AUCTION: CLOSED 14thCent tooled, hardsided leather case

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:45 pm

**EDIT: I have ended the auction early due to the fact that I received a bid that is close to what the retail price will be. Please see my post on page 2, and feel free to contact me with any questions.**

Well, I've never done an auction here before, so I thought I would give it a shot and see how much interest there is in this.

Up for auction is a prototype of a product I may end up adding to my line-up.

This is a hard-sided, tooled leather case based off of a 14th century writing tablet case. I have also seen cases made in a similar fashion that were dated to the 15th century, so it's possible this will pass for either one.

This is a rigid case made from 6/7 ounce wet formed leather, and has been finished with a wax based sealer. The lid fits snugly, but not too tightly. You can hold it upside down and shake it, but the lid won't come off. A slight tug is all you need to remove it. Dyed Cordovan (a dark brown). To give you an idea of the size, I put in a pack of cigs, a lighter, driver's liscense, credit card, and some cash.

Inner measurements:

Side to side: ~2 5/8"
Front to back: ~1.25"
Top of insert to bottom: ~3.75"

Outer measurements, including lid:

Side to side: ~3 1/8
Front to back: ~1.5"
Top of lid to bottom: ~4.25

The auction will run from today until Monday, Jan. 21st. Payment is due by Friday the 25th. If you are paying by check or money order, the payment just needs to be in the mail by the 25th. I will accept Paypal (preferred), check, or money order for US residents. International buyers must use Paypal and must pay in US Dollars.

Winning bidder pays actual shipping costs/insurance (optional). I will pay for tracking.

STARTING BID: $20 - which is a good deal less than what I will be asking for them if I end up adding these to my lineup.

I am attaching a pic of the case this was based off of, and some pics of the case that's up for auction.

Thanks for looking! Let me know if there are any questions.

Cat

EDIT: Bids in this thread only, please. No email or PM bids. (makes it easier)

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:45 pm

Pics of my case:

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/747695/case1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/747695/case3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/747695/case5.jpg[/img]

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:46 pm

2 more...

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/747695/case6.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/747695/case7.jpg[/img]

chef de chambre · Post by **chef de chambre** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:48 pm

I bid $20.

Effingham · Post by **Effingham** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:48 pm

Hella cool.

Effingham

dartaghan · Post by **dartaghan** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:52 pm

25. that is cool.

Jonathon More · Post by **Jonathon More** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:53 pm

chef de chambre · Post by **chef de chambre** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:53 pm

$30. I can really use one of these.

Jonathon More · Post by **Jonathon More** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:55 pm

chef de chambre · Post by **chef de chambre** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:10 pm

Jonathon More · Post by **Jonathon More** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:16 pm

$37.25

just kidding.... bowing out of the bidding for the moment. I yield the flor to CdC..

Maeryk · Post by **Maeryk** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:17 pm

Out STANDING!

That is really, really spiff, Cat.

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:19 pm

Thank you for the bids gentlemen.

Cat

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:22 pm

Maeryk,
Thank you very much! I hadn't seen any of these for sale anywhere, and I thought I would give it a try. I really like the look of these, so I hope there will be enough interest to make it worth adding to my product list.

I would like to say THANK YOU to Karen Lardstatter (sp?) for having these on her links page. LOTS of cool stuff there.....

And I have another thing I'm gonna try - something else I haven't seen for sale anywhere. I'll get to that one eventually...

Cat

chef de chambre · Post by **chef de chambre** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:23 pm

If someone outbids me, I'll commission a custom one, if that suits you Cat.

This is a great piece of traveling office impedimenta, and I think you did a very nice job on it.

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:24 pm

Chef,
Thank you very much! If the auction doesn't go your way, PM me and we can discuss it.

Thanks again!
Cat

Aaron Schnatterly · Post by **Aaron Schnatterly** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:33 pm

That turned out very nicely, Cat! I feel a little bit like a broken record, but outstanding work! You said you might give it a go what... 3 days ago? 4 maybe?

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:40 pm

Thanks Aaron!

LOL! I told you I had ideas runnin' through my head like crazy!! You were right, I just had to give them the attention they were demanding.

I still haven't gotten up the guts to pattern out that other pouch. Soon though...

