Where are good places for beginners to buy leather online?

[TestTube]

I live in the middle of nowhere and don't have any places near me that I can buy leather from (I'm 98% sure).

So, where are some good places online to buy leather at?

Thanks

[Constabulary]

2 hours ago, TestTube said:

I live in the middle of nowhere and don't have any places near me that I can buy leather from (I'm 98% sure).

So, where are some good places online to buy leather at?

Thanks

 

Where do you live?  Helgoland, Uzbekistan, USA, Kamchatka, Australia, Falklands, Nowaja Semlja, Europe?

Its easier to support you when you add your location to your profile. The Forum is very international.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Constabulary

[zuludog]

5 hours ago, Constabulary said:

 

Where do you live?  Helgoland, Uzbekistan, USA, Kamchatka, Australia, Falklands, Nowaja Semlja, Europe?

Its easier to support you when you add your location to your profile. The Forum is very international.

My thoughts as well.

[TestTube]

I live in the USA.

[Hardrada]

https://www.rmleathersupply.com/

[chuck123wapati]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:37 PM, TestTube said:

I live in the middle of nowhere and don't have any places near me that I can buy leather from (I'm 98% sure).

So, where are some good places online to buy leather at?

Thanks

I live there too , I've been looking around but I don't see you anywhere. But Tandy has a nice sale going on.

[Bert51]

I love it when people ask for specific information, but do not want us to know where they are, I did not realise th U.S. was that small chck123wapati.  :-))

Bert.

[toxo]

51 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

I live there too , I've been looking around but I don't see you anywhere. But Tandy has a nice sale going on.

[Frodo]

i use Springfield leather Company

and  Steckstore for rivets and such 

[Neigh]

I was going to post a similar thing but i'm in East Yorkshire, UK...  Will search the forum first

 

[fredk]

2 hours ago, Neigh said:

I was going to post a similar thing but i'm in East Yorkshire, UK...  Will search the forum first

 

Le Prevo, in Newcastle, just up the road from you.; http://www.leprevo.co.uk/

Abbey is often recommended as well;  https://www.abbeyengland.com/

[Neigh]

20 minutes ago, fredk said:

Le Prevo, in Newcastle, just up the road from you.; http://www.leprevo.co.uk/

Abbey is often recommended as well;  https://www.abbeyengland.com/

Thanks  

[fredk]

NB. Le Prevo is currently closed due to the virus & business restrictions. They say their enquiry email address is still being checked and answered, though that may take a bit longer than usual

[LiftPig]

Springfield Leather Supply, Tandy, Rocky Mountain Leather Supply, Weaver Leather Supply, and The Leather Guy are all good resources that do online orders and are still operating in the shut-downs.  The Leather Guy is kinda cool in that each piece of leather is listed individually so you get to see the very piece you'll be buying with exact dimensions, not "20-24sq ft, some imperfections".  

I would advise not buying leather from Amazon.  I've done that and I swear the cow that the leather came from was killed back before WW2.

[Frodo]

2 hours ago, LiftPig said:

Springfield Leather Supply, Tandy, Rocky Mountain Leather Supply, Weaver Leather Supply, and The Leather Guy are all good resources that do online orders and are still operating in the shut-downs.  The Leather Guy is kinda cool in that each piece of leather is listed individually so you get to see the very piece you'll be buying with exact dimensions, not "20-24sq ft, some imperfections".  

I would advise not buying leather from Amazon.  I've done that and I swear the cow that the leather came from was killed back before WW2.

LOL

We must have gotten leather from the same old dead cow

[Studio-N]

well Tandy seems to be on it's last legs. They may not be coming back after the lockdown. so checkout Springfield Leather.

[Hardrada]

Just now, Studio-N said:

well Tandy seems to be on it's last legs. They may not be coming back after the lockdown. so checkout Springfield Leather.

Any indicators/evidence to substantiate that assessment?

I don't buy leather from Tandy, but I do purchase tools, hardware, and supplies from them.

[fredk]

17 minutes ago, Hardrada said:

Any indicators/evidence to substantiate that assessment?

I don't buy leather from Tandy, but I do purchase tools, hardware, and supplies from them.

Tandy keeps retracting. This time last year they had several branches in Europe. Then they dropped to one branch, in Spain. No sooner had they done that then the that one closed and orders had to come from Texas. They've cut back on what they're selling. Last April/May I received a big order. I placed it with Tandy, Manchester but by the time they sorted themselves out it came from Texas. They re-did their website which wiped out my account with them. I had to 'rejoin'. I had been building up an order to place about 8 weeks ago, that was wiped out and now when I try to place anything in the 'basket' I'm being told 'This cannot be shipped to your country' even though I'd bought the item(s) previously by mail-order. Everything looks like a business thats winding down to close-up.

