Feedback on buying a fur coat in Greece, Kastoria 2014
Buying a fur coat in Greece is not such an easy task as it seems at first glance. With this short story, I will continue a series of more detailed materials about Kastoria - a beautiful town and the largest center of fur business in the world. Anyone who wants to read previous stories with a lot of photos and video stories can do this by clicking on the links. There is information: how to get there, where to stay, and where to eat, and of course fur coats, prices and much more. I am more than sure that it will help anyone who is interested in buying a fur coat in Greece and beyond.
http://blogs. turpravda. com/Alex66/81945.html
http://blogs. turpravda. en/Alex66/99935.html
In previous stories, I described the details of organized shopping tours by Mouzenidis Travel for fur coats in Kastoria. The same trip was made at the end of July, during a beach holiday in Halkidiki at the Porto Carras hotel complex on the Sithonia peninsula. I have already visited this hotel in 2009 and 2010. Everything was just wonderful. But time goes by.
The waves of the crisis are rolling in one by one and slowly everything has become a little worse; food, service, drinks, animation. Gone are free wine tastings, meats off the menu, a la carte dinners, and more. Everything feels like a budget. Of course, I compare my feelings with five years ago and maybe not everything is so sad. A plus is the installation of several slides in the main pool. The beautiful territory, the wide beach and the cleanest sea have not gone anywhere. I still recommend this hotel to visit but with reservations. In my opinion, today this hotel is not worth the money that is asked for it. Now, if there were some kind of burning inexpensive tour ...See the photo in the appendix to the story.
Mersedes A160 with a rental price of 45 euros with insurance and a child seat per day became our carriage that took us to Kastoria. Since it also worked on gas, this allowed us to save a lot on fuel.
It's about half the price of petrol. One of the new features of the Greek highways compared to previous years is the huge number of gas stations. Almost every gas station has added such equipment. The crisis in Greece has not gone away. There are also cars for rent. So, if you do not need a sports start and driving in the highlands, then my advice is to take a car on gas in Greece. The road is long, but not tiring. There is practically no traffic on the excellent multi-lane highway, the speed limit is 130 km. h. and there are no cameras and police with radars. The journey took less than three hours. The main thing is not to fall asleep. A seven-year-old child slept all the way there and back. Two times one way had to pay 2.40 + 1.20 euros. On the way, we overtook two large and one small bus with Mouzenidis Travel logos.
It was not planned to visit a huge number of factories and salons this time.
I needed a pair of gray mink vests or short-sleeved blaglams: to my wife and mother, and I was also going to pick up my small order - one fur coat for friends and one more had to be handed over in Moscow to a girl who ordered tailoring via Skype and measurements taken on fur Mousios factory with my good friends Nicolas and Lazaros. When they found out that I was going to them, they asked for such a service. I will only describe what I visited. Well, some general information to understand the situation with prices that has developed at the moment in Kastoria.
We visited this time only in the salons located between Kastoria and the village of Dispilio. Having a Skype call with Mousios, where I was going to go in the first place, unfortunately we found out that they did not have what we needed in stock at the moment and began our short tour of the factories.
We started from Marco Varni, located next to the Limneon Hotel, where the majority of shop tourists are accommodated by Mouzenidis Travel. The store is large - three floors of fur coats. A kind girl-seller kept us company in our trip along it. I will not write her name for the reason that I do not want her to have problems. Firstly, because I took a few photos, which they asked not to do when they saw my camera on my shoulder, and secondly .....then it will be clear. We immediately identified the purpose of our search - vests, as well as the possibility of buying a fur coat, if it manages to surprise us with the price and model so that we cannot resist. The first floor is mainly for those who want to buy quickly and don't know much about fur. Sadness with vests - there was almost nothing from the mink. And the fact that we were offered to try on fur coats did not attract, and the prices were called, if not insanely high, then very high. I am well aware of all the prices in Kastoria and I know what I am writing about.
