Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[RickP]

Another day another ebay gem! Didnt really plan it but all three hats this week are short brims. Todays is a nice little Imperial Stetson Mode Edge with 1-1/4" brim. Black Imperial Felt with a bit of a green overtone. you have to look close at the size tage to see, but it IS a long oval. Once again a seller went cheap on the box... but at least they used a new, clean box lol. Happily it actually popped out nicely and looks pretty decent. kinda of reminds me of a soft bowler with a snap brim, and with center and side dents. Hat originally sold at HC Gauldin Mens Wear in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and thats where the seller was, so this hat never travelled very far until now.

Liner is missing, but the gold embossed leather sweat is in decent shape. Did a little brushing and steaming and it actually looks decent... once steam hit it, the hat knew just what it wanted to look like. Humm... I MAY have one gold satin liner left that would look nice. Im happy

 

[Blare]

Another day another ebay gem! Didnt really plan it but all three hats this week are short brims. Todays is a nice little Imperial Stetson Mode Edge with 1-1/4" brim. Black Imperial Felt with a bit of a green overtone. you have to look close at the size tage to see, but it IS a long oval. Once again a seller went cheap on the box... but at least they used a new, clean box lol. Happily it actually popped out nicely and looks pretty decent. kinda of reminds me of a soft bowler with a snap brim, and with center and side dents. Hat originally sold at HC Gauldin Mens Wear in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and thats where the seller was, so this hat never travelled very far until now.

View attachment 716975


Liner is missing, but the gold embossed leather sweat is in decent shape. Did a little brushing and steaming and it actually looks decent... once steam hit it, the hat knew just what it wanted to look like. Humm... I MAY have one gold satin liner left that would look nice. Im happy

The popular new “square brim”

 

[RickP]

The popular new “square brim”

Dang it I didnt think of that... I could have hit it with some hairspray and been done with it! lol

 

[georgie girl]

you always got to love when hat issues aren’t noticeable in photos or the posting. I just received a champ hat that I started the bidding on at a middling minimum bid… what was the issue? Someone had glued the original “deluxe” sweat to the inside of the felt (and the edges of the lining) with some thick black colored

adhesive . Damn shame, however the felt isn’t in bad shape, so I’ll probably pop a new sweat and wear it. Has anyone dealt with this kind of adhesive before? I separated the sweat from the felt with a razor blade, however I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to use a razor on the inside. I did try to warm it up with a hairdryer, but to no avail, Any suggestions?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Any suggestions?

Naphtha might dissolve the residue even if you don’t want to give your hat a full gas bath. Just be careful! It’s flammable so do it outside away from other structures.

 

[RickP]

Ouch.... just from the appearance that almost looks like permatex gasket adhesive or something tar based. Id be concerned that some solvents might well dissolve but cause a stain to spread through the felt where you dont want it to. since the sweatband is out anyway, I think Id opt for a good long gas bath (or two or three)... Im betting a gas bath would at least soften the adhesive up enough to pick most of it off

What condition is the leather sweatband? Unless totally dry rotted and cracking Id hope that a good leather conditioner might clean it up a bit and allow it to live another life. ( I like the embossed logo n that band... Id try to save)

Hopefully they didnt use the same adhesive on the liner....liner looks like it could use a good gentle woolite bath anyway but I dont think woolite would touch the adhesive.

IF you opt to go with a new Sweatband and liner, you could carefully trim out the embossed logo from the sweat and affix it up in the center of the new liner... then it would still announce itself as a Champ Deluxe

Good luck!

 

[georgie girl]

just from the appearance that almost looks like permatex gasket adhesive or something tar based.

Yup that was my first thought too and yes they got it liner as well, although at least mostly on the edges. The sweat is really pliable, however it is not the reeded type, so perhaps I can try and figure out how to put that type in. I'm thinking since I am in an apartment, I'll have to wait until cooler temps to do the naptha bath on the deck.

