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

[Baron Kurtz]

You are of course assuming they have the ability to measure correctly. I've received 7-1/4's measured at 21-1/2" and a 6-1/2 x 8 that measured about 23-1/2" circumference when I received it.

were the side to side and front to back correct? I advocate the use of these measurements as they are much much easier to take accurately.

bk

 

[Brad Bowers]

The seller is quite clear about the size of the hat. He/she gives clear interior front-to-back and side-to-side measurements. These are every bit as useful as an interior circumference measurement. Every hat wearer should be aware of those measurements as they pertain to a hat that fits them well.

Incidentally this one will probably end up being about a 7 LO to 7 1/8.

bk

Yes, those measurements should be a more accurate judge for size.

I took a gamble on a '20s Dobbs Derby earlier this week, where the seller listed the interior circumference (using painter's tape!) as 22", and the front-back as 8" and left-right as 6 1/2". These obviously don't jibe with each other, as the first measurement is around a size 6 7/8, and the second set is a nominal 7 3/8 -- big difference, but the second set should be the most accurate, so there's a decent chance this will fit me. We'll see when it arrives, though.

Brad

 

[rlk]

were the side to side and front to back correct? I advocate the use of these measurements as they are much much easier to take accurately.

bk

The problem with front to back and side to side is that a soft hat can be easily distorted in those dimensions. In theory you are correct that those should be easier. To further labor a dead point, I can squeeze the dimensions in various ways. The measurement would have to be correctly at the widest point and at the appropriate location on the edge, not partly down into the opening or to the outside of the sweatband. Give 5 people a chance to measure the side to side they will all have a slightly different result. An error of a 1/4" is more than a full size difference. The likeliest size outcome is to add length and width and divide in half.

 

[Lefty]

I'm curious, too. It wasn't me. I had the high bid!

check again

 

[Michaelshane]

I'm still losing sleep over the Stetson 100 that couldn't get past $150.

I contacted the seller,tried to buy it.She sold it to a friend [huh]

 

[rlk]

Hat Measurement Errors

Now beating the rotting corpse of a dead horse. An error in the measurement of the diameter of the hat results in a circumference error greater than 3 times(as it is multiplied by Pi). An error in the measurement of the circumference is exactly as measured. 1/8" off in the diameter measurement is 1 full size. This makes length and width measurement accuracies even more critical and thus every bit as unreliable even on a stiff hat. Where the precise edge is to be measured is still always the biggest source of errors.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

perhaps eBay should provide all hat sellers with the (approximate) formula. This unfortunately assumes that the head space ellipse is symmetrical around each axis, so it's not truly accurate.

bk

 

[rlk]

perhaps eBay should provide all hat sellers with the (approximate) formula. This unfortunately assumes that the head space ellipse is symmetrical around each axis, so it's not truly accurate.

bk

Perhaps a hat measurement instruction video would be best.

 

[suitedcboy]

The ellipse-circumference calculator algorithm found via net searches seems to not have error factor as large as 3 but it still never gets my size correct from any of my hats.
I have to shape my hats to an extra long and narrow "pointed" oval. I get 21.9 inches which is size 7 territory but I am a 7 1/8, maybe a 7 1/8 +.

I guess for a vintage, soft felt hat the calculator probably yields an accurate result as the hat should relax into a fairly true ellipse. The person making the measurements still controls the accuracy in the end whichever way they measure it.

 

[BlindeMan]

Sorry, but I have to call you on that one......when I'm creating an eBay ad I sometimes use exclamation marks just to fill up space in the header. Perhaps your trust in a seller's honesty should be predicated on their actions, not their use of punctuation.

Overuse of exclamation points, to me, smacks of Nigerian spam mail and bad used car salespeople. ALL CAPS HAS MUCH THE SAME 'FEEL' FOR ME. For me, it creates the impression that the seller relies on the size of the font and the number of "!'s" rather than an eloquent description of a quality item to get a sale - impying that theirs is not a quality item or that they are not a quality seller. This is not meant to be a dig at you, Daoud, or anyone else. It is simply the impression I get when I see this type of ad.

I've never posted an item on E-bay, so I don't know the mechanics of why you would need to fill up space in the header. That explanation is a bit puzzling to me since most of the item descriptions I have seen don't reply on the "!!!!!!!!!!!! technique." Personally, I would prefer a more subtle approach than is seen in the description of the item that rlk won.

Also, trusting the actions of an anonymous someone I have never met (who for all I know has several e-bay accounts), based largely on the feedback of a several other anonymous someones I have never met (some of whom whom may or may not be the seller him/herself) doesn't really engage my trust either. Call me paranoid (I know - "I'm going to have to call you on that one: you are paranoid!") but I hardly ever see any sellers with a feedback score of less than 95%, and that strikes me as odd.