The girl explained - this is brand fame and a guarantee. So almost all the factories of Kastoria now give a five-year guarantee, and I consider it senseless to pay for a fur coat tag, which is not one molecule better than that of dozens of competitors. Realizing that relations with the first floor did not add up, we were informed that now it is possible to go to the second and third, and that's where we will find really good and high-quality fur coats. During the time that we spent in Marco Varni, there was not a single buyer, except for us, in the salon. The second and third floors are a little more interesting, but even more expensive. I remember only one joke or jamb of the seller. Seeing a rack with fur coats of an unusual brown color, I asked what kind of fur, where and what the color was called. The answer surprised me. For those who understand furs, it sounds like dad is a mink, mom is a beaver. She said with a blue eye that it was a blaglam, painted under the classics. Question - where are the blaglam tags?
Why is the fur so thin, hair of different lengths, not like a real blaglam? Silence. So in the forehead they just tried to deceive, like suckers. I just wanted to get the camera right and ask again - my father was a mink, my mother was a beaver, but I still don’t have a blaglam dyed under the brown classic)) The summary is like this - there are a lot of fur coats, but it’s really very difficult to choose something. It seems that collections for the last five years are hanging at least. Lots of old stuff. There are no sizes, whatever you ask, if the hanging coat does not fit. You can probably choose something, but not at those prices. Try it, you might get better.
Further through a hundred meters factory-salon Avanti (Avanti). There was a pandemonium here. Mouzenidis brought a whole busload of customers here. I managed to take a few photos before a security guard ran up to me. Although I do not understand what can be hidden in our world.
If someone wanted to take a picture of their "supermodel" fur coats, then there is so much inexpensive equipment for covert filming that ....Paranoia. The people were actively measuring something, but we calmly walked occasionally asking the sellers for prices. We even found a vest made of gray mink fur, but when I heard the price of 2200 euros, I thought it seemed like it, they asked again 2200 euros. They began to tell that we were not with the bus, and so on. Give us a price without extra charge. We arrived ourselves. Answer - if it would be more expensive with a bus, but now I will go to the owner and he will probably throw off 200 euros for you. Hmm ...The situation with prices here is even sadder than in Marco Varni. The range is about the same. Seventy percent illiquid with the dust of years. The prices are lousy. If you try, you can find all the same almost half the price. In general, about the general price trends in the Fur World of Kastoria and the situation with prices in general, I will write at the end of the story.
Not a single person from the bus bought anything, which is not surprising with such prices, but you also need to add a cheat for the tour operator here.
I remember one more thing. We talked there with tourists from Russia. Their group arrived last night and for the second day in a row with the bus around the factories. They told us a story, like two drops of water similar to the story from my second story about Kastoria with the factory of Mr. Papandopoulos P. K. Z. what you were originally looking for. It seems that they are undergoing special psychological training. Well, so, they persuaded their fellow traveler from Papandopoulos to buy a fur coat the day before.
Arriving at the hotel late in the evening and examining it more closely, in a calm atmosphere, she discovered that the quality of the fur was not very good and was sewn somehow, and in general the size was not hers. In the morning before the departure of the group, together with the guide, they went to return it. It wasn't here. Only exchange. Searching and not finding anything to their liking, they began to insistently demand money. They swore for a long time, but realizing that nothing would come of it, they agreed to the proposal to sew a hood to the fur coat at the expense of the factory. The fur coat became even more terrible. The hood is not at the cash desk, the back seam is sewn crookedly, the fur is very different in color, density and texture from the main fur coat. In general, a complete finish. They offered to sell in Russia and come again, for a new one))). Think 200 times before you buy anything there. The customer is always right, it's not there. And even if he is 200% right. If this story is combined with the spring story, then it seems that instead of fur craftsmen, guest workers were hired to work.
And things are so bad that a refund on a fur coat is a disaster for business. Image is nothing - momentary profit is everything. A good, beautiful, high-quality fur coat is not worth selling again. That's just ......A self-respecting manufacturer without talking will return the money for a fur coat just bought, even without quality claims. Remember this.
