My first few hats... (newbie)

[Van De Laak]

Hi all,

Just would like to introduce myself, my name is A.J. from the Netherlands.

I always have been interested in caps/hats.

Starting with mostly caps a few years ago:

Soviet Afghanka cap
Soviet Afghanka hat
Several different types of boonie hats (for hiking)

... during a trip to Sydney I picked up a nice oilskin "the River Guide" by Outback Trading Company, loved it. Shortly afterwards I bought a Sterkowski (quite wide brimmed) Trilby (a small Polish hat maker)... and last week a Bailey Willis. Very nice hat.

Now I fancy some more hats, but what I find frustrating is that the shipping costs from the US are crazy. The Polish guy shipped my the hat for like U$10 shipping fee, while most of the US sellers charge the high end shipping fee... I don't understand why they use the high end range. Regular airmail will do fine for me. Anyway... I like hats.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Hey! Thanks for telling us about yourself, and welcome!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Welcome to the Lounge, A.J. There's also quite a few members from the Netherlands here.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

..there's even (at least) one Belgian here, dag A.J., stay on the lounge, after a while you'll be able to post pictures of your collection, which is necessary because we want to see those hats, caps, and other sovietskaya stuff I personally don't know about. Reading through the Fedora Lounge, I'm personally confident you're at the source of the best information available on the internet!
Welkom, Paul (Sterrebeek, Belgium) and soon -agw- to live during the week in Breda, the Netherlands.

 

[zetwal]

Hey! Thanks for telling us about yourself, and welcome!

+1

 

[ejbhats]

Welcome A. J. "split" on here is from The Netherlands as well.
To honestly answer your question, it is costly to send something to The Netherlands from the States, I assume anywhere in Europe. It will be cheaper, around $12-15.00 to send just a hat, wrapped in a plastic bag, placed in a box that very closely fits the hats size, by the "slow boat", method. There is no insurance by this method either. If you add a hat box, inside a bigger box, the price will increase dramatically. The USPS charges by weight and package size. And, the more services you add, insurance, tracking, etc, will increase the price as well. The simple fact is, that once the package leaves this countrys borders, all bets are off and it's anyones game!
It is no secret to say that some people use shipping as another source of income. They make claims such as double boxing, new materials, blah, blah, blah.... it all costs more! Fact is, it's all not necessary, they are users, so please be careful. And don't support the users.

 

[split]

Hi AJ, Welcome from a fellow Dutchman! I live in Hoogezand. Do you live anywhere near?
I'm for the most part interested in vintage fur felt hats. Don't know much about east european hats though.
Groeten, Michael