First Visit To Tandy Leather

[Bearonabike]

I paid my first visit to Tandy leather today. It is the store in Maitland, Fl. The selection was nice but the prices were fairly shocking. I'm new to leatherworking and wasn't expecting their price structure. I found the "join our club" option to be cost prohibitive as this is a hobby and my only "customers" will be my wife, daughter, and myself.

Any idea on suppliers that aren't so hard on the wallet? I'm not looking for the Tandy "gold member" prices (which are pretty low) but something that makes my stash for hobby cash go a little further than 1-2 tools.

-Bearonabike

[electrathon]

Tandy is sort of like Harbor Freight on their sales. Their regular prices are jacked up but have lots of sales at significant discounts. Sign up online for emails.

Aaron

[HellfireJack]

Leatherworking is like just about any other hobby. You're going to pay to do it. Like electrathon said, sign up for their emails to get the sales announcements. Follow the sales fliers for a few months and watch the prices and you'll see where you can save money.

But I got bad news for you though. Tandy is the cheap source unfortunately. High end stamps can run easily over 50 bucks a pop. High end hand tools over 50 as well. Some, like round knives, are easily over 150. We're not even talking about leather or hardware yet. Tandy's quality on the very inexpensive stuff is hit and miss but at least you're learning for less.

The gold membership easily pays for itself btw. You get about 2-4 50% off any item but leather and machines offers a year and you usually get a free crafttool stamp or similar once a month in their newsletter. That's on top of their normal membership discounts.

[mrdabeetle]

Individual stores have a "manager's special", so if you can get to one, you can sometimes find great deals on items they ordered by mistake or were discontinued. I recently got a big bag of rivetback conchos for $2. (plus my discount)

You might check pawn shops and yard sales. I've found a few great quality tools for cheap (found a C.S. Osbourne draw gauge for a dollar). Ebay sometimes has some lots of tools. Members here sometimes sell their tools when they "retire" from leatherwork.

[WinterBear]

I have to agree with everyone else--sign up for and watch the paper and email flyers--a recent paper flyer had the stamps for half off, and Craftsman oak tooling sides for $60 for the whole thing (it pays to go early for leather, so you can pick through the pile). The flyer also usually has a coupon that is 50% off one item, or 25% off leather. The email flyers will often have different items than the mailing flyer. See if they have any over-runs, or a bit that was damaged (if you take in some pattern pieces cut from something you can see through, you can lay them out on a hide or shoulder to see if you can work around any bad spots before you buy), and take a rummage through the scrap bins-- I have found some fantastic stuff that way. Additionally, each individual store will have a special here and there--the local Tandy here usually has shoulders for sale on Saturday mornings when the tooling classes are in session.

[Sylvia]

I paid my first visit to Tandy leather today. It is the store in Maitland, Fl. The selection was nice but the prices were fairly shocking. I'm new to leatherworking and wasn't expecting their price structure. I found the "join our club" option to be cost prohibitive as this is a hobby and my only "customers" will be my wife, daughter, and myself.

Any idea on suppliers that aren't so hard on the wallet? I'm not looking for the Tandy "gold member" prices (which are pretty low) but something that makes my stash for hobby cash go a little further than 1-2 tools.

-Bearonabike

Leather working is a lot like any other specialty. Attach "leathercraft" to it and whoa the price is insane!

First go get this coupon code.... Tandy posts them at retailmenot.com here's one for $10 of any order.

1kRet-CR-11

Next join the club. Trust me the $35 is nothing compared to the shipping you'll pay buying here and there. It's good for a year and it's already paid for itself in my case... and I like you THOUGHT this was "just a hobby" I'm working on my first commissioned guitar strap right now. (never say never)

Now, there are special sales exclusively for Tandy Club members... I got $5 off anything $5 or more on leatherlibrary.com I had been eyeballing an ebook but was reluctant to spend the $5.

Have fun with your new "hobby"

S

[Shaunny Rotten]

By my second trip into tandy the $35 membership had already paid for it's self. It doesn't seem to make an enormous amount of difference on the smaller tools, but walk out with 40 feet of leather tucked under your arm and you'll be happy you spent the money earlier rather than later. Right now they are also giving away one free tooling punch just for being a member.