Then we walked on foot to Vitaniotis br. I didn't even take pictures inside. I would recommend this salon to those who want to buy an inexpensive, quite decent fur coat that is not top-level for a season or two. The prices are quite reasonable. It's like a budget supermarket. It seems that there is a lot of everything and inexpensively, but you don’t want to eat, your saliva does not flow. The quality is quite acceptable for this price range.
Next we drove to Alessandro Bosso near P. K. Z. Papandopolos. In the salon we were met by the owner of the factory.
They told him that this was not the first time with him and that they almost bought a fur coat in a shop in the Peloponnese near the Aldemar Hotel, but the prices seemed expensive. He said - yes, we know and we are going to terminate the dealership agreement with them because of the huge markups. We talked about everything that concerns fur coats and what is happening in Kastoria in general in the fur coat business. A very pleasant and sociable person. The showroom is large and completely empty, a dozen and a half fur coats hang. He says that they have sold everything, but I think that things are sad for this factory. The models are all different, as if different fashion designers made sketches. There are no sizes. The quality of tailoring and fur is excellent. Real blaglam, lynx, etc. You will be given a kilogram of certificates and guarantees in addition to a fur coat, but it’s almost impossible to choose something there. You need luck to get exactly the model you were looking for and in size. Good for those who don't know what they're looking for. ...
Naturally, there was no question of any vests, especially sizes. I recommend to go. You will not lose anything, but there is a chance to find an exclusive there. For example, a carpet of wolves about 4 x 5 meters in size. How to carry it???? ? ?
In P. K. Z. Papandopolousa, which is located right next to Alessandro Bosso, even the desire to go did not arise after all these stories. And I don’t know how they would have met me there after the previous story))). There are many quality coats out there. Take a look, but do not be fooled by the salesmen's wiring about discounts, or rather, that they will not be there if you then decide to return, smiles to the Owner, and so on. )). Oh, how tired he is of your fake smiles)). And do not drink Metaxa, which they offer to everyone there without exception. ))) Be sure to compare prices with other salons.
Another 500 meters and we are in Naomi. Nothing new, mink vests are only very fluffy, the price is biting. It took two minutes. In general, we decided enough for now and went to Mousios.
It immediately caught my eye that there was a noticeable increase in fur coats since spring. There are new, different colors of furs. A large number of fur coats and short fur coats made of solid sable appeared in the salon. The most expensive, classic Barguzinsky Russian, as well as especially fashionable - the colors of Tortola from Canadian fur. These are excellent in quality of fur and workmanship of the product. Sable coats are expensive, don't rush to buy the first thing you see. Try to get around and see more. Why am I writing this, instead of just saying - if you find here a sable model that suits you in size and model, then you are lucky with the price and quality? Yes, so that you can see for yourself and wear your fur coat with pride and pleasure. See photos.
Of course we were welcomed as friends. Nicholas and Lazaros were there. First of all, of course, a reporting tour of the showroom.
You should have seen with what pleasure they showed me the new collection. We talked for a long time. About everything: about the general situation in the fur coat business in Greece, about sanctions, about the situation in Ukraine. The fact that the situation with the sale of fur coats in Kastoria is very sad. The almost complete loss of buyers from Ukraine, a sharp reduction in the number of buyers from Russia had a negative impact on the local market. Despite this, their factory was able to increase production and sales. According to Nicholas, including thanks to my stories. But I'm sure that the main role here was played by the fact that they did not look for ways to reduce the cost of production. Look for cheaper raw materials, hire less qualified personnel and buy cheaper equipment and consumables.
I won't repeat myself, I just highly recommend reading the previous stories. Everything is detailed there and there are many photos and videos on this topic. Unfortunately, the exact opposite situation is observed in many salons and factories in Kastoria. I have been observing the overall picture quite closely for the past 5 years and I don’t like what I see at all. Many now have a choice - to close or switch to cheaper raw materials and labor. And many did it even easier. They simply began to buy Chinese fur coats and sell them under their own brand. This measure still, in the end, will not lead to anything good. Most factories are mired in loans they can't repay. Many took out new loans to cover the old ones. Here, the situation with the prices of raw materials at the main world fur auctions, especially in China, played a very cruel joke with the furriers. Prices have fallen by about a third.
