Why are so few small/mid sized items lined?

[dans79]

Maybe its just me, but it seems like most wallets, notebook covers, folios etc aren't lined. I'm not talking about about the inside of a card pocket or something that never gets seen. I'm talking about features that you are going to see every time you use use the product. 

I've thought about it for a while, and the only thing that comes to mind, are cost and aesthetics. For a hobbyist on a budget, or someone just starting out, I can understand not wanting to buy multiple weights of leather so you can line a project, or spending the time to do so. However, I even see a lot of professionals and small mom and pop companies  making stuff like this, where cost should be less of a concern. 

Take this $90  filed notebook cover for example. This is a "premium" item produced/sold by a good sized company with a good reputation. Imo, this is a rather extreme  example, as the flesh side is nasty/hairy, not to mention the stings around the front card slot opening.

https://fieldnotesbrand.com/products/daily-carry-leather-notebook-cover


Am, I missing something? other than costs and aesthetics why are so few items lined? 

[Tugadude]

The stitching on that notebook is everything I don't care for in machine stitching.  Functional, yes.  Attractive, to me a big no.  

But you asked about lining and I have to assume that cost is the main driving factor.  I would say thickness on small items, but lining can be made so thin that if you really want to use it, thickness isn't prohibitive.  

Some of the mass-produced wallets I've seen used lining leather that was literally paper thin.  

I don't care for the "hairy" look and if it were me, I'd at least slick the exposed portions of the interior with TanKote or equivalent.  Leaving it that way it looks unfinished to me.

[Chakotay]

Lining adds thickness (and stiffness). Things you may not want on certain items. In particular, I'm always trying to get my wallet as thin as I can.

[dans79]

1 minute ago, Chakotay said:

Lining adds thickness (and stiffness). Things you may not want on certain items. In particular, I'm always trying to get my wallet as thin as I can.

That part I get, as I've been experimenting with it my self. 

As Tugadude said though you can get leather really thin now.

For example I have a 1 oz. sample of Badalassi Carlo Waxy. Imo it would require being lined with something equally as thick as it is, just to be usable. It's so thin and soft to start with, I don't know what you could use it for on it's own. 

[fredk]

I line about 90% of my small items. I mainly use extremely thin lining leather and on the very odd occasion I use cloth material

The 10% or less not lined is usually the cheapy 'pocket money' items

[mike02130]

1 hour ago, dans79 said:

 

Here are some rambling thoughts.

Year after year things get cheaper and quality falls more and more by the wayside.  One example is the wood fittings inside a newly built home versus 100 years ago.  Same goes for shoes, clothing, tools and even candy bars.  For all of us that think it's crap, new consumers come in to replace us without knowing or experiencing better.  A large percentage of the population just don't know what good is.  

Then there is the recent popularity making leather goods.  Many are not craftsman but makers, assemblers and the like.  I read some shop's About sections and many describe their dissatisfaction in the corporate or I.T. world.  They start an Etsy shop, do social media and then open a Shopify site.  They lack the skills to make a quality product and lack the pride of doing excellent work.  They judge themselves by their "likes" on social media and their income.  Quality is not a barometer for their work.

Making things cheaply and lack of quality is a great saver of time, thought and labor.  There is no need to buy a bell skiver or splitter when one can buy off the shelf leather at varying thickness', machine sew a chunky wallet and throw it up on their website.  All that's needed is a clicker press and a sewing machine.

To go back to my thought that people don't know or care about quality, look at the items they do buy.  Cheap Chinese products made out of leather from an unknown origin or designer products that lack some qualities but have a fancy label.  I make and sell some items that are lined inside and out with fancy leather, but my competition has similar yet shoddy items for one quarter the price.  Cheap usually wins out.  Uniqueness loses.

 

 

[johnnydb]

There's a thing with market saturation and craftsmanship.   

Not everyone can afford  custom leather goods just like they can't afford to eat at your city's finest restaurants.   People want to eat at fancy restaurants but can only afford McDonald's valu menu items.  

Then on top of this...we seem to have a plethora of people producing hand crafted leather goods...all bidding on a small group of people who can afford  (if they wished to) their items.  

This is where craftsmanship and marketing and balance between labor costs and price comes into play.  

 

Price points matter or they don't.  Mass marketing price points matter.  Small volume artist pieces, the price point is not important...quality matters.  But style matters in the small volume pieces too.  And just because it is of sufficient quality to last decades...it will be tossed out like the rest of last year's fashions.  

And if your piece you are selling is last years fashion accessory....just saying.   

 

I happen to like quality and timeless pieces...ones that tell a story.  

[Bert03241]

its sad when you have 3 hrs of labor 2 to 3$ of materials $4.50 in postage plus ebay fee's on an item that should sell for 35 to 40 $ but you sell it for 24 because of all the cheap crap others are selling  and I end up making 12 bucks. Who in their right mind works for 3 bucks an hour?We do just because we love making this stuff.

[chiefjason]

3 hours ago, Bert03241 said:

its sad when you have 3 hrs of labor 2 to 3$ of materials $4.50 in postage plus ebay fee's on an item that should sell for 35 to 40 $ but you sell it for 24 because of all the cheap crap others are selling  and I end up making 12 bucks. Who in their right mind works for 3 bucks an hour?We do just because we love making this stuff.

 

Don't compete with cheap stuff.  Don't compete for cheap customers. 

I'm not the best at that but I price my stuff based on my time, experience, quality, etc.  Usually, if anyone takes the time to compare you can see the differences you are paying for.  I'm not going to give my time away.  I sell some of my simpler and cheaper stuff on ebay.  Occasionally someone tries to make an offer if I forget to remove that option.  I always turn them down.  They always get mad and don't order.  But I'm not accepting a low ball bid where I break even.  

Some customers you probably don't want.  It's not a popular opinion but over the years I've developed a sense for it.  And it usually involves trying to haggle down my price or asking for lots of options I'm not offering.  

[Handstitched]

@chiefjason This is from another thread:

https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/100306-lets-talk-about-sales-or-lack-thereof/page/3/#comments

scroll down to my last post.

HS