Proper leather shoes

Nah I wouldn’t but would like to go in and see them/their work - so London based would be preference

The only decent cobbler I went to in London was Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, but their service / attitude is horrible.

Perhaps check with https://www.trunkclothiers.com/ and see who they recommend? Or if they can handle it for you?

What sole you putting on?

Danite

No decent cobblers in London? Lol.

Funny you say that. A while back my dad wanted to have a pair of shoes made and went to Lobb. They just mumbled something and ignored him.

C&J on the other hand were brilliant and he has ended up going back regularly. I got my wedding shoes there and the assistant brought multiple pairs of the same shoes to get the best colour match to the buttons on my jacket.

Trickers were also nice, but C&J were definitely on another level.

Lol what? I can't remember exactly but I think I went to 3/4/5 different cobblers and out of those Fifth Avenue were the only decent ones.

I might've had bad luck or not done my research enough, but that was my experience. Of course there's good cobblers in London, I don't think anyone doubts that

I visited the C&J store here in New York yesterday and totally agree. I had no intention of buying anything.... even so, service was far better than any other shoe shop I’d been into here. Really polite. Nice shop layout. Shoes displayed well. Good lighting. Would like a pair.
When I visited Alden I definitely got the ‘he’s not buying anything look’ and not even a smile or hello.

What's a reasonable price for a worn pair of high end shoes off eBay? Looking at Church's.

I lost the first pair I bid on, I was the highest bidder but reserve not met.

These are not "as new", they look like they have been used quite a bit but still in good condition.

Is £100 unrealistic?

I've picked up Church's in decent condition for as little as £50, but usually around £100 iirc. All depends on model / wear / luck

Got a link to the auction?

Here:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F184021132642

Also looking at these:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F143431063109

Photo with the trees in is most telling - those shoes look to have been well worn (or v sweaty feet?)

The pairs I have aren't as high end as those, so the money I paid might not be relevant for these. I'd ask the seller if they've been resoled though, looks like the uppers has had more wear than the soles

But then NYC.

The capital of bipolar customer service.

Really depends. You can get lucky. My low end Grensons were £65 in as new condition. Loake in good condition were £46. But then some shoes seem to command higher resale values.

One thing to always bear in mind tho is sellers often struggle to accept low prices on items with an original high RRP - eg that ad referencing £530.

Personally for me, no 2nd hand shoe in a visibly worn condition is worth more than £50-60 regardless of the original sale price. But that's me. If it's in excellent condition it then goes back to being a % of the new price.

True. But it wasn’t unhelpful, it wasn’t that false ooooverly helpful American customer service. It was just genuine, nice service. Was refreshing.

Was amazed by customer service in most of New York. Even big chains like Nike the staff couldn’t have been nicer, I think my partner tried on about 20 pairs of sneakers. Also when shops didn’t have items in stock they offered to send them on to us, so the last place we stayed there were five or six parcels waiting for us.

Yeah the corny service thing doesn't really translate into our culture. That's what I loved about NOLA. Everyone came across genuine.

NYC just seems to produce extremes. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's atrocious. My OH had times where people were borderline abusive. So odd.

If I had a pair of black Church’s I can’t find them now. I have a tan pair of camelskin ones but they’re staying with me. Pretty sure I sold all the other size 10/EU44.

If anyone is interested though, I have these two pairs that need selling. £45 posted per pair.

Russell & Bromley ‘Harry’ dark brown suede, in as-new condition with the white cotton bag. EU44, definitely a UK10, too big for my feet.

Arturo/Rufflander cycle touring. Same thing, UK10, just a bit too baggy even with thick socks. These were resoled before I got them, I think. Older style, they have “A Lennon Product” faded on the tongue.

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One thing to always bear in mind tho is sellers often struggle to accept low prices on items with an original high RRP - eg that ad referencing £530.

Good point. Reserve price might be something silly as £250 as it's "half price compared to new" even though they're realistically not worth more than say £100

I know it only happens every 5+ years, but holy crap it hurts the wallet buying new shoes, particularly if you have more than one pair that have reached the end of ther useful life.

On the brights side, I popped into Cheaney to with a 20 year-old pair of shoes, and they said that they can make a couple of pairs off the original last, in a choice of leathers & finishes.

For an extra £250 though...

C&J said that if I can find a last that works for my flippers they'll happily make any of their styles of shoe on that specific last, for a small* consideration on top of the normal price.

* possibly not small

Picked up the pair in the 2nd link for £58 posted, which seems decent.

They have been re-soled with non-Church's soles, which suspect kept the price down. If I like them, I may treat them to a full Church's resole / service.

Church, like many, refuse to touch shoes that have been soled by an independent. Taint, etc.

Don’t be fooled though, an independent can do an equally excellent (dare I say ‘better’) job for a lower price than many manufacturer.