Cat

Aaron Schnatterly · Post by **Aaron Schnatterly** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:55 pm

I'll bid 25 on the pouch, unseen.

Just kidding... just a little encouragement... though I am certain it'd be outbid faster than the speed of sound... and well worth it.

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:03 pm

Hehe..I'm afraid of wasting the elk. I'm gonna try it out in fabric first, but fabric won't tell me all I need to know, ya know? And I still need to find something to use for the dangly....things...whatever they are. And I still need to figure out what the heck I'm lookin' at before I can really start to pattern. It's a dang shape-shiftin' pouch.

Cat

Klaus the Red · Post by **Klaus the Red** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:21 pm

Yowza. That is dead sexy. It's exactly what I've been thinking of to port my new digital camera around, but the inner dimensions of this one are just a bit too small. If you are going to start taking orders for more, I will jump into that queue in a hearbeat. I assume you can do custom tooling of heraldic badges and such?

Hell, I may even want two.

Klaus

Thorgrimr · Post by **Thorgrimr** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:26 pm

Damn, damn double damn and triple damn! I was poking around looking at that very tablet case the other day thinking about making a version for sale.

Outstanding job, Cat.

chef de chambre · Post by **chef de chambre** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:35 pm

I just want it to carry a wax tablet and stylus around in...

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:15 pm

Klaus,
Thank you for your kind words! PM sent.

Michael,
I'm REALLY sorry! I had looked around, and hadn't seen any of these for sale, so I jumped on it. You should still make yours though. You will LOVE how they look in person!

Cat

Kilkenny · Post by **Kilkenny** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:22 pm

Another beautiful project, Cat. Congratulations on an excellent interpretation of a very neat artifact.

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:15 pm

Thank you very much!

Cat

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:07 pm

Well done Cat, I was thinking about doing these myself. A friend sent me looking at a couple sights for ideas, never got the commission though, and never got around to doing one. Was the construction around the cords as much of a pain as it looks?

Chuck

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:49 am

Thank you.

I appreciate it very much!

There wasn't really any one part that stands out as being more difficult than another. The difficult thing about this was that there's so many little things that all have to come together to make a whole. A whole lot more than I originally thought. Lots of work with paper and pencil too. (and a lot of head scratching...."Hmmmm...never considered that....what now?"...

Next I want to make one of the tube shaped ones. I'm hoping there won't be as many details with that kind, but those little un-thought-of issues always have a way of sneaking up on you.

Thanks again,
Cat

Johann Lederer · Post by **Johann Lederer** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:57 am

Very nice Cat...me thinks you are finding you niche...

Zweihammer · Post by **Zweihammer** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:42 am

$45, that is sweet. Great work as always.

Zweihammer · Post by **Zweihammer** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:43 am

wow, double post, AA a little screwy this morning.

Edward MacTavish · Post by **Edward MacTavish** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:01 am

$55

Edward

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:37 am

Well fellas, with a bid of $55, unless there are any objections I think I am going to call the auction and declare McTavish the winner.

As much as I would like to see how much this would end up going for if I let the auction run it's course, I don't want to end up going past my target price - and we're pretty close to that.

Are there any objections? Please feel free to email or PM me about it, or respond here.

Thanks!
Cat

Zweihammer · Post by **Zweihammer** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:19 pm

If that was all I had to offer to end this early, I would have! I hope you make this one of the products you offer. It is so much nicer than the generic pouches, etc. offered by so many merchants.

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:33 pm

With as much interest as this seems to have gotten, I WILL be offering these for sale. I had a target price in mind, and that bid of $55 comes close, which put me in a predicament. I could let the auction run it's course and risk going over my target amount, but that would leave me with either raising my target price once I roll these out, or charging my planned target price and tick off the person who paid more in the auction.

If I raised my target price, I will loose some customers because it's too expensive. The price I've got in mind seems like a fair one to me, and I don't really want to go over that until I can find ways to make improvements.

The reason I ran an auction was to see if there was interest in these for the price I was willing to make them for, and it looks like there is. I didn't think the price would go up so quickly though.

If anyone still wishes to continue the auction, I will leave it open. I don't want to anger anyone, and am just trying to be honest about the pricing.

Cat