View all shipping information at Shipping Policy

View all return information at Refund Policy

While we don't gift wrap, every bag is carefully packed in a custom dust bag inside our beautiful shipping boxes. If your order is a gift, we'll include a complimentary handwritten gift note instead of a packing slip. Just add your message in the "Add Order Note" section of your cart at checkout.

Prices are never shown in our packages, regardless of gift status.

All pieces are handcrafted, start to finish, in-studio in upstate NY.

Every PERSISTENCE piece is handcrafted to last. In the rare case of a manufacturing defect, such as failed stitching or faulty hardware, we will repair or replace your item. Please inspect your order when it arrives and email info@persistencegoods.com right away with your order number and photos of the issue.

Our bags are made from full-grain vegetable tanned leather. We don't use corrected-grain or otherwise altered leather, so natural markings and variations are part of each piece. The leather is meant to show wear and develop a patina with age and use. Cosmetic wear that doesn't affect the structure of the item is expected and isn't considered a defect.

 See more details in our Refund Policy.

Learn how to care for your bag at our  Care Page.

Yes! We only use the finest, full grain vegetable tanned cowhide. We primarily source from Wickett & Craig in Curwensville, PA, or Horween in Chicago, IL. These family-led tanneries have been making leather the old-fashioned way for generations. 

We have recently added a buttery soft Italian leather to our offerings -- still full grain vegetable tanned cowhide -- from the venerated Conceria Tempesti in Tuscany.

All of the leather we use is recovered from the food chain and would otherwise go to waste.

Vegetable tanned leather refers to the method used to tan cowhide into leather. It's called "vegetable" because natural tannins, like those from tree bark, are used in the process. Vegetable tanning, or "veg tan," is one of the oldest tanning methods and has been around for centuries.

It's costlier and slower than the more common chrome tanning, so only a small share of the world's leather is made this way today, estimated at around 10%. Generally speaking, if a leather item isn't specifically advertised as vegetable tanned, it's chrome tanned.

No. "Vegan leather" isn't leather. It's a material made to look like leather, and it's most often made from plastics like PVC or polyurethane. These synthetics can take hundreds of years to break down and can shed microplastics along the way.

Vegetable tanned leather is cowhide recovered from the food chain and tanned with natural tannins. Because it's a natural material, it breaks down far more readily than plastic once its long life is over.

We're also keeping an eye on newer plant-based materials made from things like cactus, apple, and mushroom. Many of them still contain plastic binders today, but we'd love to work with them once they meet our standards for durability and sustainability.

Yes. Contact us to request complimentary leather swatches.