Sagara Shoes from Indonesia



TooAwesome said:

Did either of you have to pay customs and duties? Also the 'international price' on their site includes shipping yes?

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I'm not sure how the whole customs and duties thing works, my package tracking hasn't been updated since it left Jakarta. But I paid $56 shipping (to NY) on top of the international price.

whoa wtf, why is there additional shipping? if you convert the indonesian price to USD/CAD its way less than the international price, i thought that difference was put into the shipping.

guess i might not be getting them anymore...

So here's my extensive review/rant.

Part I: Customer Service
Oct 1:
Me: I sent an inquiry about two pairs.

Oct 23:
Sagara: Bagus gave me a size recommendation for both pairs and info on shipping. He noted that shipping was $56 USD.

Oct 23:
Me: I told him that I cannot make the purchase until Nov 1st. I asked if he would still honor the clearance pricing. I also tallied up the total cost for the 2 pairs and the $56 shipping cost.

Oct 30:
Sagara: He noted that one of my shoes was down to the last pair in my size. He also apologized for misinforming me on shipping cost. He said it's $99 USD for shipping. He also noted a 5% handling fee would be added.

Oct 30:
Me: I offered to pay for the last pair in my size in order to secure it.

Oct 30:
Sagara: He told me that I didn't need to make a down payment. He would gladly reserve the last pair for me.

Nov 1:
Me: I made payment around 2am. I also sent a message informing him of payment.

Nov 4:
Me: I bugged him about an update.

Nov 5:
Me: I bugged him again.

Nov 6: He finally responded and apologized for a slow response. He claimed he was at a wedding.

Opinion on customer service: Terrible. It's ironic how his clearance sale is called a "Facelift Clearance." Does the need to have a "facelift" have anything to do with the much hated customer service? If you're getting a facelift, make an effort. He needs to treat all his customers like VIP's instead of making us beg like dogs for attention.

Part II: Pricing

Imperial III
IDR: 1.295.000 or USD: $175
Currently, the exchange rate between the IDR and USD is: IDR 1.295.000 = USD $134.62
Therefore, non-Indonesian customers have to pay an extra $40.38.

Capital II

IDR: 1.225.000 or USD: $164.50
Currently, the exchange rate between the IDR and USD is: IDR 1.225.000 = USD $127.34
Therefore, non-Indonesian customers have to pay an extra $37.16.

Shipping
I payed $99 USD.
Sagara sent me two separate packages. On the Indonesian EMS website, shipping cost per package is $55.50 USD.
Therefore, the actual shipping cost was $111 USD.

Handling
I have a feeling I was the only one charged with a 5% handling fee. It's 5% of the cost for the shoes PLUS shipping added.

Opinion on pricing: Upset. Why are foreigners unfairly charged a higher price? When Sagara's bank receives the money, they have to convert the USD to IDR, but that only cost Sagara maybe 2.9% or less. So Sagara is making a little extra off of foreigners.
Shipping sounded sketchy, but after checking the EMS site, I didn't feel cheated.
Handling, if you noticed from my email correspondences, Bagus didn't mention a 5% handling fee until the last minute. Very unprofessional and appalling. If he miscalculated the $99 shipping that was supposed to be $111 (Short $12), he should've told me. Instead he makes me pay an excess of $9.93 if $12 is subtracted and added to shipping cost.
Even though prices seemed to be sketchy, unfair and spontaneously added, I still paid for the shoes, because I still thought it was worth it. Even if you felt cheated.

we need to find someone reputable who lives in indonesia who will be willing to help us handle orders lol help us save that $40 and potentially more if thats not the actual shipping amount (had a denim shirt shipped from HK for $25, boots are heavier though).

was quite excited to buy these but i guess they will have to wait



you pretty much had to pay an extra $90 for each shoe.....would not think that was worth it

Part III: Product quality

So, it took a total of 5 days to receive the shoes. Mailed on Nov 6th and received on Nov 10th. This is what I got:
























EXTRAS
Each pair came with a box, blue dust bag, and extra laces. The stock laces on the boots don't even fit, so I had to swap them out for the leather laces. Unlike raw hide laces, these were more like a Chromexcel-like, hot-stuffed, soft laces. The length for them are longer than the stock laces.

SHOES
I was first shocked. I thought they sent me both shoes in "whiskey" rather than whiskey and chestnut. The color for the chestnut on their site has a noticeable difference. On closer inspection, the chestnut has a slight difference in color. It's kind of disappointing having two pairs in the same color.

