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The site is a place for commercial businesses to list their wares for sale targeting other commercial businesses. All of the sellers are owners of their own store, and they are located all over the world. I have dealt with sellers from India, United Arab Emirates, South America, South Korea, Thailand, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ecuador, and the UK just to name a few. Just like listing an item on Ebay, same thing. They open an account and list their items for sale, but their target market is Overseas Commercial businesses that do high volume, so yes the purchase quantity will high. Usually minimums are 1,000 pieces and up. I started dealing with sellers on Alibaba in 2001 when I first entered the export business, I have had some good transactions and I have also had several bad ones. After being burned, I started doing more research on the site and looking into the reviews of other buyers. The ones I found were horrid. Wish I would have done the research before hand, because that was one expensive lesson I learned. To find out more, do a Google search for "alibaba reviews" and read some of the reviews for yourself. Although I am sure after reading through some of them you will decide against doing business with this site. The only thing I do with Alibaba now is use the information I find as leads. I am overseas several times a month, traveling all over the world, and I will sometimes have my driver take me to a business I found on Alibaba, and you will be surprised how many have been broken down apartments, vacant lots, or a legit business that have absolutely nothing to do with the person i had been conversating with via email and Skype. I will also say that I have found some great contacts this way, but had I not actually went and checked them out, I would have been skeptical and hesitant to do business with them. I know every one does not have the ability to hop on a plane at a moments notice like I do, but this is what I tell everyone that wants to do business with one of the sellers. Send them an email, tell them you are interested in their products and want to check the quality by ordering samples. This way it is only a small investment and if for some reason you don't get the items, your loss is minimal. Plus samples will usually be way more than you need. Make sure you tell them you will pay for the samples, that will make them give in and agree to sending the samples, instead of having you make the minimum purchase amount. Because they want you to come back as a buyer, they will usually send the good stuff. Be careful when going back because they are known for the bait and switch. Use Paypal and ask them to send you an invoice to your Paypal email address, instead of you simply sending the money to them. This way if something goes wrong, Paypal will have proof the transaction was for the purchase of goods and can fight for you. Never wire money, difficult to trace who picked up the money on the other end. If they say they don't have Paypal, move on and quick! Do your research, and be careful because their are a lot of scammers lurking waiting on their next victim. Karina

Love the bag, very nicely done. I enjoyed watching it come together, your skills with leather is top shelf! Karina

Springfield Leather now carries Chromexcel in a few colors. Karina

Very Nice piece, I think they will love!

That's one nice school bag!

I don't have any helpful information to offer about your issues, but I just wanted you to know, that you are not alone! I started this venture less than a year ago in November 2012. I hand sewed my projects for all of two minutes before I ran out and purchased a spanking brand new industrial walking foot sewing machine. I knew how to sew on a regular machine but had know experience with industrial machines and I too found myself in tears after spending money on a machine that scared the crap out of me, and regardless of what adjustments I made, it still wasn't correct. My machine did not hit the same holes when in reverse, the thread was bird nesting in the bobbin area, I broke several needles, the presser feet were leaving marks on the leather, the bottom thread was not being pulled up into the leather, it was just laying flat on the leather, and I bent the tension adjustment spring the 2nd day I had it. A week after purchasing the machine, I was using it as a catch all. The table had so much stuff piled on it you couldn't even see the machine. I had just dropped a chunk of change on a machine that was just sitting there. I cleared everything off the machine and by testing and making adjustments, I was finally able to get the machine to do exactly what it was meant to do. It took me 3 to 4 days of making adjustments before I got it correct. It was frustrating, and I had plenty of days where I cursed the machine, and cursed myself for buying the machine. I would take a break then go back to it. I am finally confident enough to use the machine with good results. I am hesitant about changing the settings for different leather thicknesses because I don't want to go through all the adjustments again, and I still for the life of me can't get the reverse to land in the the same hole so for now I just finish by hand, but I am certain that I will get that too. (From what I have read an adjustment needs to be made to the machine) Whatever you do, keep working at it and don't give up. Take some more time to get to know your machine and play with all the settings to see what they do. I took scrap pieces and sewed a straight line, making every possible adjustment on the machine until I found the correct settings. I made notes as I did this so I now know what to do and which dial to turn to correct the problem. I have been there, so I know how it feels, but just keep working at it I am sure you will get the hang of it in no time. Good Luck with it all! Karina

