Weaver Leather Supply

[LilRay]

On Friday, April 15, 2016 at 8:16 PM, Big Sioux Saddlery said:

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."  

 

Look at it this way, if you ARE a Ford dealer,  Ford has just mailed you a letter stating that in order to sell their trucks,  you have to sell a minimum of 10 trucks per month. Otherwise you'll be limited to one truck per month.  But you can have as many of our cars as you want. 

 

It's not a wholesale vs retail thing to me, it's a customer service thing to me. 

[Ken Nelson]

People like me are not retailing the products we purchase from Weaver.  We buy at wholesale to build our product.  They are, in my opinion, trying to force ,me to make them one of my main suppliers or pay retail.   They are not competitive on some of their product.   They charge for pulling items and packaging them. I took a couple of boxes to my neighbor next door 3 years ago, who was a FedEx pickup and found out 40% of the shipping was packaging and  processing on those two boxes.   Most of my suppliers do not do this. they may charge for the box they ship in but Panhandle  stands the box and if you order large amounts from Panhandle they will usually absorb the shipping.   They work at getting and keeping your business.    They are not the cheapest on a lot of things but for quality, honesty and fast shipping,  they are hard to beat.  They have really good Latigo by the way.      Building saddles is a competitive  business.  You have to strive to control your overhead or you cannot compete.  It has to be very high quality materials, built very well if you are going to build for the kind of clientele I build for.  These large production shops get price breaks most leatherworkers would be amazed at.  

By the way,   Ford, John Deere and most of the major automobile and farm equipment have closed most of the smaller dealers down.  These super stores have nearly done away with customer service for the most part, at least in my part of the world.   I doubt  Weaver is the main supplier for production companies.  They buy direct from the source, just like Weaver does.  Price a pallet of Skirting leather at any of the 3 major tanneries.  About half what a 10 side roll will cost.   Just my 2 cents worth

 

 

[Historicalbeltworks]

" These large production shops get price breaks most leatherworkers would be amazed at."

I dream of those kind of things   How I miss the days of $2 buck a foot latigo, doesn't seem that long ago.  Still I have bought hides straight from Hermann Oak, 30-40 at a time, and the price break was so little compared to buying them from Weaver or Panhandle, I have always wondered how those companies make any money reselling the Hermann Oak hides.  I would be curious to see the pallet pricing if I knew where to find it.

On another note:  You are totally right Ken that "You have to strive to control your overhead"  It was why I was concerned that the quality of Hermann Oak might be slipping.  I used to use it exclusively.  Now with all that said, Weaver's Chahin leather is a pretty darn good leather for the price.  It has that broken in feel out the gate which is really nice for a number of projects.  ALD has it once in a while, but perhaps that is one of the major reasons to stay with Weaver is the "reliability of availability"  It is pretty rare I ever order anything and have it out of stock, and if it is, it gets back in stock quick.  That means a lot when you are doing custom orders, and have a deadline.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

The problem I have with Weaver is the shipping.  Not just the big stuff, but; the little stuff.  Did you ever get all you need to do a project only to find at the last minute you are short a snap or some other small item?  Happened to me yesterday.  Went to the bin to get the small snaps I needed to finish a pair of chaps for a customer that needs them in a few days, and low and behold, I find out I am short to finish them.  Don't have the time to wait till I have the next big order so I have to order 6 snaps @ $1 something each, and pay $13.36 shipping , for an $8 order!  That's criminal! They could have fitted in an envelope and been shipped for a buck!  That's where I get frosted!  There is no need for that.

Bob

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I agree, Bob.

[wfwingit]

Weaver's new policy is really unfortunate. I do not see this as a wholesale/retail issue, but rather an exclusivity issue. They seem to be saying, "You must buy primarily from us". I was using them mostly for chemicals and some tools. I will probably be a few hundred shy of their new minimum. I am fortunate to live just a few minutes from Garlin Neumann Leather. They let me go through their wearhouse and hand pick whatever I need, so I buy 90% of my leather there. I am not paying retail at Weaver, so I guess I will be going elsewhere. That is really too bad, because they have a lot of stuff. Now I won't be throwing in a few of this and a few of that to try things out.

[Studio-N]

On 4/6/2016 at 11:42 AM, LilRay said:

They're not looking to lose any accounts,  they're banking on forcing you to pay retail and you buying from them anyway.

and that is why they will lose accounts.  One little recession and they'll be begging for that wholesale business. 

[stitch45]

I haven't ordered a single thing from weaver in over 10 years, They lost me a long time ago.
 I've been doing leather work full time for 25 years and have found a lot of wholesalers out there who know how to treat their customers.
 As far as I'm concerned weaver could fall of the face of the earth the day they bought out Mast.

[JLSleather]

I hadn't ordered from them until within the last year.  Just a couple of HO sides, see how the service was.  I ordered top of the line.  The hides I got were pathetic.  I'm not debating it -- not ordering anywhere that would even have that in the "A" pile.  Weaver just one more crossed off the list of suppliers-- I haven't been back.

 

[keplerts]

Unfortunately Weaver does not have a "Top-of-the-line A pile".  They only carry TR leather or Economy.  Their Hermann Oak is only TR.  I like their service, tools, hardware, and other supplies, but for leather I WILL shop else where.