Retailer too good to be true?

[greenc]

Hi all,

Hope you're all already looking forward to a good weekend, and that all's well. I don't know if this is allowed - and if not Moderator(s) please remove - but I came across this European retailer and it almost seems too good to be true.

https://sokinoki.ch

These guys have lots of good looking leather jackets - almost too many. Anytime I see something like this I feel dubious, does anyone have any experience with these guys? Are they legit?

Even their retail prices don't seem substantially higher than eBay on some items.

And to be clear, I have zero affiliation with them - I just found their site while searching for Luda jackets (@Marc mndt posted a beautiful one a while back in the colorful cafe racers thread, https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/colorful-cafe-racer-thread.103867/page-6) - I've never reached out to them, have no purchase history, can't vouch for them.

What say the forum?

Chris

 

[Marc mndt]

Are they legit?

Yes. I've talked to the guy about a year ago when he started selling his collection.

Even their retail prices don't seem substantially higher than eBay on some items.

Some of his prices are absolutely crazy. He had a steerhide Buco PJ27 in good condition, asking price 3900CHF. That's $4325 lol. On eBay such a jacket would sell for $750 tops.

And to be clear, I have zero affiliation with them - I just found their site while searching for Luda jackets (@Marc mndt posted a beautiful one a while back in the colorful cafe racers thread,

The Luda is a jacket of mediocre quality. I bought mine for €70 if I remember correctly, sold it for €120. Apparently it helps to have a fancy website. €612,95 lol.

 

[bigmanbigtruck]

Some of his prices are absolutely crazy. He had a steerhide Buco PJ27 in good condition, asking price 3900CHF. That's $4325 lol. On eBay such a jacket would sell for $750 tops.

Maybe he charged a special price just for you

Anyway I figure you saw the price a while back and he lowered it till someone went for it. ~$2K is still crazy tho

 

[greenc]

Yes. I've talked to the guy about a year ago when he started selling his collection.

Some of his prices are absolutely crazy. He had a steerhide Buco PJ27 in good condition, asking price 3900CHF. That's $4325 lol. On eBay such a jacket would sell for $750 tops.

The Luda is a jacket of mediocre quality. I bought mine for €70 if I remember correctly, sold it for €120. Apparently it helps to have a fancy website. €612,95 lol.

View attachment 614179

Thanks @Marc mndt, I was wondering if it might be someone's personal collection given that most of the jackets were size 42.

As for the prices, the vintage market in general is a bit mad at the moment - here in Toronto there are warehouses where you buy clothing by the pound and every Thursday the vintage dealers line up to get in and sift through it all.

They're buying old Scooby-Doo t-shirts (that I wore new in 1976) for $5 per pound and then marking them up to $300 each in their stores.

Almost everything in these stores is labeled "Rare," for no discernible and no provable reason - the consumer is taking the word of the shop owner that the Star Trek trucker hat is rare, which is why it's priced at $168. The dealer has no actual idea how many of those hats were made, rather he or she is basing their "Rare" classification on how many hats like it they've seen in the last year.

Look at Etsy - oftentimes you can find two or three versions of the same Brooks Cafe racer for sale at different dealers all classified as "Rare" - if there are three of them being advertised, they're not rare.

 

[Observe]

Frankly, most vintage resellers are absolute con artists and parasites.

 

[AHP91]

Thanks @Marc mndt, I was wondering if it might be someone's personal collection given that most of the jackets were size 42.

As for the prices, the vintage market in general is a bit mad at the moment - here in Toronto there are warehouses where you buy clothing by the pound and every Thursday the vintage dealers line up to get in and sift through it all.

They're buying old Scooby-Doo t-shirts (that I wore new in 1976) for $5 per pound and then marking them up to $300 each in their stores.

Almost everything in these stores is labeled "Rare," for no discernible and no provable reason - the consumer is taking the word of the shop owner that the Star Trek trucker hat is rare, which is why it's priced at $168. The dealer has no actual idea how many of those hats were made, rather he or she is basing their "Rare" classification on how many hats like it they've seen in the last year.

Look at Etsy - oftentimes you can find two or three versions of the same Brooks Cafe racer for sale at different dealers all classified as "Rare" - if there are three of them being advertised, they're not rare.

No news here. - tale as old as time. Advertise your product as rarer/older/better condition than all the rest and hopefully you get a bite. All a seller needs is one person to bite. Proceed with caution.

 

[Monitor]

As others said, most of the prices on the site are stupid high. The Lewis coat is worth something, the Buco's of course (though not as much) & the rest is overpriced to the extreme. Many of these jackets are just random Euro-racers of decent but inconsequential quality and rarity.

Any of these brands and/or jackets can pick up at any time, though, and these vintage resellers are aware of this. It's mostly due to TikTok and other such social media platforms we aren't even aware exist, where some person will make a video of a jacket in question that will go viral. Same as what happened with Kadoya, that suddenly became all the rage on Instagram even though it's just a mid-range Japanese racing apparel maker that was always limping behind the premium brands like Alpinestars or Dainese.

As @AHP91 said; You just need one person to bite.

Frankly, most vintage resellers are absolute con artists and parasites.

Absolutely tho ones that know what they're doing can bring in a lot of money.

 

[Nacho]

Yes. I've talked to the guy about a year ago when he started selling his collection.

Some of his prices are absolutely crazy. He had a steerhide Buco PJ27 in good condition, asking price 3900CHF. That's $4325 lol. On eBay such a jacket would sell for $750 tops.

The Luda is a jacket of mediocre quality. I bought mine for €70 if I remember correctly, sold it for €120. Apparently it helps to have a fancy website. €612,95 lol.

View attachment 614179

lol Marc. You remember all the videos of him recording himself taking the pictures with all these expensive cameras and background drops?

All the while, we just take pictures with our run-of-the-mill iPhone and they come out looking better than his. What a rookie!

@greenc don’t bother with that guy, Chris. Marc was right about the PJ27. It was me that asked him about it last August and the guy came back with that ridiculous price. See below.