Quality Sporrans for less money

[Antipodean Celt]

A short note of support OC Richard. I found your advice extremely helpful and valuable. I read your posts with interest, and always learn something. This thread gave me the confidence to know what I am looking for in the great and wild jungle that is Ebay, and I will certainly keep my eyes open for that interesting sporran.

I completely respect Steve's view and rules, and obviously the forum benefits from those rules, lest we descend into chaos (as many forums do).

Might I suggest that you continue to highlight interesting sporrans that you find out there in the big wide world marketplace, but refrain from posting until after the sale has concluded, or perhaps de-identify the seller or the marketplace (ie just show the photos). That might be within the rules whilst also allowing you to guide your very ignorant students who greatly benefit from your knowledge and experience.

Just a thought.

Kind regards,

John

[48HofC]

One of the issues with using examples of sporrans listed on eBay is the seller might not be to keen on having their sales copied to another website. If they wanted there wares on xmarks, they would have put them in the classified section. I know if something I had for sale appeared on here(and I do sell Scottish military kit on eBay) with comments gleaned from web surfing knowledge, I wouldn’t be exactly happy about it.

[Taskr]

With due respect to all,

An interesting thread and addition of clarity from Steve regarding what can be read as a very fine line being straddled.

Gaining information on how to save a bit of coin on items we seek is not a bad thing at all. Some of us will always buy new because that's the way we are - and there is something about the written or unwritten expectation of return to vendor should the buyer be not as pleased as expected. Not that we won't wait for a reduced price or clearance item.

Richard's research on ebay is always read because I don't know ebay at all. I've not purchased and don't know if I ever will. Yet, I do see a perspective of promoting a particular site but ONLY because of the links provided. I think I would read it differently if the statements were more along the lines of .. I searched for {description} and found a few good leads of reasonable quality .. without a providing a link. For me, that would be even more educational because I might learn how to search that quagmire better - and also assist me in how to search for items on the Net in general.

The community here is great and we all learn so much about this wonderful addiction called the kilt. Sometimes staying inside the lines gets a little fuzzy. Still, its all good.

[kingandrew]

Steve--You raise a number of good points. Most importantly, it is clear you have really thought about these issues from a variety of angles and are looking for the fairest approach that most benefits the members of this forum. So thank you for that.

48HofC--I'm not seeking to argue against your point or disagree with your statement, but I wonder why a seller would object to having his or her product listing mentioned in a positive way on this site. I imagine it might attract a few interested potential buyers who had not known of the listing before. What could be the downside for the seller in this situation?

I'm just curious and trying to better understand this issue from your perspective. I would appreciate any insight you might want to share with readers here.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Steve Ashton]

The complaints I get from companies and businesses are over the re-posting of photos copied off the web without credit given. Most companies have a copyright on their material and when that material is copied it is a violation of that copyright.

I also get some complaints that material is copied out of context or is quoted incorrctly.

[Piobair]

Somewhat off topic, but lends some credence to the idea that vendors are flipping ebay sales: A silver sgian that was recently sold on eBay turned up on a vendor's website at a bit over a 100% markup. Not a sponsor, but a respected merchant so I won't begrudge them the sale or identify them. I would imagine they'd also bid on notable sporrans that come up for auction. Some of these auctions require having a bit of a warchest if you hope to win.

[JPS]

Here's a fascinating specimen. It's got the tell-tale signs of a Forsyth sporran, particularly the back tab. Could be a later copy by one of the successors to RW Forsyth. There's no stamp to date it. Barrel tassels and braided accents on the body and flap are lovely, rarely seen touches. The kicker, though, is that this one is black!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256586498258

Reminds me a lot of my favorite old brown sporran.

braided sporran.jpg

[figheadair]

Here's a fascinating specimen. It's got the tell-tale signs of a Forsyth sporran, particularly the back tab. Could be a later copy by one of the successors to RW Forsyth. There's no stamp to date it. Barrel tassels and braided accents on the body and flap are lovely, rarely seen touches. The kicker, though, is that this one is black!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256586498258

Reminds me a lot of my favorite old brown sporran.

braided sporran.jpg

The fact that it is black puts it in the modern copy box.

[figheadair]

A nice Wm. Anderson sporran picked up on Etsy.

FB_IMG_1722288229448.jpg

[Troglodyte]

Here's a fascinating specimen. It's got the tell-tale signs of a Forsyth sporran, particularly the back tab. Could be a later copy by one of the successors to RW Forsyth. There's no stamp to date it. Barrel tassels and braided accents on the body and flap are lovely, rarely seen touches. The kicker, though, is that this one is black!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256586498258

Reminds me a lot of my favorite old brown sporran.

braided sporran.jpg

Very similar in many ways.

And a bit like this one, which is in a dark oxblood brown -

DSCF9361a.jpg DSCF9362a.jpg DSCF9363a.jpg

I'm not sure it being black is much of a problem, as it can do excellent service as a smarter alternative to brown, and just the thing with a dark tweed at, say, a church service or wedding. And at the current price, why not..?

This black one looks like new, and well-made in quality materials. Anyone know the maker..?