Weaver Leather Supply

[keplerts]

I work part time at a Harness shop / farm supply store.  They spend $10,000 or more a year at Weaver and they got the same letter as I did. So It doesn't seem to be base on passed years sales.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

For all of you that do order from Weaver, whether or not it is a lot, be sure to verify that they have it logged to your account/name .  I checked today on line web to see just how much I have spent with them this year, just for kicks, and found that they only had my latest order listed in the website under my account.  Need to get that rectified if they are going to require minimum spending level to qualify for wholesale pricing!

Bob

[Sonydaze]

All of my individual invoices from Weaver exceed the $1200 annual minimum, so this change makes no difference for me. However, I did receive the letter.

Perhaps they are trying to balance pricing with costs of servicing accounts?  I know that with my business, the time/material costs of invoicing, packaging and shipping a $50 order is close to the same as for a $500 order.  I understand how this is not good news if you don't meet their annual minimum, but I did notice that the $200 fee is a one time charge....not annual.  

While the $200 fee may sound like Tandy, I don't see it that way.  Tandy has positioned itself to be attractive to new(er) diy customers.... it has gotten very unattractive for my business and my purchasing from Tandy has almost dried up. I only purchase occasional items out of convenience.  In my opinion, Weaver seems to be trying to protect their pricing to stay attractive to larger customers.  Good or bad would depend on your own perspective?

The good news in the letter is that as of this past April 1st, they have reduced some prices and shipping costs.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I guess I have somewhat the same perspective on this as Sonydaze.  $1200 doesn't take to long to spend when you start buying hardware and leather.  If you're smaller than that, maybe you SHOULDN'T be buying wholesale. When I started out I think there was a $200 minimum first order. Believe me, I scraped to get that $200 together.  There has to be a line between legitimate businesses and hobby people trying to buy wholesale.  How is it any different than Hermann Oak having a ten side minimum?  It's not like Weaver doesn't offer their products at a retail price for those that can't qualify for wholesale. Every other industry in the world operates like that, folks; there's wholesale and there's retail.  If you're not in business then you're a consumer and you pay retail.  If I want to buy a new pickup (which isn't going to happen for a long time) I have to go through a dealer. I can't just go to Ford Motor Company and say "Hey guys, I want a new $60,000 pickup at wholesale price."  

 

[Ken Nelson]

Quote

Weaver has not been competitive on a wholesale scale for a long time. I have been buying less and less from them the last 10 years.   They have no loyalty.  They change thread suppliers on  a regular basis, never know what you will get in that department.  Some of their products are reasonably priced but many aren't. There is a reason I buy less than 20% of what I once did from them.   Most of the serious builders I know buy a little stuff from Weaver but not much.   Try Walsall Hardware,  Panhandle Leather,  Hide and Leather house,  Thoroughbred Leather,  Quality Mfg. for Superior Buckles,   Ranch2arena for the Watt hardware.  I think you will find Weaver is a handy place to get a lot of stuff but is not a good wholesale supplier for the really serious builder, rather you build  Saddles, boots, harness, gun leather or whatever.   Kind of like; "When was the last time you saw a professional saddle maker shopping in Tandy for his material"   LOL.     My opinion,   Weaver is above Tandy but way below the other outfits I mentioned.   They probably want to eliminate customers like me and I really don't care because I can live without them too.    They should be figuring out why a lot of makers buy less and less from them. Just my opinion and I hope I didn't step on too many toes.   Ken

 

[OLDNSLOW]

ken, you mention thoroughbred they are about a 2.5 hour drive for me and not open on Saturdays so I was wondering if it worth the drive to go there and take a lookasee, are their top leathers better or as good to what Weaver sells that being H O and some import stuff?

Thanks in Advance.

O n S

[Ken Nelson]

The HO I get from Panhandle is some better than the last couple of orders I got from Thoroughbred, which a customer of mine had me order.  However, I saw  2 orders of HO from Weaver last fall and was amazed at how poor it was.   I think Weaver sent out some of the poorest grade HO has.   Their tannery run is higher than Panhandle's # 1.   Wickett & Craig # 1 is cheaper than Weaver is on HO, tannery run.    AND Weaver wonders why wholesale customers are buying less!    Hope this helps.   Ken

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I'll tell you why I buy a lot from Weaver. They have a lot. When I started out I thought I was going to be a smart shopper and buy this-n-that from a dozen different places all over the country to get the best deal.  The freight kills ya. I have about 3 harness hardware suppliers. Each one of them carries something that the others don't. I do a wide variety of work in my shop, from a custom mini donkey harness to a running W surcingle to custom saddles, plus all associated repair work.  And I've thought the  thread is very consistent and is the only thread I can run in some of my machines. I've had more trouble with some of the hardware not being consistent.  If I can get everything I need in one place on any given order (I'm ordering about every ten days this time of year) I might pay a little more for some items, but I'm in the middle of the country and freight is hellish high no matter who I buy from. If I need a couple fill-in sides of leather and a substantial hardware order, the leather will likely put me over the $1000 mark and I get everything quite a bit cheaper. It wouldn't make me a very smart shopper to save a few bucks per side of leather and get it somewhere else and then pay the top price tier on $700 worth of hardware. Another reason, convenience. Some of my other suppliers are Amish. No phone in the shop, you have to leave a message. Then they call you back and I'm on the phone with a customer so I can't answer. Back and forth we go. Or you mail them a letter. Takes a few days to get there. Takes a week to get the product. If I have the time to wait, no big deal. I don't always have the time to wait. If I call Weaver Mon morning, I'll have that order before the end of the week, I've even had it by Wed, which is unbelievable considering they are in Ohio and I'm in SD.  It's typically hassle-free.  Not to say that I haven't had issues with Weaver, because I have. But they do try to rectify a situation. When I have a large harness hardware order, consisting of that only, I generally order from a different supplier, But there are a few things that Weaver has that the others don't.  I used to buy very little from Weaver, and then they bought out my main harness hardware supplier. I think I shed real tears because I knew that was not a good thing. But, that's the way it goes and I can't do a thing about it.  I do think their offering the wholesale status for a one-time fee of $200 is cheesy. That does instantly scream Tandy to me. But it boils down to the fact that I need ALL my suppliers and until I find a better option, I'll likely keep ordering from Weaver. I'm open to suggestions.

[Ken Nelson]

What you are saying is true and everyone should use whatever supplier works for them.  I like the hardware from Weaver and they are reasonable on it.  I quit buying leather from them 6 years ago.   I was having issues with them on 3 out of 4 orders on leather.   Panhandle in 7 years,  not one bad hide.    Thoroughbred  not one bad hide in about 8 or 9 orders.  Hide house,  pretty good luck with them.   I feel that if Weaver is going to make a big deal about the quantity of product a maker buys to keep his or her wholesale status,  they need to get really competitive on some of the things they aren't.  But that is just my opinion.  Ken

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I do agree with that Ken. I've never bought from Panhandle. I generally buy only fill-in leather from Weaver as a rule, and I never know what I'm going to get for orders, so retrospectively, if I'd known 6 months ago what I know today, I'd have ordered 9/11 russet harness leather from HO instead of a couple sides at a time from Weaver. But there's been a time when I ordered 6 sides of it from HO and kept it some of it around for years. So sometimes ya just don't know. I just got 15 sides from Wickett a couple weeks ago. And there's been a whole lot of negative feedback about them in the recent past, but I've only had time to open one bundle. I do know I won't buy any more oiled latigo from them. Just tried one sample side of that and I don't like it at all. This may be a discussion for a new thread, but who in the heck has a good latigo for equine applications??