[Studio-N]

11 hours ago, Hardrada said:

Any indicators/evidence to substantiate that assessment?

Most of it is coming from the Yahoo Finance pages. There is the link: TLF Stock

If the stores are being told to inventory and start sending stock back to Ft. Worth. they aren't going to be restocked. Go to their web page, there are only about 5 us stores listed which are 

doing internet orders. Oh they'll use the Covid shutdowns as an excuse but the truth is they've been on a steady decline for several years. the stock is in the toilet and close to being delisted for cooking the books. They have several lawsuits in the works related to misleading their investors. The management gave themselves a $5 million bonus while effectively cutting out the bonuses of the stores. In fact the mgr at the kansas store walked out before the shutdowns.  Nothing official from TLF corp. though.  Maybe someone who works (worked) at one of the stores will chime in.

[zuludog]

11 hours ago, fredk said:

Tandy keeps retracting. This time last year they had several branches in Europe. Then they dropped to one branch, in Spain. No sooner had they done that then the that one closed and orders had to come from Texas. They've cut back on what they're selling. Last April/May I received a big order. I placed it with Tandy, Manchester but by the time they sorted themselves out it came from Texas. They re-did their website which wiped out my account with them. I had to 'rejoin'. I had been building up an order to place about 8 weeks ago, that was wiped out and now when I try to place anything in the 'basket' I'm being told 'This cannot be shipped to your country' even though I'd bought the item(s) previously by mail-order. Everything looks like a business thats winding down to close-up.

You may well know this already, but it seems to me that most serious leatherworkers in Britain get their tools & materials from https://www.abbeyengland.com

Edited April 9, 2020 by zuludog

[Hildebrand]

This seems to have been about a year in coming. I live in WY and have been to 3 Tandys in Denver, CO, 1 in Cheyenne, WY, Billings, MT and Rapid City, SD in the past year.  The leather quality was below even what you normally see at a Tandy.  Straps in particular appeared to be old stock it was like the warehouse was just shipping to the stores what it had and nothing new was coming in.  I also noticed that they were down to just a few stores on the web.  Fortunately Montana Leather is in Billings and on my radar for my next trip.

[Studio-N]

seems my last post was deleted. Tandy is not honoring their gift cards claiming the distribution center (a store) cannot process them.

don't know what was so egregious about letting people know about that. Good luck with your gift cards and store credits.

[KDR]

https://www.hidehouse.com/

These guys carry all kinds of leather, well priced.  Weaver Leather out of Ohio are also good to deal with, esp for veg tans.

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by KristinaDRawlings

[Tugadude]

On 4/10/2020 at 8:52 AM, Studio-N said:

seems my last post was deleted. Tandy is not honoring their gift cards claiming the distribution center (a store) cannot process them.

don't know what was so egregious about letting people know about that. Good luck with your gift cards and store credits.

This is from their website regarding the issue.  They CAN process the gift card, but it happens in the invoicing stage and doesn't show up in the cart.

Gift Cards
Tandy Leather Gift Cards have no expiration date or fees. They can be redeemed online (see below), in any Tandy Leather store or by phone. Please treat Tandy Leather Gift Cards like cash, as they cannot be replaced if lost, damaged or stolen.

When redeeming a Tandy Leather Gift Card at tandyleather.com, a credit card number must be supplied.

To use Tandy Leather Gift Cards at tandyleather.com, please fill your shopping cart. Proceed to the Review and Complete Your Order page.

In the Special Order Instructions, type “Please apply gift card [gift card number] to this order.”

Note: At this time, our website will not apply the gift card amount to your purchase in your shopping cart total. However, it will be applied to your invoice prior to processing your credit card.

If you wish to pay by a different method, please call the Tandy Leather store nearest you to place an order or to inquire about alternate payment methods.

[Spyros]

Oh crap I didn't know about that.  I ordered $100 worth of little things from Tandy a couple of days ago, last time I got an email the next day with a tracking number but this time nothing yet.  

I actually went with Tandy because last month I got my stuff 4 days after i ordered which was incredible considering it came from Texas to Australia. 

It was actually faster than ordering from most Australian shops.

Edited May 26, 2020 by Spyros