Is Buying A Bag Better Than Making My Own?

[landm42006]

Hello all,

I have seen a ton of bags and it seems that Saddleback leather has the style I really like, and the materials seem spot on. But I wonder how much these bags are actually marked up in price.

The leather is chrome tanned leather, which i think is less expensive than veg tan.

In a nutshell, what I am asking is this: of the Saddleback leather bags, how much is actual material cost, and how much is actually profit? Would it be worth it to buy my own leather and have a go at making my own bag.

Any and all imput and advise is greatly appreciated.

Semper Fi,

Marty

[DoubleC]

I can tell you just from what I marked mine up the ones at Saddleback are marked up a lot. I just went and checked and looked at the pouch for $129.00. It's 6" x 8" so roughly a sq ft and 1/2 of leather. And it has a strap and rivets, and a toggle close. I made mine out of chrome tanned and it's 18" x 13" and has chicago screws and a toggle close. It has embossed veg tanned on the inside for dividers and to add shape to the bag. It has a stamped strap on it to match the leaves I made and sewed on the front and back because the gusset didn't get 'caught' all the way through so I disguised that with a leaf, and sewed one on the other side to make it looked planned. Also my strap has a sliding foam filled shoulder protector from matching materials. I know I don't have $30.00 in the total bag but since they are a big project I sell mine starting at $125.00. They sell something that clips onto one of their bags like mine to stick your phone in for 129.00? You could use the finest leather available and hardware and not have $100.00 in one of their bags they sell for 500+. So it's really just up to you to decide if you want to put the work into it because this one http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=galleryℑ=17298 was my first and took almost two weeks to complete working on it some everyday. I learned as I went along and fortunately didn't mess up anything that couldn't be fixed. Cheryl

[Blak Smyth]

I am entertaining the idea of making a bag as well. I think the satisfaction of creating something yourself is worth the time and cost to do it... as long as you are happy with the end result.

[Trevor]

Hi there.

This was my attempt to make a saddleback tote bag look a like. I changed a few things and used all brass hardware. lined the lid and installed a zipper inside as well. I also did a couple of smaller ones which are ok but need a little improvement. Overall quite happy with the result. Thanks for looking.

Cheers

[lightningad]

mine are neither a Saddleback nor anyone elses!

I bought the leather for this huge bag for approx £40, then spent plenty of time designing as i went....which i could afford to do as this was a very cheap price for this amount of leather!

as you can see - its rather roomy!

these each have approx £20-25 leather in them, along with a few buckles and the time spent making them. I would charge over £100 each for these.

Aside from the money - its much more satisfying to design and make something thats unique to you.

Just go for it!

adam

[WScott]

Good for you Adam, those are very handsome bags

[GarrusV]

Hi there.

This was my attempt to make a saddleback tote bag look a like. I changed a few things and used all brass hardware. lined the lid and installed a zipper inside as well. I also did a couple of smaller ones which are ok but need a little improvement. Overall quite happy with the result. Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Hi Trevor!

Your bags look great! May I know what kind of leather you used and how much did you pay for the leather?

[Glendon]

As I'm sure you figured out, the price of bags is not materials. It's all labor and mark up. If you have the time to spend, making your own will be a lot cheaper.