And those who expected to sell fur coats at a certain high price faced a situation of dumping by factories that did not have deposits of products sewn from furs at old prices in warehouses. But for all this, loans were taken, and even with interest. The same Mousios, against the backdrop of high prices for skins, invested last year in the latest mink farm for breeding animals with a rare color, and it did not bring profit due to falling raw material prices. They built it with their own money. For the future. What if a loan? Yes, and a loan, even secured by real estate, is now almost impossible to take in Greece for the development of a fur coat business. The return rate is huge.
For example, in Mousios, just the situation with the leftovers is ideal. They simply do not exist, everything that is produced is sold like hot cakes and they can afford to put very competitive prices on their goods.
Many people sell all products: old and new at prices expensive, old, some make an average version: they lower the price a little for old collections, they raise a little for new ones. Half in the middle. Ideally, you need to find a factory or salon that does not have collections from the previous five-year period.
The vests we needed were not found in Mousios either. They generally have few. We've made it easier. We went down to the workshop and talked with the master, looked at samples of mink fur colors, listened to the suggestions and recommendations of a model specialist and simply ordered tailoring with delivery to Moscow. A fashionable vest made of wolf-gray mink of the highest quality category, or rather a collarless jacket with short sleeves, cost us 750 euros. And the same vest for mom from blaglam with size 58 to 950 euros.
I can not recommend this factory to visit.
Not only because I have developed excellent relations with its owners, but also because of the impeccable quality of products and more than adequate prices with a real guarantee for fur coats. At Mousios, you can easily exchange your fur coat for money or another coat of your choice, if for some reason you change your mind or find a factory defect. Small repairs will not cause any problems. And it just doesn't happen that big. This is the basic principle of the factory. Over the past few years, there has been only one case of such a return, and even then - just a customer who found many micro-holes on one of the skins, could not explain in the end that some auction skins from the batch are marked in this way and such laser marking has no effect on the quality of the fur does not render. There is also a technological procedure for processing fur, in which micro holes may occur. Virtually zero quality returns.
Many "kind" people tried to discredit this brand in the comments, to which I always had one answer. With you a defective fur coat, with Mousios money. I always say - a photo, a number on a tag (all fur coats are now sold under individual numbers), a low-quality fur coat for the studio ....And you know, there has never been a single case when someone confirmed his words in practice. So, if there are those who are interested, please ....Any marriage, current repairs, etc. will not cause any problems with the solution of these issues. Anything can happen. We can say that only someone who does not sew anything does not have a marriage, just the approach to solving this problem can be completely different. From P. K. Z. , where you will simply be sent, to Alessandro Bosso with his service centers, even in Russia and Mousios, where the customer is always right.
If you need the legendary Blaglama, then you can rest assured that if you like the coat model, then you will like the price and quality of Mousios. Only the highest category and only the real. You won't leave without a purchase.
No one will grab your hands and scare you with the lack of discounts if you do not take a fur coat right now. On the contrary, everyone is calmly offered to take a walk and look for something better. Compare furs and prices. By the way, if anyone has not yet seen my video about how Lazaros Mousios tells how to choose the right fur coat from blaglam, and in principle from any mink, especially black, you can watch the link or in the video attachment to the story.
http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=CbCLyJ2-tNE
I hope this visual information will be useful to many people to make the right choice, and knowing this will serve as a guarantee that you will not buy cheap stuff for your rather big money.
As before, you can use business cards with notes by Nicholas and Lazaros. I was promised a more loyal pricing policy for anyone who wants to visit the factory after reading my stories.
I recommend such tours to tourists who need an inexpensive fur coat in the range of 1400-1900 euros. In this case, your overpayment upon purchase will be approximately equal to the cost of the penalty for waiver of obligations or the price of the tour without them.
