Best brands to search for on eBay?

[Ekphrastic]

Dear all--

I've been lurking here for a while, and I love the information presented. I'm saving up for my first Aero horsehide jacket (or another jacket of similar quality); in the meantime, however, I'm searching eBay for something decent. Has anyone ever posted a list of good brands to search for? (I've used the forum searching tool, but I haven't found a thread on this.) I know that, on websites like PutThisOn.com and thisfits.me, they come up with lists of good-quality suits and shoes that people can use to search; would it be possible to do something similar, please?

(I know that, on those websites, they've actually gone to eBay and pre-prepared the searches, so all you have to do is click on the search and all the brand-names pop up; I don't suggest we need to go that far, but a simple list of quality stuff and/or trusted vendors would really help me.)

Thanks much!

 

[Worf]

There's a WIDE variety of brands on the 'Bay. You could drive yourself nuts. I've scored a great deal of gear off the 'Bay over the last 15 or so years. Not knowing your budget or the style of jacket you like I think you should just put "horsehide" in the search bar in men's jackets and coats. The 60 or so coats that come up will run the gamut. You'll see Schott's, Aero's, Pegasus, a few vintage jackets from 30's through the 60's and some other brands. For less money you could put "Steerhide" in the search and come up with a similar listing. Besides those listed above you'll find Vanson, Langlitz and some other vintage brands like Golden Bear, Sears etc... If you've a question you can always post the auction linky here and folks will gladly answer your questions.

Worf

 

[Xenophon]

You can score good deals on ebay but be careful because there's a lot of crap out there too and some vendors are deliberately vague about the brand that's being sold or sometimes indeed about the hide. I've seen several 'horsehide' Aero's that were advertised as such and are indeed made by Aero but there have been some issues in the recent past where the previous management sold 'horsehide' that was really steerhide. That's been remedied now but who knows how many are sill floating around. Unless you know your stuff I would be very careful and try to search via the classifieds section of sites such as this one or the 'sales' pages of the manufacturers. For instance on the Aero site's sales page you can sometimes find great deals too.

The same goes for the 'Lost worlds' brand jackets (the owner of that site has some outspoken views and mixes politics with jacket selling but having said that, I don't think many people will find fault with the quality of his products and personally I can't complain about the interaction and found him to be unfailingly prompt and correct). But do read his sales conditions well because those are rigorously applied and he doesn't take prisoners, so to speak.

 

[Ekphrastic]

Thanks, guys. That's a good point--perhaps, instead of asking what I should search for, I should ask what I ought to avoid. Please feel free to put that out there, too.

 

[winterland1]

Some of it depends on what exact style you are going for. I suggest reading about the different brands and styles on here to see what you like. Personally as I am not into all the repro flight type jackets I look for Aero, Lost Worlds, Alexander Leathers, Schott, Vanson. There are others of course but these have the styles I like. Half Belt, Highwayman, Perfecto and sheepskin bomber styles. My list could change tomorrow though.