Ebay-Item Description.....versus Reality

[pastafreak]

What do you do when an item you've bought-described as 'fabulous soft LEATHER boots' do not seem to be leather....but there are no labels,so no way to prove suspicions?

[boxtops]

So how can you prove that they are not leather, would be the question.... caveat emptor, I'm afraid.

I've listed leather-look items but I'm always careful to describe them as such, if I'm not sure.

[mrs_overall]

Do you have a local cobblers shop you could take them to? They will be able to tell at a glance

[pastafreak]

Yes-I did think of taking them to a shoe store-or cobblers.
Maybe the seller genuinely believed they were leather-or assumed so.
I've still not left feed back.....

[mrs_overall]

pasta, I'd have them checked out. I don't know if you paid much for them, but non leather boots will not last that long and in my experience soon begin to look shoddy

[pastafreak]

Forgot to say-the seller is a top-rated seller.

[pastafreak]

Will do mrs_o....I didn't pay all that much-but even if the seller was being truthful as to what she thought the boots were-she maybe should be aware *if* she has made a mistake.

[mrs_overall]

A top rated seller should deffo know the difference.
Let us know if you have them checked out.

[jomifl]

If you touch imitation leather(plastic) with a hot metal object such as a nail it will melt, real leather chars and smells of burnt skin. Try this on known imitation leather and real leather, the difference is unmistakeable.

[dotty.]

there should be the 3 standard signs inside the boot somewhere, if they are leather there will be the sign that looks like a tiny animal pelt, if they are man made there will only be diamond shapes

[boxtops]

Doesn't real leather usually have that little leather-mark, shaped like a hide, somewhere on it? Do you have a brand name, pasta, you could look up?

[dotty.]

see lower down this link
http://www.runtheplanet.com/shoes/selection/shoeinfo.asp

[boxtops]

that's the one, dotty!

[dotty.]

another way to tell is to try to polish them with shoe polish, man made shoes will not absorb the polish like leather does, the polish will just sit on the surface

[dotty.]

the symbols on knee boots should be on both boots in the lining somewhere between the ankle and mid-calf, small symbols probably gold or silver

[MyBlackHen]

To me, leather has it's own particular smell.

[dotty.]

fashion boots these days are made to avoid the smell of leather as surveys in the past have shown that women do not like to smell of leather

[pastafreak]

Oh...what a lot of info! I'm familiar with the hide marks...there are no marks in the boots,and the lining has a 'spongy' feel-it is fabric.
I'm not sure about women not liking the smell of leather. I recently bought a pair of Spanish leather boots-and the 'aroma' as I opened the packaging was amazing!

[boxtops]

ooh, I love the smell of leather, how could you not?!

[islasmum]

I haven't used Ebay for a while, but I think that you can return an item as it's Not As Described - don't try to do anything on them to test if it's leather or not, but if it doesn't smell leathery, it's probably not.