Also, I recommend organized shopping tours and transfers to tourists who are poorly oriented abroad, do not know any foreign languages u200bu200bat a basic level and are sure that they will simply disappear if left alone. Impeccable service, round-the-clock supervision, every minute support of guides, whatever you need, the ease of checking into hotels and going through boarding procedures at the airport accompanied me in all the shopping tours that I happened to go on with the wonderful company Mouzenidis Travel. Moreover, I constantly fly with this tour operator for a summer beach holiday in Greece. I have never had a reason to complain about them. This is not an advertisement, trust me. This is from the heart.
Well, maybe I'm so lucky. I highly recommend. Especially, in the light of the latest ruins of our tour operators, let me remind you that Mouzenidis is a company with Greek capital, not hanging on loans until payday. If only simply because there the auditors of such a tour operator as the Southern Cross or the Neva will be closed after a couple of warnings before he throws tens of thousands of his customers. In this world, everything is possible, but it's good when the chances are minimal.
Which tour to take: with obligations or not? In all cases, if you decide to go with a shopping tour, now I advise you to take tours at a price of 1 euro, because I really did not see the difference in prices that are called tourists with obligations and tourists without them. Maybe in the auction they will give you a discount - an extra hundred another, but you will never know if you would have done it for you anyway or not. I myself went without obligation twice and never heard in response to a question about the price - Oh! ! !
You are without obligation, then minus 500 euros, although I constantly talked about this after knowing the price. The only thing at the Edika exhibition center was a yellow badge, not a red one, but it’s impossible to check whether it works or not. If you are hoping to jump off a shopping tour, it is better to pay a fine right away. Hundreds of people wrote to me with questions on this topic. Therefore, for everyone, I will write again. Any accompaniment, no matter how it is called: an individual transfer, a taxi, a guide, a shopping tour bus, entails paying a substantial amount of kickback, which will be included in the cost of your fur coat when the factory owners or sellers tell you the price. Taxi drivers, whose offers are full on the Internet and who earn only by driving a unit. Dozens of articles have already been written about this, I don’t want to procrastinate this topic.
If you believe the tales of some mythical Greek furriers chipping in on tickets and hotels so you don't have to pay taxes on buying a house, then any words here are useless.
For example, a woman recently wrote to me who paid the full amount for a shopping tour without obligations and at the same time paid for a personal transfer to the factories, thinking that in this way she would be spared the need to pay a kickback. That is, she did two mutually exclusive things. And she was sure that she was going to Kastoria on her own, she called the factories and found out the prices, saying that she was going to Kastoria without an escort. And then she was surprised that prices were one and a half times higher than what she agreed on the phone, arguing to the owners that she would come herself.
Just because of this, now the situation is such that even if you call the fur factory of Kastoria from Russia and ask the price for a specific fur coat from the catalog, you will not be given a figure, you will most likely be given a plug, like 2700 - 4000 euros. In general, you are all adults .....Everyone makes decisions for himself.
Now I will not describe to you the mechanisms of the system for tracking purchases and tourists in Kastoria, take my word for it or not. To summarize briefly, we can say in one sentence - any way to get to Kastoria, I pay special attention, any other than arriving in a rented or own car, as well as on a regular bus, will increase the cost of your purchase. And if you need sable from 10.000 euros? Or rather expensive blaglam? Such is the fur coat business in Kastoria and nothing can be done about it.
For everyone else, especially those who are ready to fork out for an expensive, high-quality and classy fur coat, I recommend trying to get to Kastoria on your own. If you drive a car, then car rental is the best option. The empty and wide trails are suitable for everyone, even for beginners. The only thing I do not advise you to meddle in the evenings in the center of Thessaloniki. The problem with parking is very big. Even for the money to find a place is very difficult. There are a lot of rental offices in Greece, the prices are very democratic. Conditions for the return of a car and insurance are very good. No fraud with scratches, keys, etc. like, for example, in the same Spain, where this summer they tried to deceive me at almost every gas station, almost every restaurant, rental office, children's amusement park, etc. A small car without a mileage limit with insurance without a franchise will cost about 40-60 euros per day.
