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We've been enjoying e-Bay since we started at the end of 2005. We sell almost exclusively cowboy boots, as we find the craftsmanship and exotic varieties fascinating. If you keep half an eye here, you may find what you're looking for in your size.
One of our pet peeves is having to wait so long to receive an eBay purchase that we've completely forgotten about ever buying it when it arrives. We pride ourselves on being among the fastest shippers on eBay. Our local post office is less than a five minute drive away, but is only open until noon on Saturdays. In order to get the most possible pairs sent off the same day the auctions end, we wait until around 4:45 CST Saturday afternoon when most have paid and take them to a post office about 40 minutes south of where we live. On our auctions that ended Saturday, January 27th, 2007, we had six folks pay within several hours and choose USPS Priority. All six customers had received their boots by Tuesday, and FOUR had received them by MONDAY, January 29th, in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Texas!
We strive with every pair of boots we offer on eBay to give you as close to a 360 degree angle view of the boots as possible. If there's a portion of the boot that for some reason isn't visible in any of our photos, we can guarantee that you won't find a flaw there. Of course we buy on eBay as well as sell (ain't that the fun of it?!) and have been disappointed now and then to find that the only angle not shown of an item is the one which would have disclosed a serious defect. Fortunately, this is not the norm, and usually such sellers' feedback scores tell their own story.
Because we regularly handle 10-15 pairs of mostly exotic boots every week, we're pretty familiar with how the leather is supposed to feel...and how it ain't! Occasionally when sifting through gently used boots which we're considering offering on eBay, we'll come across a pair of black or less often brown exotic boots which look great at first glance. It's when we pick them up and take a closer look that we'll occasionally notice that they just don't look right...the lizard or gator texture is smoothed out, and the leather doesn't have that sheen that you can almost look into. Maybe you've seen the boots that have had 15 applications of shoe polish dry into the recesses and compromise the bold exotic texture of a once-expensive genuine alligator skin. You'll never have to worry about surprises like that here, because you can clearly see what you're bidding on. You're not looking at one or two dimly lit photos from some distance. We use as much as 2000 watts to show you exactly what it is you're considering, and blow the pictures up larger than the standard eBay size.
And then there's the dryness/cracking issues...you can't be too careful when preparing to shell out several hundred dollars for a pair of exotics sight unseen. As much as we enjoy offering nice LOOKING boots, at least equally important to us is the CONDITION of the leather. We'll always warn our customers when there's a serious issue which is undetectable from the photos. Much of the ability to do this has come with the experience of handling boots that fall all across the 'condition' spectrum - from excellent to "take 'em out and shoot 'em!" And of course, while you'll be informed about the negatives, we feel confident to assure you when the condition is good to excellent. We usually pass up boots with issues because we just enjoy photographing and describing top of the line boots more than a mediocre pair. Occasionally we'll grab up a pair to list on eBay and only later notice an issue we overlooked. We can guarantee that when that happens, you'll be the first to know. We believe in responsibility and doing unto others what we'd want done to us...even when it means 'taking a hit'.
Knowing your size is a huge part of enjoying the savings that eBay has to offer. We recommend taking a trip to the local boot store, and just trying on different brands and leathers. Sometimes in the same brand, a gator tail boot will fit tighter than ostrich. Experiment with different widths, also. If you normally wear a size 11 D, try a 10 EE or 10.5 E. Then go the other direction and try on an 11.5 B. You may discover that a wider, shorter boot or a narrower, longer boot fits you better. If nothing else you'll determine your comfortable range, and automatically expand your boot market. Generally, you'll be able to pick up an excessively wide or narrow boot for a few dollars less since the competition gets less fierce! Steve typically wears a size 10 D, but always tries boots on that are close to this size to be able to better describe the fit. In GENERAL, Justins and Noconas are a little more generous than Tony Lama or Lucchese. Custom boots like T.O. Stanely generally offer a pretty snug fit. Unless you're pretty sure on your size, it's best to shoot a half-size larger than what you think you wear. This way, you can always wear thicker socks or use a thin insole, but if they're too tight, them fine boots may just put a fine hurtin' on your feet! A little preparation and care will likely land you with a pair that fits just perfect.
A little about us (since that's what this page is called!) Nikki is a full-time mommy and homemaker, and does some photography and graphic design work in her (spare?) time. Steve works at a local gym Monday through Thursday (Don Mattingly works out there!!), and works on eBay over the weekend. We refresh our auctions regularly throughout the week, and are usually able to respond to your questions and comments within 12 hours. Two year old Holly occupies herself by learning her alphabet, drawing balloons and hearts, talking to different animals on the phone (her favorite is 'Walrus'), exercising her growing vocabulary, and gradually figuring out that she doesn't run things around here (even if she would win a popularity contest over mommy and daddy hands-down!) We do our best to make sure our customers are satisfied, since we appreciate each of you.
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