Quality Sporrans for less money

[OC Richard]

I have bid unsuccessfully on several sporrans so was surprised when a relatively low bid by my history scored a nice looking sporran from a charity auction in England. Then I get an email from eBay saying it was a restricted item and they would be refunding my payments. Apparently it was seal. Now I am reluctant to bid on sporrans which don't identify the materials. Any guidance on identifying the animal involved?

You bring up a complicated topic that needs to be addressed as three separate issues. (Sorry Troglodyte and myself cross-posted.)

First is that sealskin is illegal to import into the USA, or be sold within US borders, since 1972 (the Marine Mammal Protection Act).
In spite of this many people have purchased seal sporrans from outwith the US which have come through without being caught.

Besides that, Pakistani firms make seal sporrans by the hundreds and ship them into the US all the time. To see how common it is, search Ebay for "seal sporran" and restrict your search to "US only". You'll see a number of sellers in the US offering seal sporrans made in Pakistan.

If you want a Scottish-made seal sporran the safest way is to buy one already within US borders, which do come up on Ebay fairly often.

Secondly, how does one identify a sealskin sporran?
It just comes down to familiarity. Sealskin has an unmistakable look and feel in person, and it's easy to spot IF the Ebay seller posts clear enough photos.

Starting in 1972 Scottish makers like WE Scott & Son began using "bovine" and "pony" as seal substitutes for the US market. These have the short hair of seal but not the almost metallic sheen that seal has. Another distinctive thing is colour: seal often has a subtle greenish tint that bovine and pony never have AFAIK.

One way NOT to identify seal is by Ebay sellers' descriptions. They misidentify fur (and metal) more often than they get it right.

One thing to be aware of is that there was a short-lived fad for artificial fur around the late 1950s and early 1960s (I haven't been able to pin down the exact timings.) This fur wasn't considered a cheap alternative, in fact it was at least as expensive as real fur. WE Scott & Son made a large number of sporrans around that time in the same dingy white artificial fur. Once again, seeing and handling these sporrans in person is the best way to identify them in Ebay photos.

Third, there's a scam that's been ongoing in the UK with Ebay's "global shipping program".
I was victim to this. The item was a horsehair sporran. Horsehair sporrans are posted from the UK to the US every day without problem.

The scam is that an unknown somebody at the UK "global shipping" facility declares that a package contains a "restricted item". The buyer is refunded but the seller is not. The seller is told that the package has been "destroyed" but in fact the package is sold at an auction of packages that are claimed to be "undeliverable" due to not being properly addressed (which isn't true).

This is how it came to pass that I got refunded for the horsehair sporran I bought from a seller in England, then the same sporran reappeared on Ebay a couple months later being sold by a different English seller.

So don't be surprised if that sporran that Ebay refunded you shows up again!