Quality Sporrans for less money

[OC Richard]

Here's a Nicoll Brothers horsehair sporran in a pattern which used to be- from probably the 1930s up till recently- one of the handful of standard patterns everyone sold.

For some reason the Pakistani makers seem to have missed it and AFAIK it, alone, hasn't been re-cast and mass-produced by them.

Now it has a famous familiar ring to it, because King Charles III has a recent leather Hunting sporran using that top.

I recently had a horsehair sporran I bought on Ebay seized by their Global Shipping Program. Was that an outlier or is Ebay now stopping all horsehair sporrans going from the UK to the USA?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20481005682...Bk9SR_zzluT5Yw

[Troglodyte]

Here's a Nicoll Brothers horsehair sporran in a pattern which used to be- from probably the 1930s up till recently- one of the handful of standard patterns everyone sold.

For some reason the Pakistani makers seem to have missed it and AFAIK it, alone, hasn't been re-cast and mass-produced by them.

Now it has a famous familiar ring to it, because King Charles III has a recent leather Hunting sporran using that top.

I recently had a horsehair sporran I bought on Ebay seized by their Global Shipping Program. Was that an outlier or is Ebay now stopping all horsehair sporrans going from the UK to the USA?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20481005682...Bk9SR_zzluT5Yw

As the buyer, you have no risk of loss with eBay - except you fail to get what you've tried to buy. The seller has all the risk.

If eBay has started destroying items it deems are banned, without informing the sender or returning the item after it has been accepted on their platform, it seems to me that they are operating outside the law, and are open to prosecution by the seller for willful and criminal damage.

I would say that it is the sole duty of a judge in a law court to decide what falls foul of the law, and so order the distruction if necessary, not a commercial enterprise operating on its own interpretation and initiative.

Surely your experience will stop sellers sending all sporrans to the USA, as the risk of loss with no compensation is too high. That cannot be good for anyone.

But does this 'ban' affect all sporrans (hair and fur) I wonder, or only vintage ones from the UK. Surely the replicas coming out of Pakistan are ethically more suspect for a number of reasons.

I have sent a good many vintage sporrans of various sorts from Scotland to the US without problem - not even having the packages opened by US Customs for inspection - which makes me think this is eBay's own policy. But I take your experience as a warning...

[Troglodyte]

Here's a nice one for you -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315406060540

The long-link chain-strap alone makes it worth buying the lot. The Lawrie sporran has something of W. E. Scott about it, and is a simple but quality item.

Could be a bargain for someone...

[OC Richard]

Spot on, I think to many kiltwearers the chain strap is worth more than the sporran. Harder to find, certainly.

It's puzzling about that horsehair sporran, because those are shipped from the UK to the USA all the time.

Even seal sporrans, clearly banned by US law, are imported here from Pakistan regularly.

The seller was given no chance, Ebay just seized the sporran and told the seller that it would be destroyed.

So in the future I'll do the same thing with horsehair than I've long done with seal: ask the seller to remove the cantle and just send that.

I'll bet that UK sellers who avoid Ebay's Global Shipping Program will be fine. For sure Pakistani sellers avoid it, just sending through ordinary post.

[Tomo]

MOD cantle - listed yesterday with a starting bid of £49.99 - already at £290 after only 11 bids!!

I picked one up in an Edinburgh junk shop last year for £45 - think I will keep my eyes open for when I am back this year.

[OC Richard]

Yes and not long after it was listed, somebody listed the whole thing, with original tan body, never blancoed, never had holes punched for the badge. It's only at $130 now, grab your popcorn!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37547363359...Bk9SR8S6jvSAZA

In any case, in the Scottish-made sporrans for under $50 category there's this WE Scott dark brown plain "day" sporran in very good condition. It's this colour that's often mistaken for black in old photos.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22618590834...Bk9SR8S6jvSAZA

[OC Richard]

With a low Buy it Now, I'm pretty sure this is a Margaret Morrison sporran.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14582887971...Bk9SR7qfzuaBZA

[OC Richard]

WE Scott "Prince Charlie" sporran, from the 1950s or 1960s I reckon, for 10 pounds.

The listing says "small" but the measurements indicate a fullsize sporran.

I think the fur might be artificial, there was a fad for that at that time.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22619241907...Bk9SR860w-SCZA

[SF Jeff]

In any case, in the Scottish-made sporrans for under $50 category there's this WE Scott dark brown plain "day" sporran in very good condition. It's this colour that's often mistaken for black in old photos.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22618590834...Bk9SR8S6jvSAZA

Here's a similar one. I like the braided tassels: https://www.ebay.com/itm/276429184838

[OC Richard]

Here's a similar one. I like the braided tassels: https://www.ebay.com/itm/276429184838

Interesting, L&M sporrans, sometimes they're indistinguishable (from the front) from WE Scott versions of the same model, sometimes they have unique features.

I was just in The City last weekend, my son lives on Bush Street and I have two nieces in a nice part of Oakland (on the Berkeley border).