The upholstery shop I contacted with is on the AliExpress Chinese version called TaoBao.

 

My final seat cover order detail:
Suede: Alcantara 2901 (Imported from Italy)
Leather: Microfiber PU synthetic leather. Color: matched my old seat cover and 2901.

These are the BEST man-made synthetic leather you can find on the market.
Almost half the price compared to Elwood. Very affordable.

The last step is waiting for it to be made and shipped to the US.

 

#4 reserve for other craftsmanship image, if people want them

 

Nobody offer 850R seat cover with options. I also read a lot of comments about the inaccurate replica. So, my seat cover will send back for accurate measurements.
More importantly, none of them offer material options nor declare material brands/specifications.
99.99999% e-commerce websites are just second-hand dealers. They purchase low price product from China without QA and sell them to US for more than 10x the price. They take advantage on the information gap that you cannot speak Chinese and you cannot contact the OE manufacturer in China.
So, basically, the e-commerce website offer something build out of unknown material for crazy high price.
That's why I contact a real upholstery shop in China that allows me to select the leather I want exactly.
What I'm doing is practicing the global market by myself. No brain dead second-hand dealer crank up the price for no reason. Just like we always purchase parts from Bosch and other OE manufacturer instead of Volvo. The only difference is I need to find a manufacturer myself instead of go to FCP and they tell you who is the manufacturer.

All I want is what I pay for the price.


Why I select China specifically?
Because China is world's factory. They don't upsell their product. They have highly skillful labors for seat cover industry. Customize seat cover rework is far more common in China than in US. You can find a lot of upholstery shops practicing this industry in a small city. They need to be better than others to survive in business.

Why I trust Chinese product?
My Chinese roommate family owns a Chinese oxygen mask and pressure regulator and oxygen tank factory. Their products take a big market share in US. They are the OE manufacturer for US brand. He told me that in China, you get what you pay for. Reasonable price always get you reasonably quality. Avoid suspiciously low price, you'll be good. If they can make medical equipment well, then they can also make other products well.

 

Don't bother to respond to Karen batten user, it's a bot.

 

How on earth did you know? 🤣

 

Look, if @linm126 was a first time poster, sure, I'd report him as a scammer/spammer. But he has 147 post under his name and proof he's a community member. The other "user" was truly a bot because it brought nothing to the table, just some worthless words. Now I wouldn't mind reupholstering my car, but I would need everything inside of it to match. And that's not doable I'm afraid. Hope it turns out great linm126.

 

Thanks. I will make it works out.
I always want a nice seat skins for a reasonable price.

 

My friend fly back to HongKong today. I will drive him to airport. He carry my seat cover with him.
The upholster shop is closed until Feb 18th due to Chinese New Year.
I will update after the production begin. I will make a video call to the shop and select the color and texture.

 

If you are interested in the color-matching process, you can follow my 850R project post.
It has the detailed process of color-matching and my communication with the upholstery shop owner.

https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/850r-project-red.648902/post-8195738

 

My seat cover before final QC.

 

Wow!! Can you get that done for P2s? I'd bet you have an equally lucrative market...

 

They can do anything.
The only problem is, can you wait？
I think one of my friend will go back to China this month and move to Canada permanently. I'm Not sure if he has enough space for a set of P2 seat Cover.
Anyway, if he cannot take it on the plane, we need to wait for the cargo ship. It takes quite a long time.

 

Linm126...

I had ordered seat covers from Lseat.com in the past and found them to be a reasonable value for the money. However, I had my suspicions that they were doing exactly what you mentioned (acting as a middle man for seat covers produced in China).

I was wondering if you might take a look at lseat.com and give me your opinion.

LIke I said, I was happy with the end result for the price, but your post raised my curiousity.

Thanks!

 

Linm126...

I had ordered seat covers from Lseat.com in the past and found them to be a reasonable value for the money. However, I had my suspicions that they were doing exactly what you mentioned (acting as a middle man for seat covers produced in China).

I was wondering if you might take a look at lseat.com and give me your opinion.

LIke I said, I was happy with the end result for the price, but your post raised my curiousity.

Thanks!

Yes. I know Lseat. Before I contacted a Chinese manufacturer myself, I was really into Lseat.
My opinion is, Lseat price is too high.
Reason 1: their seat covers are not custom made. They have a few fitting issues.
Reason 2: they really cheap out the material(vynal). They are not using top of the line material(synthetic leather).
If you order directly from China with the same quality and craftsmanship. That will be only about 1/10 of the price. That's why I eventually contact a manufacturer myself. I can quality control my order. That's the most important thing for me. For details, You can check out my 850 topic. I cover every step of my special order.
Doing business with Chinese is straight forward, you get what you pay for.

 

Do you know if they would have seat pattern for 01 V70 T5?

 

I would be interested for a driver seat cover. 1996 Volvo 850R.