Need advice.. planning to buy a second hand Joe McCoy

[Leatheradmirer]

Hello everyone

Recent days I have been talking to a seller for his Joe McCoy in FQHH

The leather has cracks and scuffs (I don't mind scuffing), my only problem is the crack is on the shoulder..

But realistically speaking, if I could get it for a good deal (sub $300), would it still be wearable? Or maybe, repairable?

And speaking of the cracks, how bad do you think it is and does it look like it has dry rot / red rot?

 

[Bennarion]

The leather is in poor condition and there is no reverse effect. Don't buy this jacket.
What is the price?

 

[Bennarion]

But realistically speaking, if I could get it for a good deal (sub $300), would it still be wearable? Or maybe, repairable?

If you buy it for less than $300, then you can just wear the jacket without paying attention to the cracks in the leather. The jacket will look like a vintage one.

 

[Leatheradmirer]

The leather is in poor condition and there is no reverse effect. Don't buy this jacket.
What is the price?

The seller asked for 300-ish USD, could be cheaper but still, the condition looks bad on those high stress area.

 

[Bennarion]

And speaking of the cracks, how bad do you think it is and does it look like it has dry rot / red rot?

Most likely, the jacket was worn under the scorching sun and it became too dry, which caused the leather to crack

 

[Bennarion]

The seller asked for 300-ish USD, could be cheaper but still, the condition looks bad on those high stress area.

If that's bothering you, don't buy this jacket. You will not get rid of such damage.

 

[AeroFan_07]

I would suggest to Pass on this specific jacket.

 

[BaslerChrysler]

I guess the question here is whether you’ll be able to overcome the knowledge that it’s damaged and irreparable. Otherwise you end up not wearing the jacket and your money just wasted.

 

[l0fielectronic]

I had a vintage Brooks that looked like that and got no worse in the ten or so years I wore it.

That said it looks in one photo that this goes all down the sleeve edge. I would want more and better photos in natural light before going either way on this myself.

 

[raf]

From pix, I can see some cracks in the leather, as well as what looks like a considerable amount of fairly serious scuffing. I'm assuming the worst of the cracks are pictured.

There is nothing to be done about existing cracks. Treating the jacket with some decent preservative may help reduce future cracking. If the scuffed areas are in fact just that, and not rotted, there may be some additional remediation measures which could be undertaken before applying any conditioner.
Even so, the scuffing damage will always be visible.

I'd want to have the jacket in my hands for an up-close inspection first.

Unless there is some specific reason for wanting this particular jacket, unless the seller comes down considerably in price (to your mind, that is), I'd advise passing on it.

Cracks alone indicate irreparable and significant leather damage.

 

[dinhnguyen57]

Something to also consider, if you buy it and end not liking it and not wearing it, it'll be very hard to re-sell it. So sub-$300 may not be a lot, it's a lot of you are not wearing it and it's filling up your closet space.

 

[Leatheradmirer]

Thank you everyone for the advice. After careful consideration and further discussion with the seller, I've come to the conclusion of not buying the jacket, I went to have a long, tiresome chat and finally asked for a video chat (due to the inability to take a visit to the seller)

And found out that the cracks are even larger (and deeper) than it looked on the pictures shown.

It might be just going straight to the trash bin anytime soon if i had bought it.