A lot of people said they liked the leather. Since I haven’t warmed to it yet in spite of your many helpful and interesting suggestions, I’ve decided to auction it on eBay.
In preparation for auction, we measured it and the square footage is a bit over 18 sqft. The starting auction price is $29.70 which is what the hide cost me ($1.65 per sqft).
All auction proceeds (including the $29.70 the hide cost me) less eBay and PayPal selling fees, will be donated to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. So, happy bidding!
At right is an image that Anita sent, illustrating how she envisions the leather being used. Seems cool to me!
Great idea!
It’s also my test of “I’d buy that!”
The latter is why I tell DEs not to take pats on the back too seriously. The only way to know how much someone really likes something is by whether they are willing to pay for it.
Any bets on the final sale price? I’m thinking I’d be lucky to get $30 for it. :) Of course I would love to be proven wrong.
Great sketches to utilize the tie-dye leather a little unexpected!
Also, I want to thank you for donating the proceeds to Hurricane relief – a worthy cause if I saw one.
Hi Kathleen
Thanks for uploading the image for me. Need to add that those vertical panel will have to be split into at least three pieces to get optimum usage from the hides. Small but important detail when working with leather.
Keep up you wonderful work. I always look forward to your posts.
PS As a guide the leather I buy from a local supplier (imported) for jackets is worth AU$4-5 per sq foot.
Zero bids so far!
I’m afraid I agree with you – it’s a really UGLY piece of leather so I won’t be bidding. But I give you big kudos for your auctioning it off and give the proceeds to Sandy relief!
KF – you’re a genius!
You need to catch people that like tie dye stuff. My suggestion is to change the title to something like this:
“Tie dye leather garment weight taupe pig suede for tie dye dress or bag 18sqft”.
I did a search on tie dye leather and a bunch of stuff came up.
Or you can put something about Sandy there..
Also use the title (at least the first part of it) as heading on your description.
Let’s see if that helps in catching more people. The auction ending time is also important: find the day and the time where the buyer is on-line. Sunday/Monday evening?
Good point bente, Kathleen is unaccountably not good at titles, she should use us more often :-).
And Kathleen, you’re so right – putting their money where their mouth is does weed out the merely diplomatic. But you never know, with good keywords others may wander by and be smitten.
To be fair, one problem could be that leather is heavy, and could end up costing a lot in shipping. Still, don’t get discouraged, ebay is clearly the right thing to do..
It won’t let me change the title. I’ve begged the readership in the past to provide title suggestions but I’ve gotten exactly zero to date (for blog post titles). Here I can change them, ebay I apparently can’t.
It didn’t occur to me that I’d need to rely on eBay buyers when this leather had been so popular here. Had I known that was the case, I would have done things differently.
There are 3 bids, up to a grand total of $32.
Martha has been organizing my stash. I have pounds and pounds of zippers that I will auction off next week.
You don’t have to pack the title on ebay as much as you used to as the keyword search will pick up things in the description. Once bids have been placed you can’t change the title and “may” not be able to change the description since buyers used to do the bait and switch on people. You can I think still add another picture. Another picture of the full shape of the piece to get an idea of the scale and perhaps a close up of the texture.
So far as people “liking it” and then not wanting to buy it well I think pinterest is a perfect example. People fill boards and boards full of stuff they “like” but will never buy.
And then again there is a difference between liking and buying something and buying something PLUS the shipping costs to another continent…
(No, I am not sure, if I like it. But I am generally very bad at buying material that I could not see and touch before. My imagination is not good enough to judge fabric (or leather) just by looking on a picture on the internet.)
Look at that you see
bidding is at one o one
all for a good cause
Well, well Kathleen that’s a lot more than $30. Well done!
leather is groovy
your efforts are rewarded
late to the party
It would be a cool foot stool or some kind of accessory (purse). I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing it, but its a very interesting piece, and I bet it would be amazing in the right place.
I just did a run of tye-die towels, and they are selling like hotcakes. But I made a shirt out of the fabric, and its pretty 60’s. Then I made a backrobe/pool wrap (wicking fabric, very versatile) and its very marketable. So to me, it all depends on the imagination, and end use.
Could be you are not asking nearly enough!
Kathleen, I was just wondering what kind of dye you used to do this? Thanks!
Grocery store, wet RIT dye. Cheap stuff, I was just experimenting.
that’s exactly what I was hoping to hear! thanks (: