When eBay Goes Right!

I thought I'd share with you one of the joys of eBay: taking a risk and completely scoring. I found these shoes on eBay in my size, crafted by none other than premier Italian shoe maker Salvatore Ferragamo. Online they looked like hell, but knowing Ferragamo's reputation for using high quality soft, buttery leather for their shoes, I figured that a little conditioning would go a long way.

I was looking for a pair of simple medium-brown cap-toes and these fit the bill to a T, but they definitely looked like they had quite a few miles on them. The soles, however, seemed to be very much intact without any spots of highly concentrated wear; one of my specifications when buying shoes on eBay is that I need not resole them.

There were some spots on the leather and the pictures showed what appeared to be heavy creasing, but again with buttery glove-grade leather, creases are not at all the end of the world. When I received them I was very optimistic. The shoes needed new laces, a spare pair of which I had on hand. Prior to re-lacing them I applied two coats of a brown cream polish and let each coat soak in for 30 minutes, buffing in between each coat. I then applied two coats of Kiwi neutral wax polish for a nice shine (again buffing between each coat). Cedar shoe trees and a couple of wears with newly conditioned leather knocked the heavy creases right out. Before (top) and after (bottom) pictures are shown here.

These shoes appear to be from Ferragamo's upper mid-line, and would have originally retailed for somewhere in the neighborhood of $550 to $595. On eBay, shipping included, I paid less than 10% of that price. This goes to show that the higher the quality of a used item, the easier restoration will be. I am very proud of the way these fantastic shoes turned out. They fit like a second skin. The leather is amazingly soft and supple. I could play baseball in them if I wanted to, remaining comfortable through all 9 innings. Take a risk with something truly fantastic at a thrift store or on eBay. You may find something that is (or that can be conditioned to be) as good as new while still being kind to your wallet. Enjoy the search!

Until next time,

Cheers.

-Paul