Both shoes have some weight and feel very sturdy. The overall look and feel, seems to be of good quality. The leather is definitely corrected grain, which is a disappointment. I'll probably post updated photos to show how the creases are after some wear. On close inspection, you can notice dried paint strokes on the leather which is probably from applying the gloss.

Overall, the shoes seem very well constructed and feel solid. The downside is the quality of the leather. I think if someone acquired some shell cordovan from tannery row of Horween and shipped it to Sagara with a special request to custom make a pair, they would be great.

Thanks for the thorough review man. I had the same customer service experience, minus the month long wait. He did charge me the 5% as well. My boots are still lost in shipping land, no updates from the tracker, but I'm looking forward for some boots to beat up and I think they'll fit the bill despite it all.

Part IV: Conclusion
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who participated and showed interest in this thread.
If anyone wants to request a certain photo, I'll try to take a shot and post it up asap.

Anyways, I'm happy with the shoes, they feel like $500 shoes at a fraction of the cost. I've just had them for a few days and I've already had people ask about the shoes (I tell them not to bother LOL!) The downside is the anxiety and stress caused by their lack of good customer service. Facelift or not, they'll probably still continue to practice bad business principles. I am remember watching movies, where a wealthier foreigner travels to a third world country and a third world country native sees an opportunity. He boasts about a product and tries to sell it to the foreigner at a hugely inflated price. I feel like that foreigner; except that I'm aware of paying an inflated price.

Despite the corrected grain leather, I think the shoes were worth what I had paid. How many other shoemakers hand make their shoes for this price? Alden (my next purchase) uses dye cutters and machine sews everything at around double the cost. I'm a sucker for traditional methods.

Sadly, even if Sagara starts selling shell cordovan shoes, I'm done with them. It's not worth the worst customer service and greedy business ethics. I'm actually boycotting all of Indonesia for shoes. Everyone their has bad customer service and inflates their prices.

A corrected grain "handgrade" shoe is still... made of corrected grain.

lioneironaut said:

Thanks for the thorough review man. I had the same customer service experience, minus the month long wait. He did charge me the 5% as well. My boots are still lost in shipping land, no updates from the tracker, but I'm looking forward for some boots to beat up and I think they'll fit the bill despite it all.

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On the invoice he sent you, it should say (3-6 days.) So, I think you should've gotten it by now. It could be held up in customs since they sometimes hold packages for days. However, your tracking should've shown that it entered customs. Maybe your package is plane hoping across the US until it reaches NY.

Anyways, I hope you get your boots soon and enjoy them.

TooAwesome said:

we need to find someone reputable who lives in indonesia who will be willing to help us handle orders lol help us save that $40 and potentially more if thats not the actual shipping amount (had a denim shirt shipped from HK for $25, boots are heavier though).

was quite excited to buy these but i guess they will have to wait



you pretty much had to pay an extra $90 for each shoe.....would not think that was worth it

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If you know someone who's willing to buy a pair for you, you'd still have to pay $55.50 USD for EMS shipping (3-6 Days.) Unless you go with the regular post office mail there. That would be a lot cheaper, but it would take weeks to get.

jrd617 said:

A corrected grain "handgrade" shoe is still... made of corrected grain.

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I never mentioned the word "handgrade"? I know that corrected grain is corrected grain, so what are you trying to say?



Conventum said:

I never mentioned the word "handgrade"? I know that corrected grain is corrected grain, so what are you trying to say?

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You said that they were very well constructed and "made by hand" according to "traditional methods." You then went on to say that you prefer the construction of these to Alden shoes, which are benchgrade.

I wouldn't consider CG shoes for $275 shipped. I don't think many here would either.

I think I should've written this better. I wrote this in one sitting with little editing.

I just said, that Alden doesn't make their shoes like Sagara. They do some hand stitching, but most things are done with machines. However, they use the best materials and have a greatly respected name. And even though they use machines, their shoes are very well made. I never said I preferred Sagara. If you read in the parenthesis, my next pair is going to be from Alden. Also, in my conclusion, I said I'm done with Sagara.

I've barely worn my Sagara's, but so far they seem to be well made and a lot of the construction was done by hand. All Sagara has going for them is hand-construction techniques, so paying $230 for them seems reasonable. If they made their shoes by hand and used shell cordovan and answer their damn emails, then that would be worth more than $230.

Alden > Sagara, I'm just trying to say that I think my purchase was reasonable despite the corrected grain. I basically paid for the man hours that went into making the shoes.



Conventum said:

I basically paid for the man hours that went into making the shoes.

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Meh

if you look at their pics you can see that the normal laces are only barely tieable lol