Chromexcel

[DavidL]

its a marketing thing. They would rather have a person buy 200sq rather than buying 20sq ft then 180sq on the second shipment. Otherwise, people will skip retailers and buy straight from the tannery and they have to hire more workers. If you question them they will say they have to work extra hours and the fee is for the time spent (and extra worker), which they probably do. Buy from springfield leather they sell at 9.5 a sq ft. If you buy 500 sq feet 30 dollars is extra 5-7 cents a sq foot. Don't blame the tannery they aren't a retailer, they are a manufacturer.

[LTC]

its a marketing thing

i couldn't care less what it is. it's deceptive and it's wrong.

If you question them they will say they have to work extra hours and the fee is for the time spent (and extra worker), which they probably do.

cough(bull####)cough

also they aren't the tannery they are a reseller for the tannery.

the so-called "handling fee" is trickery to make their prices look reasonable. stupid people won't notice it and the smart ones that do will not buy from them...or will and will note how excessive the price becomes when you add their little "handling fee".

[DavidL]

still cheaper than retailer for large order, seems fair to me. Idk. If enough people complain they may take it off. hope you find a good source though.

[Matt T]

Honestly, I don't think they really care about being a retailer; they probably get a lot of inquiries asking for leather, and they set this up to shut us up. Most of us are only ordering one or two sides at a time, and they may consider it a distraction from their core business. They also might not realize the potential sales bump of having a better website with online ordering, especially if one of the new small time customers hits it big with a product made from their leather. Or maybe they are operating at close to capacity and don't want to grow right now. Who knows.

Edited April 18, 2014 by Matt T

[BigGriff]

I think Horween is new to the direct-to-consumer business and it shows. They are used to dealing in bulk orders, which is easier for them allows them to negotiate separately for each customer. They didn't set up a channel, thetanneryrow.com, specifically for small orders to shut people up. I think they did it because they're hasn't really been an easy way to buy Horweeen ever, demand for their leather has to be up and they are a business and they want to make money. Direct-to-consumer is definitely a higher margin business albeit smaller proportionately. They see the opportunity, but are failing to execute operationally and fully capitalize. That's my opinion.

I would love to be in charge of thetanneryrow.com business. I think this is a growth opportunity for Horween if it was done correctly.

Matt makes a good point about capacity. I find it unlikely, but it's a possibility. I honestly think they don't know what they are doing in the online world and do not have the resources to devote to it.

[DavidL]

I believe they did it purposely. They would undercut springfield leather if they want to compete with them, which is not necessary because they supply them with healthy margins for themselves. It would be cheaper to just allow springfield to handle small orders and tannery row take on larger orders. The 30 dollar handling fee make single hides more than springfield's price. If thats not planned out it sure looks like it was. Correct me if I'm wrong I'm curious about these type of things.

Edited April 18, 2014 by DavidL

[johnv474]

I wouldn't be surprised if the handling fee acted to offset the higher returns from buyers of small quantities. End-purchasers are more finnicky than, say, a store that buys a stack of hides at a time.

-JV474

[BigGriff]

I wouldn't be surprised if the handling fee acted to offset the higher returns from buyers of small quantities. End-purchasers are more finnicky than, say, a store that buys a stack of hides at a time.

-JV474

That should be a restocking fee.

[johnv474]

I agree with you; if that is their reasoning, they should call it that. I think those same buyers would be more likely to post negative reviews if they were charged to return an item that didn't meet unrealistic expectations.

Again, I don't know their reasoning. I'm drawing from meetings where I've heard this type of misguided justification.

[RoosterShooter]

I'm not a defender of Tannery Row, although I have ordered from them before.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that Horween / Tannery Row will only sell you #1 Grade whereas Springfield gets their Tannery Run (TR) grade.