[radar67]

I got into this as a hobby as well. This is the second year I have joined the wholesale club (Elite) and have more than saved the membership fees for both years. Last year I saved over $1000 with the card. This is not a "cheap" hobby to have, the leather alone will take a big bite out of your wallet.

[cowboy bill]

i agree with watching for their "sales", but after dealing with them and another local supplier, i found basically that their "retail" price is actuallu like 50% higher than actual retail and their club price or price with tax numer is a bout "normal" retail. pretty disgusting, its hard to compare quality of leather and therefore their price, check out their prices on say a basic item like pure neatsfoot oil and then see what you can buy it for anywhere else! i would look at checking on over stocked leather like at wicket and craig for instance. also this foreign crab leather isn't worth buying, (in my humble opinion) just like sorry chinese tools and hardware. BILL

[Sylvia]

i agree with watching for their "sales", but after dealing with them and another local supplier, i found basically that their "retail" price is actuallu like 50% higher than actual retail and their club price or price with tax numer is a bout "normal" retail. pretty disgusting, its hard to compare quality of leather and therefore their price, check out their prices on say a basic item like pure neatsfoot oil and then see what you can buy it for anywhere else! i would look at checking on over stocked leather like at wicket and craig for instance. also this foreign crab leather isn't worth buying, (in my humble opinion) just like sorry chinese tools and hardware. BILL

I spent a good deal of time writing Tandy about their foreign made tools and the poor quality of the materials in the kits. I think if more of us grew a pair and wrote a leather "strongly urging" them to bring back quality to their kits and tools and jobs to the USA, we might be able to affect a change at Tandy. just my thoughts.

Funny you say that about "neatsfoot oil" I ran all over this valley near Boise, ID and was never able to find Pure Neatsfoot oil. Most places didn't have it at all... and the only thing they had was a boot dressing paste stuff. I even looked at farm stores and found nada.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Sylvia

[Sylvia]

Right now they are also giving away one free tooling punch just for being a member.

LOL yep, I got mine!

[JLSleather]

Probably nobody badmouths Tandy as well as I do. On the other hand, I DO like their 3/4 oz "royal meadow" tooling cow. I don't know what they do differently in the tanning, but it makes for a very rich feeling, very flexible wallet carving back. Tools nice, and dyes extremely well. Great light color, too.

I ALWAYS go to the store and pick out the pieces I want, and I think that helps. But with the "wholesale" pricing I save about $50 per side, which is defiinitely worth it to me.

[cowboy bill]

tandy pricing??????

i'm gonna open a gas station, my price on gas will be $20 per gal. pay me a $35 membership and your price will be $18 per gal. i will have monthly sales, gas then will be $19.50 per gal on sorry crap gas with water in it. if you pay the membership and buy $2,000 worth of gas per year i figure you will save $1000 per year, thus saving many dollars over the cost of the membership!

also i am selling stock to my new company, any investors out there?????

i better watch out, i might get banned here? sorry Tandy. old and ornery, BILL

[Sylvia]

tandy pricing??????

i'm gonna open a gas station, my price on gas will be $20 per gal. pay me a $35 membership and your price will be $18 per gal. i will have monthly sales, gas then will be $19.50 per gal on sorry crap gas with water in it. if you pay the membership and buy $2,000 worth of gas per year i figure you will save $1000 per year, thus saving many dollars over the cost of the membership!

also i am selling stock to my new company, any investors out there?????

i better watch out, i might get banned here? sorry Tandy. old and ornery, BILL

I admit that Tandy isn't for everyone.... but then again not everyone has the budget to go spend $350 on one side of excellent tooling leather especially when they are just starting out. Nice analogy btw.

