Reasonable expectations to the life of a leather item

[Garyak]

5 hours ago, nstarleather said:

So in this post, I commented that "100 Year" guarantees that cover wear and tear aren't sustainable for any company. Basically if you have to replace even a small percentage of the items you sell, you will lose money. Just the economics and math of it all: If you charge 2x your costs and replace for free only 50% of people have to take you up on the guarantee to loose money, especially since your costs will go up as years pass by.

I've been doing this as my full time for the better part of 2 decades and while I love the durability of leather, I don't think a belt or wallet will survive much more than 15-20 years of daily use (less if we're talking "hard use"). Now if you rotate items and use several, sure...you could stretch the lifetime out much longer.

I've got belts I made in high school, but as a leatherworker I have tons of belts.

Anyway what are everyone's thoughts especially y'all who have been doing this forever? What do you think of companies that offer this sort of guarantee?

Made these for my momma in 1994. About every 2 years I clean them and hit em with extra Virgin olive oil. 94 to now…. Pushing 30 years… I can’t guarantee anything. I don’t know what folks do after they’ve paid and gone. Most folks a return regulars so if they want something done to something they’ve had it’s usually to add something too it. I’ve repaired a whole bunch of stuff others made, and lots of expensive purses and Harley Davidson gear. Mass produced goods never last. With the Harley gear I usually tear it apart and rebuild with solid materials and show it some love… better than new. Folks get more of the stuff I’ve made stolen than damaged. I learned to warn folks, some don’t listen. Purses at the club voids warranty. There’s leather around that 100’s of years old. Olive oil. 

[fredk]

To boil it down; I would expect a manual working man's wallet in daily use to last 5 or 6 years, an office worker's wallet or a woman's wallet in daily use to last at least 10 years. A man's belt to last at least 6 to 8 years. A woman's daily handbag, at least 4 years

When I say 'to last' I mean at the years I think of the items are not falling apart but are showing a lot of wear. That 'Lived & well used' look. The item might welcome some re-dyeing, maybe some stitching repairs, a very little amount of that though

[nstarleather]

1 hour ago, fredk said:

To boil it down; I would expect a manual working man's wallet in daily use to last 5 or 6 years, an office worker's wallet or a woman's wallet in daily use to last at least 10 years. A man's belt to last at least 6 to 8 years. A woman's daily handbag, at least 4 years

When I say 'to last' I mean at the years I think of the items are not falling apart but are showing a lot of wear. That 'Lived & well used' look. The item might welcome some re-dyeing, maybe some stitching repairs, a very little amount of that though

I’d say that’s a pretty decent breakdown of what to expect.

[tsunkasapa]

I guarantee most things I make for life. Exceptions are belts, wallets, dog collars and some horse projects. 

[Handstitched]

One of the very first belts I made 18 years ago , I am still wearing as I type. It shows signs of regular  daily use, the holes are a bit stretched,  but its still  in one piece & holds my  dacks up ...and holds my gut in  , lol   

Thats a good indication of how long stuff should last. The heavier stuff should last a lot longer than that.  Its a bit harder for dog collars  or horse gear , as animals are unpredictable and break stuff a lot. 

HS

[nstarleather]

9 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

I guarantee most things I make for life. Exceptions are belts, wallets, dog collars and some horse projects. 

Yeah those are some that see the most wear and like everything use changes the lifespan a lot...if you carry a bag every day to an office vs if you carry it only occasionally makes the difference between "I've carried this bag 20 years vs "after 5 years it's looking kinda rough."

[chuck123wapati]

reasonable expectations of a leather product is pretty vague as the wear or abuse they get can vary greatly. A book cover or a pair of work boots? I don't "guarantee" replacement of any of my stuff but i will make it right if its a defect i missed  or  i will repair it if its damaged from use. I usually don't charge for repairs because i just don't get them I guess and there is no real reason to replace leather items when they usually only need re stitched. If the leather is ruined from misuse or failure of the owner to take care of it , its on them.

[tsunkasapa]

3 hours ago, nstarleather said:

Yeah those are some that see the most wear and like everything use changes the lifespan a lot...if you carry a bag every day to an office vs if you carry it only occasionally makes the difference between "I've carried this bag 20 years vs "after 5 years it's looking kinda rough."

I should point out that at 70 years old, the length of my 'guaranteed for life' is getting shorter by the day. 

[HandyDave]

I dont offer a set "warranty" for a given length of time. Because like has allready been said who knows what kind of life the pieces have once they leave my shop. Im not gonna cut my throat to fix or replace something that was just beat the hell out of in a short time. But i do work with my customers to try atleast reach some kind of common ground that works for all parties. Knock on wood so far ive not had a piece of leather come back because of the leatherwork itself. But have had a couple snaps and other hardware pieces fail a few times. And i tell my customers that i buy the best hardware pieces i can but cant be held responsible for failure of parts that i dont make or assemble myself. If a snap or clasp or something goes bad i still usually fix those little things for free with the customer paying for the shipping.  

[nstarleather]

On 5/4/2023 at 7:36 PM, HandyDave said:

I dont offer a set "warranty" for a given length of time. Because like has allready been said who knows what kind of life the pieces have once they leave my shop. Im not gonna cut my throat to fix or replace something that was just beat the hell out of in a short time. But i do work with my customers to try atleast reach some kind of common ground that works for all parties. Knock on wood so far ive not had a piece of leather come back because of the leatherwork itself. But have had a couple snaps and other hardware pieces fail a few times. And i tell my customers that i buy the best hardware pieces i can but cant be held responsible for failure of parts that i dont make or assemble myself. If a snap or clasp or something goes bad i still usually fix those little things for free with the customer paying for the shipping.  

Yeah we pay shipping if it happens in the first year after that customer pays.  We guarantee “zippers, seams and hardware” but not damage or wear and tear.  Occasionally I replace a zipper pull but that’s about it.