Thread: I kinda feel bad for this buyer...........

I saw this W&B FBU the other night & the buyer is more than likely a straight razor forum member somewhere & not educated yet. Looking at the razor you can tell by looking at the curvature of the heel that it was at one time a 9/8 or similar but at the time was listed as 15/16". It has a frown & a smile, kinda like an "s" shape so it will lose some metal to get it right again. He paid $197.79 for it.

Very Nice Antique Wade Butcher Straight Razor Barbers Only 15 16 Horn Heavy | eBay





For the price he paid, he could have paid a few more dollars & gotten one which would have been in better shape. They're out there if a person is patient enough & takes their time.
Here's another one the same buyer won which has a very wide bevel on it, possibly done on a knife sharpener.........
He won it for $150.

Frederick's Celebrated Razor Sheffild 7 8 | eBay





I suspect this buyer is a newbie on a razor forum & sees what others have & wants to show off his trophy's. I could be wrong but it's only my opinion. If he has so much money that it doesn't even put a dent in his bankroll then I don't feel so bad for him but I hate to see this kind of thing happen to people who don't know enough about straight razors.
Shame on these sellers!

I agree it was more than likely an uninformed buyer. However, ignorance from the buyer should not be a reason to shame the seller. Someone wanted it bad enough, so they committed to that price point.

I have bought several similar but paid between 30-50.00 - I figure after a couple of hours of work and new scales they will be great shavers

Yea I saw one a while back in the same, if not worse shape. The seller wanted 500 BIN, so I offered him $5. His counter offer was 495$. I think it's still been up regularly, dropping in price every time it's relisted. That would be a case of shaming the seller, because they aren't using the auction format and are demanding top, mint quality, prices for a junked razor.

Originally Posted by prodigy

I agree it was more than likely an uninformed buyer. However, ignorance from the buyer should not be a reason to shame the seller. Someone wanted it bad enough, so they committed to that price point.

I can understand your point. Ignorance of the buyer is plain to see he did not do his homework before bidding. I just see too many sellers out there who think they really have something worth a lot of money & that the buyer is getting such a great deal. These sellers either know better or are not so informed about what they are selling either but they use eBay as a reference to determine an asking price. I saw how the seller of the W&B says "I then lightly honed and finished the edge with a good leather strop, being careful at all times to not alter the geometry of this classic antique instrument", so he knew what he was doing. He said he lightly honed it but I seriously doubt it shaved comfortably meaning it more than likely tugged instead of cut hairs like it should have.
I also saw the seller of the Fredericks used the Lummus article as a selling point. That was why I said shame on these sellers. With Christmas right around the corner, people will do anything to make a fast buck & these sellers just got lucky. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I did such a thing. I have a couple of straights I know for sure would bring some good money but I won't list them because they need some attention.

Steve, im not convinced this buyer is a forum member somewhere. I mean he might be. I don't know but the odds are against it as the people on the forums as members are a very small percentage of the collectors/users on a whole. If you think about how many view or lurk on forums as guests, people who don't have time to be active on a forum, people hat have been around much longer than computers who don't see the need for a computer much less becoming a forum member. I have met many many more people in life that buy, sell, restore, collect, and use straight razors who have never heard of the different forums. I think it's easy to become immersed on a forum and assume everyone that's anyone must be on one too but I haven't experienced that. I could be very wrong as I am assuming too based on my personal experience but I think the odds are that there are many more of "us" out there that don't frequent forums.

I know, for me, if someone were to offer $1000 for a hammer I paid $5 for I wouldn't take it out of principle. Just because someone is willing to pay a certain amount doesn't make it right or unselfish to charge or accept that amount although some people justify it by saying "hey, he agreed to pay it so why not?" But I personally don't "play that way". Of course I may be in the minority......again. Lmao!!

Originally Posted by Steel

... If you think about how many view or lurk on forums as guests...

I noticed this couple days ago. At this moment;
110 members and 1535 guests. Less than ten percent of folks viewing are members. I too lurked before signing up, but having questions to ask kicked me to the members column. Plenty times I see the same questions asked and patiently answered. I'm from the olde days when I rode my bicycle to the Library to request a book so I could return a week later to read a hard copy version of an authors published work. Not these new fangled Google Generation Kids. Laziness personified.

Hey! You! Forum Lurkers! Join up, ask the same questions again! Or use the search box above, and revive a long dead thread. I like Necroposting.

This discussion reminds me of a story from not that many years ago. Bear in mind that I live in a very small area, that is cut off from the mainland by 70 miles of water.
I had an international bulldozer for sale. A guy I have known but not well for many years says what do you want. I said make me a reasonable offer. He said would you take 3X for it. I had to say, good heavens that is way too much money for that machine, 1X will do just fine.
However I see blades selling for crazy money on a somewhat routine basis. It takes two aggressive bidders to make an auction price go high. I agree that it is not likely that they are well informed about razors. That razor does have some serious issues. We the straight shavers are not likely the largest section of razor collectors, we the forum members are likely the smallest section of straight razor buyers. Currently there are 1635 people on the forum but only 115 are members. The ratios are kind of weird.

Well, as for myself, I would never have an opening bid on such items in the condition they were but the sellers got them a sucker. I admit, he should have done some research on the items before bidding so I hope this person learns a lesson from it. I try to welcome new members & the ones just starting out, I do tell them if I don't forget, to be patient, take their time & ask plenty of questions.

Aside from this, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.