 

[RickP]

Some friends here in Crockett, tx have an antique shop that does some consignment sales. They are moving into a bigger building at the end of the month and had ask all the consignees to temporary pick up their items till the move is all done. I had several hats, a couple hat rack/ stands and several 40s vintage framed Stetson framed ads with them. Ran over today to gather then up got everything boxed up and home.

The purpose of this post is to prove to all the ebay and goodwill hat sellers, that you do NOT have to crush a hat flat to ship lol. There are 11 hats in this box.. and nothing is crushed. I was kinda proud of my quick box packing job

Now that theyre here, Im going to have to go through and re-evaluate their " for sale" status.... several are lids that I really like, and will prob pull them back for personal consumption

 

[jeffgarf]

Some friends here in Crockett, tx have an antique shop that does some consignment sales. They are moving into a bigger building at the end of the month and had ask all the consignees to temporary pick up their items till the move is all done. I had several hats, a couple hat rack/ stands and several 40s vintage framed Stetson framed ads with them. Ran over today to gather then up got everything boxed up and home.

The purpose of this post is to prove to all the ebay and goodwill hat sellers, that you do NOT have to crush a hat flat to ship lol. There are 11 hats in this box.. and nothing is crushed. I was kinda proud of my quick box packing job

​

Now that theyre here, Im going to have to go through and re-evaluate their " for sale" status.... several are lids that I really like, and will prob pull them back for personal consumption

Never look back! Once I have a hat designated for sale, I box it and don't look at it again until the order is placed and I want to freshen it before shipping. Remorse is the worst.

 

[RickP]

Got a couple nice ebay items in today. First is a nice hardcover coffee table History of Stetson book

. (" Stetson Hats and the John B Stetson Company 1865-1970" by Jeffery B Snyder) Lots of nice color illustrations. Hoping this might add a bit of knowledge to my young brain! Looks like thunderstorms here in East Texas the next couple days so Ill have something to peruse in the recliner while the thunder rolls

 

[RickP]

Package number two was a very pleasant surprise...

Perfect pristine outer box- CHECK!

Perfect condition Original Oval Stetson Box inside- CHECK!

And inside..... a Perfect condition 3x beaver Stetson 20- CHECK!!!!!!

Dress hat with 2-1/4" mode edge type brim, 5-1/2" crown. Kind of a medium weight with a fairly firm felt... Wearings not going to change the shape of this lid. Absolutely perfect condition!!! I not sure its ever been worn outside.

AND IT FITS!!!!! Color me absolutely thrilled!!!!

 

[RickP]

Its got a decent looking corded hatband, but Im thinking I may swap in a ribbon and bow for a bit less jazzy look

 

[RickP]

My nice mailman brought me another box today. Brand new heavy duty box with duck tape sealing all the edges... they didnt want anything falling out I guess.

In side was a nice little Knox... Tag says its a "Stewart" model and Im taking a guess that the color is Light Gabardine.

Really soft felt... molds nicely. 2-1/4" brim 5" crown. Knocked a little dust off and hit it with some steam. Generally in really nice shape except for one little hole top dead center on the front of the crown as well as a couple small ones on the side (Im thinking hatpins) no holes in brim but a few little spots of something. Ill sand off a bit of felt fuzz from inside the crown and see if I cant pack it in the front hole a bit. Beyond that I should be able to play with some steam and reshape the crown just a bit down so the holes not visible up front.

Leather Sweatband in great shape. Liner perfectly clean and white. Brim snaps nicely. Could use just more brushing and of cleaning but not bad at all... Ill call it coffee shop ready.. Can never have too many less than pristine, comfortable, casual hats. Well worth the price I paid

 

[Blare]

I’ve been on the lookout for one of the Stetson sheriff pin/clips for quite some time to no avail. I finally came across this charm with the same design. It doesn’t have the clip on the back for attaching to the ribbon, just a little loop. I figured I could surely figure a way to attach it to the hat with thread being I havnt located a real one since I’ve been looking at least a few years.

Just a few moments after hitting Buy It Now on the above…. Look what popped up! What weird luck.

