The biggest advantage a brick and mortar shop has over an Internet retailer is that you get to try it on! By far, the biggest problem with shopping for leather online is getting the size right. Most leather motorcycle apparel today is manufactured in Pakistan, India, and China, and sizing standards will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

It is standard practice that the consumer pays for all shipping costs in a size exchange transaction, the logic being that if you had taken the time to measure you’d have gotten it right the first time! So take the time to read the size chart, and measure! Just because you normally wear a large is not going to cut it. Some very reputable leather apparel manufacturers recommend that you size up one, two, even three sizes larger.

Sizing Up the Female Body

Getting the right size of a leather motorcycle jacket for a woman can be especially frustrating.

The size of a motorcycle jacket is determined by chest measurement. As you can imagine, women’s breasts vary tremendously in size! If you are a woman of average proportion, then by all means measure, use the size chart, and size up when appropriate. If you are a 44 Double D and 5’4″ tall, you can bet it’s not going to be easy!

Most vendors genuinely want to get it right the first time, sparing their customers the expense of a costly size exchange. If you are a man or woman of extreme proportions, contact the merchant via the contact page. Indicate the item you’re interested in, and provide them with your chest measurement (normally in inches), bust measurement or bra size, and waist measurement where appropriate. Sleeve and body length are pretty standard, so if you are extra tall, or have extra long arms, you may want to ask about tall sizes.

Just remember, if you normally wear a large, and end up with a 3XL, don’t take it personally.

It’s not you, the jacket is meant to be upsized!

The Restocking Fee

Some merchants (by no means all) will charge a restocking fee for returned merchandise, which can be anywhere from 10% to 30% of the cost of the product. This is a legitimate practice that offsets the cost that the vendor incurs from the warehouse, and is also meant to discourage frivolous shoppers, of which there are many on the web.

If you are browsing a site and see something you think you might like, you may want to see it first before you decide if you want to keep it. You may certainly do that, but keep in mind online shopping is not like going around the corner to your local Kmart.

Any online leather dealer would much rather sell you something else than to go through the tedious return process. The ones that believe in their product, and know it’s presented in an accurate and upfront way, have a hard timing accepting an “I don’t like it”, or “it wasn’t what I expected” as a reason for a return.

At the very least, even if the merchant doesn’t charge a restocking fee, you will be out the shipping charges both from and to the warehouse.

If on the other hand, the merchant is unable to accommodate the customer in any way, a restocking fee should never be charged.

Out of Stock

Think of a leather motorcycle apparel web site as a catalog. As an authorized dealer for one or multiple manufacturers, they will naturally want to promote many if not all of the products of those manufacturers.

Product comes in and goes out of stock all the time. Once a particular item goes into production on the manufacturing side, it can take six to eight weeks to reach the warehouse, a month of that time being spent on the high seas.

You can expect that not all items in all sizes in the catalogue are in stock at the same time. Before you buy, it might be a good idea to contact the website (after carefully determining your size) to inquire about the availability of a particular item. In many cases, the vendor should be able to give you an ETA of the replenished stock.

Shopping for leather motorcycle apparel online can and should be a rewarding experience. Online retailers like smooth transactions and are happy to take the time to assist the consumer in getting it right the first time. As an informed consumer, take the time to read the policies, know the pitfalls, and by all means contact the vendor if you have any questions or uncertainties before you buy!

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