Toronto shoe shine, patina, restoration service

[jokb]

So how does it work at present - guys just drop off shoes to your place and pick them up again?

What do you charge to put a mirror shine on the caps for shoes that are otherwise in good shape?

At present, people give their pairs to me at work (I have 2 offices, downtown and near square one) or drop it off at my house.

Pricing is somewhat of a gray area right now as most of the work I've done are for co-workers are trades for other services (designing my logo, creating a web-site, stuff like that). I think it's about $6-8 around the city for a regular brush shine and I don't think they do a mirror shine.

This is actually where I have my ears open to the good people in this forum to voice out their pricing opinions.

If the pair is well taken care of and it just needs a toe box mirror shine, that doesn't take very long. but in my experience, when it's time to polish, it's good to go through the entire regimen of conditioning and polishing the entire shoe.

 

[RogerP]

Well I would be happy to give you a couple pairs to work on, once I get through the work insanity that next week will bring. It's kind of hard - not to mention a conflict of interest

- for me to suggest to you how much you should charge me.

Take the time to solicit the opinions of others and give it some thought and let's chat toward the end of next week.

I keep my shoes in really good shape, but I SUCK MIGHTILY at putting a mirror shine on the toe caps.

I think it's reasonable, though, for you to make the call as to whether you can effectively just do the toe caps on a given pair, or whether it would be preferable to do a full condition / polish.

 

[NickInTO]

I have a pair of brown Alfred Sargent captoes that I kind of screwed up by using Saphir cream that was too dark. Send me a PM for what you'd charge to clean 'em up and put a mirror shine on the caps.

 

[jokb]

Well I would be happy to give you a couple pairs to work on, once I get through the work insanity that next week will bring. It's kind of hard - not to mention a conflict of interest

- for me to suggest to you how much you should charge me.

Take the time to solicit the opinions of others and give it some thought and let's chat toward the end of next week.

I keep my shoes in really good shape, but I SUCK MIGHTILY at putting a mirror shine on the toe caps.

I think it's reasonable, though, for you to make the call as to whether you can effectively just do the toe caps on a given pair, or whether it would be preferable to do a full condition / polish.

Sounds good. Let's chat toward the end of the week regarding this. For now, my focus is expanding my clientele and getting the word out. I'd like to focus more on the luxury and individuality part of the service rather than a regular shoe shine. Regular brush shines can pretty much be done by anyone.

Lol, I get you for putting a mirror shine on the toe caps. It took me a while and LOT of shoes to master my craft.

you're right regarding the type of service, as soon as i see pair, I have a good idea of what needs to be done although my opinion may not coincide with the owner's thoughts.

I have a pair of brown Alfred Sargent captoes that I kind of screwed up by using Saphir cream that was too dark. Send me a PM for what you'd charge to clean 'em up and put a mirror shine on the caps.

Hi NickInTO, I'll send a PM and we can take it from there.

 

[TOstyle]

I'm not going to add much to the discussion, but I would say I would absolutely be up for the service. I travel a lot, and am not always in the core so, a condo drop-off service would also be appreciated.

Pricing would be the only big point. It's a great service, especially if you are a decent guy I could trust with the shoes that I've grown very attached to. It's just, you know...I'm always looking for value - so the price has to be right. That doesn't mean cheap - I'd pay for it gladly since I'll 1000% appreciate the service, it just helps to see the value in it.

That's my long-winded way of saying if you are considering starting this as a business, really helps to nail down the pricing. Feel free to post or PM me what you're thinking about and I'll give you one guy's knee jerk reaction if you're doing a market survey.

 

[Steel28]

Count me in Jok! This is great for T.O folks.

 

[jokb]

Thanks for the support guys. I'll PM each one of you. Let's keep thread lively as I enjoy talking to fellow shoe enthusiasts in Toronto.

 

[borbor]

Jok: got a pair of tan wholecuts that could use this. Shall we discuss?

 

[jokb]

Jok: got a pair of tan wholecuts that could use this. Shall we discuss?

Definitely borbor! Will PM you.

 

[TOstyle]

I was thinking a bit more about the model and how you might offer this, and I wonder if a subscription service would be a good way to go. If anyone is going to be up for this, they probably have a serious shoe collection that would need regular maintenance. That may or may not be done regularly, as a lot of times that means finance guys who don't have the time to do it, but still want to look good.

If you sold this as a monthly service or subscription, where you had a yearly commitment (or month to month cancel anytime deal I would prefer...) you could get guys to sign up for regular service. You would just have to arrange the monthly drop-off/ pick-ups, but safe to say you would probably like regular business as opposed to one-offs for the whole shebang type of shine.

I know for me, when I was thinking how I could use your service, I would like to keep my shoes in regular rotation and in good condition, and I'm okay if that takes them out of rotation sometimes for a few weeks (I've got enough I don't need to and that alone helps with long-term wear). And if that meant a slight discount on the per-shine rate, I'd be up for it.

What does everyone think about that ?

 

[jokb]

I was thinking of a subscription model as well on top of regular one-off pricing. If anything, it'll be guys here at sf who'll be on the subscription as regular folks may not have as many pairs as us. A steady amount of work is definitely better for me rather than spikes and lows as turning them around could be quite difficult. For myself, I rarely wear a pair twice a week, if not in 2 weeks.

I asked around about others pricing and I'm not sure what to make of it yet. For instance, an airport shoe shine is $9. Loding (first Canadian place) glacing service is $45+tax and it's only the toe cap and outer vamp.

If the others could chime in on more ideas, that would be great.

As for some updates, I got the domain registered and will try to get a base website going over the weekend. I've also gotten in touch with Avel and inquiring on wholesale and reselling as an initial investment to fully stock up on everything can be quite costly. Not sure, how this will turn out, but here's to hoping.

Thanks for the support and interest everyone!

Also wanted to share a recent restoration I did for a ladies pair. When I saw the shoes, I felt pretty bad that it got to the this condition. I had to dye the toe heels to cover up the scratches, I also had to use more esx than normal to cover them.

 

[suitforcourt]

Hi Jokb, are you still running this business? Count me in. Solid prices yet? Thanks.

 

[Shoe artist]

Good morning All,
It s been a long time that I didn t post on this Forum, I m a patina Artisan based in Yorkville since 2 years, I moved from France where I was practicing my craft for years. I m able to do dying process on whatever leather, I can do restoration, glaze or glacage service, and of course Patina Service. I m working with a french company Shoes call Loding, they make for me a special collection with virgin leather on shoes, I also start a collection of leather goods such as bag, card holders, book cover, cigar cases,and more.
Be free to contact me for further information or you can visit me on 133 Avenue Road, m5R 2H7.
thanks for your interest
sentiments distingues
Emmanuel
http://maisonpatina.com/about