Last week I dropped off a pair of ourcedar Shoe treesto a local customer. Being from the neighbourhood, he kindly invited me into his home for a coffee, and we got to chatting. He let me know that he'd recently purchased a pair of "cedar" Shoe Trees on eBay from a "local" seller. It turns out, the shoe trees weren't cedar at all.  Neither was the seller "local".

When his shoe trees finally arrived - via Hong Kong - it was immediately apparent to my customer that the shoe trees were fake cedar. Although hard to tell from the picture below, the wood had been stained red to make them appear like a Western Red cedar variety. He showed them to me, and I saw how blotchy the stain was in parts. I had a sniff - cedar has a distinctive aroma - but the stainsuppressedmuch of the scent. Although, I did pick up a vague smell. It didn't smell like cedar. It smelt more like pine.

The shoe trees in question

I suspect the shoe trees in question were infact produced from pine wood. I'm not a wood expert, but I have used pine shoe trees before and know they can look similar to cedar wood. Pinewood is, generally, a cheaper wood than cedar. Pinewood is not naturally decay and insect resistant (cedar is). It is also prone to discolouration and fading. Many pine shoe trees are stained like the pair pictured below to treat these natural deficiencies.

Pine Shoe Trees /Cedar Green

Let it be known, there is nothing wrong with pine shoe trees. Several renowned shoe makers sell exceptional shoe trees made from pinewood. But pine isn't cedar. Unlike cedar, Pinewood does not have the same antimicrobial activity that kills anaerobic bacteria and yeast that live on one's foot (the primary cause of foot odour). Nor is it naturally decay and insect resistant. Many people prefer cedar shoe trees for these benefits.

My customer is returning his shoe trees to the local seller. The seller has demanded (unsuccessfully) that my customer pays for return shipping back to Hong Kong. This is not unexpected. The "local seller" is more likely a middleman who has a drop shipping arrangement with a Chinese supplier. When the middleman receives your shoe tree order, the Chinese supplier will use a container and ship it to Australia once the container is full, which can obviously take months. While against eBay policy, my experiences would indicate it's a fairly common practice.

Purchasing shoe trees via eBay

There is a plethora of good advice offered byeBay(andothers) on how to avoid being duped, too much to retell here. But the lesson from above is to know who you're buying from, where it's being shipped from, what their return policy is and what your rights are as a buyer. If the seller is flogging everything from shoe trees to the proverbial kitchen sink, I'd personally think twice. If you do (or have) purchased a fake pair of cedar shoe trees, eBay does offer aMoney Back Guarantee.

Final thoughts

If in any doubt about the quality of your online shoe tree purchase, don't hesitate to drop me anemailwith a picture (and/or link). I'll happily take a look.