OK,
Who knows someone in Zimbabwe (Bulawayo) who would like to double their money (plus shipping) and take a few orders!



cordell

Guys

Can anyone give me an idea of the latest price on a pair of these if buying them in Zimbabwe? It's just that mine are wearing out rapidly (bought from the factory/house in Bulawayo in 1997)and I recently priced them here in OZ - $400 the thieving bastards want for a pair and they aren't even the elephant hide ones. Just trying to get an idea how much mark up the aussie distributers are applying.

Also what are the Buff hide ones like compared with the Ele hide as far as comfort and wear?

Cheers.

GG

About US$30 in downtown Bulawayo.

I have both Buff and Ele and I find both as comfortable as the other. When I buy a new pair they will be Buff due to the higher cost of Ele.

With a !)% discount for cash they are !million zim in Harare this week (need a new pair myself) At black market rates that is US$130.

Buff hide ones wear out in thorn country too quick.

As of the middle of Sept the Courtney Vellies ( the least expensive boot they make) were $54 US at Gigas in Bulawayo. They are the largest dealer in Bulawayo and usually carry the full line. Did not price the Selous as was not in the market. They did not have any Elephant boots in stock at all
and told me due to the high cost of Elephant Courtney was only producing them on order and delivery was approx 6 weeks. I don't really understand the high cost as the buyer of hides they use only offers about $250 for a salted Ele skin. I have bought boots there for the last 8 years and have never seen the Selous in Ele for under $100. They do NOT have sales at the factory.

They must be yanking you about elephant hides. They are next to worthless nowadays.

Just sent an email to Courteney boots for a price list and to see if they would ship a dozen pair. I also asked what the shipping would be. I will keep you posted. Take care and God bless.



cordell

In July 2003 I paid $65US in Gigas store in Bulawayo. I thought I got a bargain then. $45 is a steal, I would have bought two pair. Mine were the Safari style.
Doug

Either the price of Courteney boots has dropped considerably in the last year or I really was taken for a ride in November of 2003 - it appears as though it was the latter!

When my wife and I went on safari in June of 2001 in Zimbabwe I purchased a pair of the buffalo hide Courteney Safari boots for about US $75.00 at a nice store in Bulawayo, perhaps it was Gigas. I encouraged my wife to get a pair at that time but she said she didn't need them and that her boots were fine. I wore my pair for the remainder of the month we were there and simply love them.

When I went back for another safari to Zim. in November of 2003, I contacted my PH ahead of time and told him that I wanted to purchase a pair of the Safari boots as a gift for my wife and I also wanted to try and get a pair of Elephant Selous boots for myself. The camera man that was accompanying me on that trip also wanted to get a pair of Safari boots for himself.

I ended up contacting Courteney directly, via email, and they suggested I try that fancy store in the Meikles Hotel in Harare on my way out of town. My PH, camera man and I went there and they had the safari models for my wife and the camera man but no Elephant hide Selous boots. With the inflation rate being so high I didn't really pay much attention to the price, or all of the zeros on the price tag (my mistake for not asking ahead of time) figuring they might have gone up from $75 in 2001 to maybe $100 or $150 in 2003 and my PH wrote a check for the two pair of Safari boots and we went to a couple of other store looking for the Elephant hide Selous but to no avail.

A few hours later, as we were driving to the hunting concession, my camera man asked the PH how much we had paid for the Safari boots. The PH paused, did a quick calculation in his head and told us the price per pair. I told him he had to be mistaken and grabbed a calculator from his brief case, asked him the official exchange rate and punched in the numbers. If there hadn't been doors on his truck I would have fallen out of the vehicle! We had paid US $575.00 per pair - I just about shit myself, as did the camera man! There is no way in the world I would ever, knowingly, pay that much for a pair of boots - anywhere, of any kind.

At that point though it was too late to return them and we ventured onward. When I got home the boots I had purchased for my wife were actually too big and I again emailed Courteney and they said I could exchange them with their US distributor Westley Richards in Virgina. I contacted them, mailed them my wifes pair, ordered a pair of buffalo hide Selous for myself and the correct size for her. My buffalo Selous were US $269 and they sell the Safaris for $199.

In hindsight it makes for a funny story but I still can't believe I paid $575.00 for a pair of boots - boy was I ever had! Live and learn!

Alaskan PH

That's why you have to pay cash. If anything else you get stuck for the official exchange rate.

Give me sandals any day.

I bought 2 pairs in Bulawayo in Oct of '03. The ones with Cape buffalo hide cost $75 and the ones made from elephant cost $85. Both pairs were claimed by my son when I got home.

I tried last yr to by direct from Courteney, they refered me to WR here in the states.

Maybe the money is greener this yr.