 

[jeffgarf]

Question open to all - when perusing the 'bay or other sites where hats are bought and sold, do you feel any responsibility to reach out to the seller with knowledge you may have about a hat or hat brand that may be (most often unknowingly) misrepresented in the listing? An example I just came across is a hat brand that misrepresents itself as being made in Italy, but it's actually Hungarian-made. The seller would never know that and some unwilling buyer may jump at the hat. Should I offer my information unsolicited? Would you?

 

[RickP]

Question open to all - when perusing the 'bay or other sites where hats are bought and sold, do you feel any responsibility to reach out to the seller with knowledge you may have about a hat or hat brand that may be (most often unknowingly) misrepresented in the listing? An example I just came across is a hat brand that misrepresents itself as being made in Italy, but it's actually Hungarian-made. The seller would never know that and some unwilling buyer may jump at the hat. Should I offer my information unsolicited? Would you?

Ive messaged a couple sellers when their description was outrageously incorrect. Most of the time ive received thank you messages back and they changed the ad. If its one of those ads that has wild stories about helping "grandpa" sell his hats, or if its an outrageous pricepoint, I just ignore them and move on.

my current peeve is sellers that have a nice hat at a decent price, but want $80-100 to ship USPS Ground Advantage... always wonder how many people fall for that. Greed irritates me.

 

[jeffgarf]

my current peeve is sellers that have a nice hat at a decent price, but want $80-100 to ship USPS Ground Advantage... always wonder how many people fall for that. Greed irritates me.

I have noticed this on a lot of hats I would otherwise purchase. I also notice that the listing system on eBay is not always clear on how much the shipping should be for any given item listed, especially if you are not familiar with setting your own pricing, as I do. I have seen suggested ranges for shipping UPS Ground, for example 6.79-90.70 and that is just the way its left until the seller actually changes it in his/her listing set up. While I am sure for many sellers the crazy shipping prices are deliberate attempts to money grab from an otherwise well-priced listing, I also wonder if some aren't just screw-ups.

 

[Bamaboots]

Hat POlice. Really? Do as you please but mislistings are common across most resell platforms and I see them a lot on hats. A couple of times, those with a little less knowledge about the hats they were selling saved me some money. It would **** me off if the Hat POlice interfered with that.

We have members who have done this in the past. I saw a Stetson 100 once listed as a 50's hat and soon afterwards there was an edit in the listing which said; "______________ of The Fedora Lounge says that the hat is from the 60"s." Really? Hat's not his size and at the price, I knew he wasn't buying it for resell as I'd seen him take advantage of that before as well. Nice to see his name in lights, though. I bought a 3X OR that was listed as white. The seller had posted an edit which said that a member of The Fedora Lounge had contacted them and said that the hat was not white but off white. I didn't have to guess who.

Don't be that guy.

 

[jeffgarf]

Hat POlice. Really? Do as you please but mislistings are common across most resell platforms and I see them a lot on hats. A couple of times, those with a little less knowledge about the hats they were selling saved me some money. It would **** me off if the Hat POlice interfered with that.

We have members who have done this in the past. I saw a Stetson 100 once listed as a 50's hat and soon afterwards there was an edit in the listing which said; "______________ of The Fedora Lounge says that the hat is from the 60"s." Really? Hat's not his size and at the price, I knew he wasn't buying it for resell as I'd seen him take advantage of that before as well. Nice to see his name in lights, though. I bought a 3X OR that was listed as white. The seller had posted an edit which said that a member of The Fedora Lounge had contacted them and said that the hat was not white but off white. I didn't have to guess who.

Don't be that guy.

I'm thinking about where the issues go the other way. They are already asking crazy amounts for a hat they think is worth something because of where it was made (see example I gave above) or selling an inexpensive wool hat as beaver (not the other way around - you find that, take it home!). I rely on ignorant sellers who don't know their stuff as much as the next guy, but I also don't want to see pyrite sold as gold to ignorant buyers.

 

[Bamaboots]

Buyer beware.