 

[MattJH]

Overuse of exclamation points, to me, smacks of Nigerian spam mail and bad used car salespeople. ALL CAPS HAS MUCH THE SAME 'FEEL' FOR ME. For me, it creates the impression that the seller relies on the size of the font and the number of "!'s" rather than an eloquent description of a quality item to get a sale - impying that theirs is not a quality item or that they are not a quality seller. This is not meant to be a dig at you, Daoud, or anyone else. It is simply the impression I get when I see this type of ad.

I respect your respect of the English language, but let's be certain to remember that the seller's mastery of our language and the quality of the item that they are selling are completely unrelated. I'd care more about their ability to reflect their thoughts with the written / typed word if they were a proof reader, book reviewer, etc., but selling stuff on eBay? I don't care.

Whether it's listed as "Superb 7 5/8 Stetson Three-Way - Calling Noir/Indiana Buffs!" or "Cr8zeE B0X &nd OLD MAN 'S KoWb0y hATZ OMG L@@K!]]~," it's still the same hat.

 

[rlk]

ROADKILL RESISTOL

On a lighter note. I took a chance on a lot of 4 hats for just $50.00. I didn't come up with any treasures but here's one.

This an old Resistol "Plains" with wrap-around Wildfowl. There was another fairly nice Western Hat in the box, A Dobbs Fedora and a Stephen Stetson Open Road Clone. This was the only one that nearly fits. The other 3 will soon be on ebay again(maybe this one too). Hideously Ugly or Strangely Beautiful?

 

[Rick Blaine]

...A Dobbs Fedora and a Stephen Stetson Open Road Clone. ...

What size on the S. Stetson, if I may ask?

 

[rlk]

What size on the S. Stetson, if I may ask?

Its a 7-1/2 LO I posted 1 picture in the Open Road Guild Thread.

 

[Daoud]

Overuse of exclamation points, to me, smacks of Nigerian spam mail and bad used car salespeople. ALL CAPS HAS MUCH THE SAME 'FEEL' FOR ME. For me, it creates the impression that the seller relies on the size of the font and the number of "!'s" rather than an eloquent description of a quality item to get a sale - impying that theirs is not a quality item or that they are not a quality seller. This is not meant to be a dig at you, Daoud, or anyone else. It is simply the impression I get when I see this type of ad.

I've never posted an item on E-bay, so I don't know the mechanics of why you would need to fill up space in the header. That explanation is a bit puzzling to me since most of the item descriptions I have seen don't reply on the "!!!!!!!!!!!! technique." Personally, I would prefer a more subtle approach than is seen in the description of the item that rlk won.

Also, trusting the actions of an anonymous someone I have never met (who for all I know has several e-bay accounts), based largely on the feedback of a several other anonymous someones I have never met (some of whom whom may or may not be the seller him/herself) doesn't really engage my trust either. Call me paranoid (I know - "I'm going to have to call you on that one: you are paranoid!") but I hardly ever see any sellers with a feedback score of less than 95%, and that strikes me as odd.

Ha, ha! I guess you're not an eBay kind of person, to put it mildly.
I said I used exclamation marks to fill up space in a header.....I didn't say or mean to imply that there was a good reason for it. I only meant to point out that people probably aren't using punctuation to conceal some nefarious plot to separate you from your money.

One of the reasons you don't see many(or any) sellers with a feedback rating of less than 95% is that eBay requires sellers to maintain high feedback percentages and Detailed Seller Ratings. Sellers who can't do this are penalized in various ways including suspension.
Also, high-volume sellers often DO have substantial amounts of bad feedback- but their sales volume is high enough that this bad feedback does not affect their overall ratings.

Many of us smaller-scale sellers keep our high ratings by basically kowtowing to our buyers, and doing almost anything to make them happy, even when the buyer is someone who is very suspicious and believes, for no good reason, that we are trying to shaft them. Did I mention that sellers can't leave bad feedback for buyers? We are very much at their mercy.

Basically, shopping on eBay is safe and quite highly-regulated.

 

[Wil Tam]

Akubra Overlander Heritage for under $40.00 shipped

----------------
Now playing: Leonard Cohen - Love Calls You By Your Name
via FoxyTunes​

 

[Daoud]

Heckuva deal!

 

[mayserwegener]

I won this Habig Homburg.

The color is dark blue so the first photo is off.

Also this Adelbert Breiter

 

[Dreispitz]

I won this Habig Homburg.

The color is dark blue so the first photo is off.

Also this Adelbert Breiter

Hello MayserWegener,

welcome to the Habig Homburg Club! Where did you get that beauty? Does loock nice in blue!

Breiter, by the way, still does exist in Munich.

Dreispitz

 

[mayserwegener]

Hello MayserWegener,

welcome to the Habig Homburg Club! Where did you get that beauty? Does loock nice in blue!

Breiter, by the way, still does exist in Munich.

Dreispitz

I got the Habig Homburg on German Ebay. I am not sure what happen with that first photo.

Do you know if Breiter are still making men's hats?