

 

[RickP]

Just worked through a little ebay snafu here.... I had bought a Stetson Gun Club hat for a decent casual around town hat. The box came in today and the wrong hat was in the box!. The one I got was a nicer Stetson silverbelly 4x beaver James Dean Foundation hat that is an actual, for real 7 1/4 long oval ( no need to re work this one lol).

It was pricier than the one I actually bought, so being the decent honest guy I am, I got hold of the seller. They were great to work with and we worked a deal to get BOTH hats (simplier and less risk of damage or loss during shipping back). Also keeps someone else from buying a fairly pricy hat and getting a cheap one in their box... I can sleep well with no guilt lol. I spent a bit more on hats than I had planned to this week, but Im happy. Also I had always felt I am more of a long oval, and now have a basically factory new hat in long oval to prove it!

Front brim ties to snap back up on its own from time to time, so Ill fire up the steamer here in a bit and fix that. Needs a bit of brushing, but Im happy its here. The whole fix with the seller took 10 minutes... In my book thats NOT much or a problem!

 

[Frunobulax]

Just worked through a little ebay snafu here.... I had bought a Stetson Gun Club hat for a decent casual around town hat. The box came in today and the wrong hat was in the box!. The one I got was a nicer Stetson silverbelly 4x beaver James Dean Foundation hat that is an actual, for real 7 1/4 long oval ( no need to re work this one lol).

It was pricier than the one I actually bought, so being the decent honest guy I am, I got hold of the seller. They were great to work with and we worked a deal to get BOTH hats (simplier and less risk of damage or loss during shipping back). Also keeps someone else from buying a fairly pricy hat and getting a cheap one in their box... I can sleep well with no guilt lol. I spent a bit more on hats than I had planned to this week, but Im happy. Also I had always felt I am more of a long oval, and now have a basically factory new hat in long oval to prove it!

Front brim ties to snap back up on its own from time to time, so Ill fire up the steamer here in a bit and fix that. Needs a bit of brushing, but Im happy its here. The whole fix with the seller took 10 minutes... In my book thats NOT much or a problem!





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Several years ago, a generous FLer offered to send a Dalton box to me for the cost of shipping. I of course accepted the offer. Around the same time, he sold a Whippet on eBay for a very tidy sum.

A day or so later, he contacted me and said, "Jim, please look in the box I sent you when you get it."

Sure enough, the Whippet was in the Dalton box, as he forgot he was storing it in there in advance of the sale. Needless to say, he was greatly distressed before finding out I mistakenly had it. I returned the hat to him and he was able to complete the sale and receive his booty - no harm, no foul. But it might have taken a couple weeks off his life!

I told him that if it had been in my size, I likely wouldn't have "found" it.

 

[moehawk]

Just worked through a little ebay snafu here.... I had bought a Stetson Gun Club hat for a decent casual around town hat. The box came in today and the wrong hat was in the box!. The one I got was a nicer Stetson silverbelly 4x beaver James Dean Foundation hat that is an actual, for real 7 1/4 long oval ( no need to re work this one lol).

It was pricier than the one I actually bought, so being the decent honest guy I am, I got hold of the seller. They were great to work with and we worked a deal to get BOTH hats (simplier and less risk of damage or loss during shipping back). Also keeps someone else from buying a fairly pricy hat and getting a cheap one in their box... I can sleep well with no guilt lol. I spent a bit more on hats than I had planned to this week, but Im happy. Also I had always felt I am more of a long oval, and now have a basically factory new hat in long oval to prove it!

Front brim ties to snap back up on its own from time to time, so Ill fire up the steamer here in a bit and fix that. Needs a bit of brushing, but Im happy its here. The whole fix with the seller took 10 minutes... In my book thats NOT much or a problem!





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I had a similar situation a few years ago. I bought a Mossant fedora from a seller in France for a great price. She accidentally sent a beautiful Morreton homburg that she also had listed for a decent price, but higher than the Mossant. She immediately offered to pay return shipping and send the right hat immediately. I figured that by the time all was said and done she would be in the hole, with all the return shipping, sellers fees and whatever she paid for the hat so I offered to keep the Morreton if she would sell me the Mossant at the same lower price. She was happy to make both sales and avoid a lot of hassle.