It sews great! A tad fast for me though. I am looking into a smaller pulley for it. I spoke with a very helpful member here about the machine and he told me to go with a 2" pulley to slow the machine down. As soon as I can clear up some work around here I will get that done and start sewing my lighter leather projects with it. I have a brand new industrial walking foot machine set up with 138 thread for the thick stuff and i hate having to swap out things just so I can sew the light stuff so this will be the dedicated machine for that purpose. Now all I need to do is find a good deal (cough...cheap) on a cylinder arm or post bed machine and I will be all set! Karina

Could this be it. http://www.ismacs.net I just picked up a 95-10 this past weekend for $75. (They were asking $125 but I talked them down - wish I could have got it for $25) Came from the original owner (Family) It was great grandmother's passed down. It was in use up until a month ago when the belt broke and from the looks of the belt, it was the original dating back to 1920 (not sure just guessing but it is very old and brittle) Took the belt to a sewing machine supply store and he sized it up and gave me a v-belt and once installed this thing runs super smooth. Now I just need to clean, polish, and oil it really good so I can put it to use. Karina

Thanks for sharing! Karina

I got one off ebay a few months back and I won the bid at $180 including shipping. (Wish I could have got it for $40 - that was a super deal) Oddly enough it is sitting in the corner still in the box. I will get around to testing it out at some point I imagine. Have been very busy with other projects. Glad you posted on this BIllyMac, as mine did not come with instructions either, but at least now I know how it is supposed to be used, and to sharpen the blade before using. Thanks! Karina

I agree excellent work as always! Karina

Very nice, looks Amazing! Karina

Checked out your photos, you have made some very nice items, but I am really loving the moc's! Karina

I have wheels on mine. This was my first commercial machine and when it arrived, I had to put the table together. The instructions had "optional" , but said to raise the table put 2 x 4 on each size and add wheels which I did. Didn't really understand why the need for the wood because it had holes to insert wheels directly into the legs but I guess using the wood allows one to use those wheels that don't have the insert, but the four screw hole models. I am glad I did add the wheels because for the chair I use, the table without them was too low. I am sure I could have found another chair, but once you break in one you don't want to let it go. I got my wheels from Harbor Freight and they are heavy duty. My machine is set up in my basement at the moment which is carpeted and I can still move it around with no problem. Karina

Studio-N is a member here at leatherworker.net,

When you file a dispute with Paypal, while they are investigating, they will give you a provisional credit if you were the buyer, and they will remove the funds from your Paypal account if you were the Seller. As the buyer, If they side in your favor, they will send you notice that the credit is final. If they side with the seller they will remove the credit from your account, and give it back to the seller. I had this happen a few weeks ago both as a Seller and a Buyer. Luckily Paypal sided in my favor on both disputes. As the Seller, a customer stated she never got her order, and Paypal removed the funds from my account. I was able to provide proof of delivery so Paypal gave me the money back. As a buyer, I placed an $155 dollar online order that was lost in the mail and the seller would not give me a refund until she got the package back. I never had possession of the package because it was lost in the mail, so I could not control when and if the packaged would be returned to her. I filed a dispute, Paypal gave me the provisional credit while they were investigating, and a few weeks later I received notice from Paypal that the credit was final and the case was closed. Karina

You wouldn't by any chance know what these sheets are called? I tried Google but I am coming up empty, but I think that's because I am not using the correct term. Thanks, Karina

I too use a thick brown paper. It comes on a roll and you can get it at Lowes. Contractors use it to cover New hardwood flooring once installed, but it works great for making templates. I also make them out of poster board. I get that from Hobby Lobby. This week they have them on sale 4 for $1.00 and I usually get about $3 or $4 worth. What he is using in the video I have not idea but it is nice and thick, I would love to try that.

Love it! Very Nice Work!

Not a problem glad to help, and thanks for the clarification on the Tiger thread.

Great info Nigel, I looked into them before and was told they sold Irish linen thread, is that the same as Tiger Thread? Also FYI you transposed the numbers in the area code of the phone number. It should be area code (440). 404 is in Georgia, my neck of the woods.

It is in cream form, not as greasy as neatsfoot or mink oil, but it did darken the leather a bit just like neats/mink.

All nice pieces, but that backpack is my fav! Nicely done!

Yes you can buy the cores. They come in both rubber and cork. A quick Google search will yield a few results. Buy a ball, strip the cover off, and use that as your pattern. Stitch back together using a baseball stitch. I made a leather softball as a gift for a toddler, and used a soft foam for the inside and a light weight leather because I did not want him to hurt himself and he only chewed on it anyway like toddlers do, but once I copied the pattern of the softball it was pretty easy to put it back together. Karina