A navigator and a child seat will be given almost everywhere for free, you just have to ask. Do not book cars from Russia in one of the network agencies. Their prices are much higher than locally. Insurance is more expensive, for each additional option, such as a child seat, you need to pay extra, a rather large amount is blocked on a bank card, and for up to two months, and they may not return the entire amount to you, keeping a small part and saying that you spoiled something there, scratched, got fined, etc. Are you going to sue? In extreme cases, they will apologize and return the money to the most stubborn)))
From anywhere in northern Greece, you can get to Kastoria by regular buses. If there is no direct flight, for example from Halkidiki, then you can buy a ticket with a transfer in Thessaloniki. In terms of time, you will lose almost nothing, because you still go past. The ticket price from Thessaloniki is 15-18 euros one way.
Arriving in Kastoria, you can call any factory whose contacts are easy to find on the Internet and ask to send a car for you. This is a common practice and does not oblige to purchase. Better yet, let them know the day before you leave. Kastoria is a small town and you can quickly get to any place in minutes. For example, having reached Mousios, you can visit another dozen large and well-known factories within a ten-minute walk if you walk along the highway in both directions. Vitaniotis, Marco Varni, Avanti, Mousios, Alessandro Bosso, Afrodita, P. K. Z. PAPANDOPOLUS, Naomi, etc. And of course, you can call any of the above salons. If you need a cluster of factories in the suburbs of Kastoria, behind the village of Dispilio, then you can call Erton, Manakas, Manzari, Image, Ego, etc.
I also want to draw your attention to this moment. When you choose solo travel dates, make sure they don't fall on weekends.
If at least someone is still working on Saturday, then on Sunday only those salons will be opened to which you will arrive with the guides of Mouzenidis. Keep this in mind. It is pointless to come on your own or try to jump off a shopping tour on weekends and national holidays. On the topic of where to have a tasty and inexpensive meal in Kastoria, I wrote a lot in the previous two stories. There are coordinates of taverns, prices, photos and descriptions. I will not repeat myself, for those who are interested, the links are at the beginning of the story.
This time we didn't get smart and ate at the well-known Allotino tavern. Excellent cuisine, large portions, cleanliness, reasonable prices, convenient location and pleasant staff make it a great choice to just have a bite to eat and spend a great evening. I highly recommend it to gourmets and just lovers of inexpensive and hearty food.
What and where you can visit in Kastoria for an ordinary tourist, I also already wrote and I will not repeat myself.
I can only say that Kastoria absolutely deserves to stay in it for a day or two, but the formats of organized shopping tours do not allow this. No one is interested in you wandering around the city yourself, wandering into factories and finding out the prices start asking uncomfortable questions. And ninety percent of these tourists would run to return their newly bought furs, literally following the story of the furrier community of Kastoria, who chipped in for tickets and blah, blah, blah and not thinking about the interest of the tour operator who brought them here, who got into this situation into your trap. Both in winter and summer you can find many interesting places to visit. From the dragon cave and numerous ancient monasteries to excellent skiing and snowboarding slopes half an hour from the city.
The city is full of inexpensive and quite decent small hotels.
With a clear conscience, I can recommend Tsamis 3*, Castor 3*, Castoria 4*. Any of them can be booked online. Just the fact that Kastoria is a beautiful town, picturesquely located around a beautiful lake with a leisurely calm atmosphere, is enough to spend more time with pleasure than allotted in bus races in an attempt to make an instant and correct choice of fur coats for your considerable money. A leisurely walk around the lake, feeding the birds, observing wildlife is a soothing after the stress in the cities and at work.
Don't include in your mind the travel fee in the price of a fur coat when you start to wonder how much it cost you. This is quite a self-sufficient waste for the pleasure of visiting a friendly and beautiful country. This is where I will end my story. I hope, like the previous ones, it will help readers with useful information.
Thanks to everyone who emailed me thank you. And of course, look at the photos in the photo album for the story.
I wish you with all my heart; rain on the road break a leg; and generally good luck and moral stamina. And please do not take the story as a recommendation of a famous character - Hey citizen, don't go there, go here. Try to get around as much as possible in Kastoria to make the right choice. As always, I will try to answer your questions in the comments. You can also write to me at sacho1@mail. en