[cowboy bill]

I admit that Tandy isn't for everyone.... but then again not everyone has the budget to go spend $350 on one side of excellent tooling leather especially when they are just starting out. Nice analogy btw.

trust me few people are broker than myself. just saying with a $25 tax number, give yourself a name, ie joe's leather works, a person can go shop on line for suppliers...., example, wickett and craig showed overstock on quality bellies for $9 each thats what about $1.20 per ft?? lots of items can be made out of good skirtin bellies. i have to shop because i can't and won't support inflated prices if i can help it, i realize everyone in business has to make a profit but..................... BILL

[HellfireJack]

Hah Bill.. You just described sales tactics in every retail store in the world. If you're not paying them then they're using your info and tracking your purchases. One way or another they're making money off of you and keeping retail prices higher.

My favorite line is that someone paid 2 dollars a square foot and got garbage leather at Tandy so they went to another place and paid 10 a square foot and amazingly it was better leather. Geee I wonder why....

[WinterBear]

Tandy caters to an entirely different clientele than most leather stores anymore. From talking to a lot of people, who like myself, buy from Tandy, Tandy's base has become more specialized as interest in hobbies and crafting has declined and internet sales have become so much more prevalent. Their base for the most part seems to be kids and the small, locally-run camps and youth events (rather than district events); micro-makers who probably don't use an entire hide in a year; those just getting their feet wet in learning the craft; and those who can't or won't spend a lot on investing in tools, or purchasing more hide, in quantity or quality, than they need.

A lot us don't have wholesale licenses either, so that automatically excludes us from the wholesale pricing at other suppliers. Wholesale license cost varies by state too. The last time I looked into this, just to have the necessary permits and licenses for me to legally buy materials at wholesale cost and then sell the completed items online, at a flea market, or whatever, the cost was around $500.

That knocks wholesale licensing right out of the ballpark for a lot of people.

With the economy being what it is, a lot of people just can't flat out afford a whole top grade hide and terrific tools, even if they did have a wholesale license.They might have enough to buy some kits and a few tools they won't mind their kids beating up, just so they can dabble and maybe pry the kids away from the TV, or be retired and just want to be able to afford make a few things for themselves, enjoy time with a hobby, and still keep to their budget.

In addition, for a lot of us, the Tandy is local, which saves a lot of money for us in this area because shipping to the backwaters of the Rockies can account for a considerable amount when shipping large items (such as a box of hide--unless you are buying several sides, the cost of shipping added to the cost of an economy-grade hide is often more than what you can pay for a better and bigger piece of hide at Tandy).

Lastly, from everything that I have heard, kids' exposure to leatherwork is being significantly affected by the economy and the move away from handcrafts since the 70s and 80s--the schools, camps, after-school programs, youth clubs, and churches in some instances have gotten rid of their tools and have no intention of replacing the programs.

Some kids are only getting the opportunity now because someone bought a few tools at a time, paying out of their own pockets (so they bought what they can afford). Since they could either afford one or two quality stamps or a dozen or more cheap stamps at a time, Tandy cheap wins out. Then someone brings stamps and tools to the Cub Scout Day Camp and lets the boys make neckerchief slides with their den logo or name stamped on it, or a Scout Patrol meets at such-and-such's garage to make tooled knife sheathes and billfolds some Saturday to fill the requirements for the merit badge, or a bunch of kids meet in someone's basement or at the Boys and Girls Club to make bracelets, coasters, or barrettes with the borrowed tools. Having Tandy tools and hide is often the first experience any of the kids have with making anything with leather, and while "low" grade, these kids wouldn't have otherwise had the experience.

All in all, I take Tandy's prices with a grain of salt and buy what tools and hide I need for now as I learn, and replace with other brands and other leathers as I gain experience. I'll buy the licenses and permits I need as soon as possible, and maybe make the jump into selling on etsy or at the Holiday markets, and maybe eventually be able to recoup the costs of all of those fees by purchasing wholesale hides and tools.

[electrathon]

Almost everyone starts their leather journey at Tandy. Very few finish there.

