Buying Leather In Scandinavia?

[ConradPark]

I just moved to Sweden from the UK and felt a bit dissapointed with what's on offer. The cheapest veg tan leather I found so far was on sale and 100SEK a square feet and that's twice the price what I can buy good quality hides in UK for. I was wondering if any of the Scandinavian based leatherworkers here have some good advice on places in Scandinavia to buy veg tan. I would feel sad if I had to import from the UK as that means my margins would shrink even more. It's bad enough that taxes are almost the double here already.

I also would like to find somewhere in south of Sweden where I could outsource a splitting service.

Hope there are someone here to help me!

[DavidL]

I think you can collect the HST/VAT and can write off some costs of raw materials if you are registered as a business. I don't really know exactly how this works but you may want to look into it or contact someone who has knowledge in accounting.

[fivewayswelshcobs]

Have you tried Tarnsjo tannery as they do veg tan I have used their harness which is quite good but know very little about the rest of their production and there is a tannery up north that makes nice leather called Bole tannery that makes leather using spruce, both of these are on my to visit list if and when I get to Sweden.

[bex DK]

Take a look at laederiet.dk ... Dunno if you would be happy with their quality but that is where I get mine. I don't need large enough quantity to work with tanneries. Someone in the trade (she used to have a shop and did get stuff from tanneries as well) has told me the quality there is actually better than Tandy.

I forget whether Sweden is EU or not. For me, I can shop anywhere in the EU and only worry about the shipping costs, no customs or anything. I'm not registered as a company, because if I register I ahve to add the 25% VAT and there goes any chance at profit in my market, plus I'm not productive enough for it to matter. But if you are registered company and are in the EU, you can get company rebate at Tandy. And anywhere in the EU is supposed to sell to you without VAT if you provide your company number.

Danes routinely buy stuff outside of Denmark, because everywhere else has lower VAT... And if you aren't a company, you pay the VAT of the country you buy from. I get my rope from elsewhere in the EU. Even with not being registered as a company, it ends up cheaper with the lower VAT even though I'm paying more for shipping.

[aleczanussi]

Take a look at laederiet.dk ... Dunno if you would be happy with their quality but that is where I get mine. I don't need large enough quantity to work with tanneries. Someone in the trade (she used to have a shop and did get stuff from tanneries as well) has told me the quality there is actually better than Tandy.

I forget whether Sweden is EU or not. For me, I can shop anywhere in the EU and only worry about the shipping costs, no customs or anything. I'm not registered as a company, because if I register I ahve to add the 25% VAT and there goes any chance at profit in my market, plus I'm not productive enough for it to matter. But if you are registered company and are in the EU, you can get company rebate at Tandy. And anywhere in the EU is supposed to sell to you without VAT if you provide your company number.

Danes routinely buy stuff outside of Denmark, because everywhere else has lower VAT... And if you aren't a company, you pay the VAT of the country you buy from. I get my rope from elsewhere in the EU. Even with not being registered as a company, it ends up cheaper with the lower VAT even though I'm paying more for shipping.

Hi!

Can I know how much you pay for shipping from laederiet.dk?

Thank you!

Alec

[Camerius]

I'm Danish and I mainly get my leather from laederiet.dk. I too get some leather from Flach in Kiel, Germany, when I happen to be around those parts, as I can get some really good pieces cheaper than at Laederiet. There is an Italian Facebook seller/group LeatherHides E-shop that have it's own tannery from which they sell to anyone interested. From what I can see the prices seems to be quite good. I may at a later point order some samples from them, as I'm thinking about moving up the quality that I use a notch or two.

There is too a leather shop here in Copenhagen called http://www.leatherhouse.eu/ and which I have used when in need of something here and now. However, I'm not overly impressed by what they have to offer of tools (Ivan brand mostly), their steep prices or their not so great customer support that I have been met with when I have been in there.

As bex points out, most Danes (myself included) buy stuff outside of the country, as it's way cheaper that way, even including shipping, and the choices of goods are larger. I buy most of my stuff (tools and hardware) over ebay from the UK, Japan, China and Germany, besides buying my Fiebing's dyes and coatings from patin-a.de which are in Germany (they have cheapest prices that I have found within the EU so far including shipping).

As to Tärnsjö Tanner, I know next to nothing about except that The Swedish Saddle Maker School is quite close to it, and they get their own leather from that tannery. Could be worth a try to give them a call and see what comes of it.