A lot of us see, or want to see, Tandy as the friendly corner leather store. Tandy is a large cooperation that solely exists to generate a profit. That is OK, but if you think or feel that they are in business to produce smiling faces on leather crafters you are seriously seeing the picture wrong. The individuals that run the organization know they are selling crap. They do it for one reason, they make more money. They know we want better quality. They hear it every day. They get letters, they get email and they get input from the store managers. They do not care. The sole thing that matters is what they can buy for a little and sell for a lot.

I caught a glimpse of this in a class with Jim Linell. The issue of quality came up. I told him that I wanted quality and was willing to pay for it. His answer was that I would be wasting my money. That all leather tools needed to be modified before you could use them and that there really was no choice and to be content with what Tandy sells (this discussion still comes up with a few friends that were in the class with me).

Aaron

[WinterBear]

I know they sell crap. The thing is, I'm not adverse to buying crap until I hone my skills enough to need and want better. I don't have those skills yet, and won't for some time. If I can manage to make a product with crap that doesn't want to make me chuck it out the window in disgust, then I have learned enough to invest money in something better. And if I'm working with a bunch of kids who damage a tool, I won't be upset because the cost wasn't much and I can have it mended, resharpened, or replaced before the next time it is needed.

[HellfireJack]

I hear Tandy's vary from store to store. The Allentown Tandy is like a mom and pop atmosphere really. I walk in the door and they greet me by name. The manager introduces me to new employees and gladly reminds me of what sales are happening and what's new. I hear it's different at different stores though. The one I used to frequent in Minneapolis before it closed down years ago was the same way.

As far as corporations go, almost all companies are incorporated and if they aren't then they're working on it. Springfield is incorporated. I'm sure others are as well. Incorporation just provides a tax status and negates legal liabilities for individuals within the company. I know of no store anywhere that wants to operate at a constant loss. Tandy takes returns so obviously their sole intent isn't profit. If it was they wouldn't do that.

You can find all of the "crap" for sale at the same prices at EVERY leather store nowadays. I've never met Jim Linell but he fairly spot on. The majority of the leather tools you buy aren't bought for quality anyways. They're bought almost entirely as a luxury. You don't really need a 175.00 dollar round knife or even a 65.00 dollar one when a 2.50 razor knife will cut leather just as well. So are we really talking about quality there or not? I say no.

All I know is that at Tandy I can pick up a tool and tell if it's worth buying or not. I can't do that with an online seller so my priority will always be to visit a Tandy first.

[Sylvia]

I hear Tandy's vary from store to store. The Allentown Tandy is like a mom and pop atmosphere really.

All I know is that at Tandy I can pick up a tool and tell if it's worth buying or not. I can't do that with an online seller so my priority will always be to visit a Tandy first.

My Boise Tandy is manned by very nice folks. (pretty rare in my area, actually) I typically order online but when I finally called them, I was surprised to find that when I introduced myself as "Sylvia ," the fellow knew my last name. My city is probably all of 20 minutes from Boise. If I was so inclined I would probably drive there... but I'm not, I just can't stand the traffic in Boise. But who knows maybe someday I will go visit them.

I always make sure I praise my local Tandy people... with special instructions like "You Rock!... just thought you should know." So far they have made a huge effort to pick out the best items with which to fill my orders, that they can. I'll have to send them doughnuts someday when I can afford it.

All this said... I've emailed a few of the other "online" sources... and the response is sometimes extremely delayed. I've still not heard back from one and I inquired almost 2 weeks ago. (stleather) Even a canned response would be preferable to no response. Sometimes I just don't feel like calling...

[JLSleather]

In the last year I've been IN the Tandy stores in Des Moines, IA and Bloomington and St.Paul MN. The MN stores were physically smaller, but the same items. I get what I need there, but I will never buy one of those "Craftsman" sides (well, if they were GIVING it away and I needed a new mat for the back door ...).

The Royal Meadow 3/4 is about $150/side, which I think is normal for leather that carves and dyes nicely.

At S-T Leather (St. Loius) I usually call them, though it seems to go OK if I just email them an order.

Springfield hasn't got ANY of my money for right at 2 years. I ordered there 3 times, and wasn't happy with any of my orders.

The W/C sides I've bought were alright ( i got a decent product at a fair price).