Thread: Where to buy

Who are some of the go to people to buy shave ready vintag SRs from? On the bay or online.

PM Sent.

But buying on eBay and wanting shave ready Id say your taking a 15 % chance that its shave ready even if listed that way.

Buying from people on this forum you will get what you ask for

I really love Griffith shave goods. They have a lot of good products there and will send the razors shave ready

Fleabay can be tricky, if you are looking for shave ready. The problem is that only a member of the straight shaving community knows what "shave ready" means, or can determine that it is or can make it shave ready, because they do not shave daily with a straight razor. Never trust someone who does not shave daily with a straight razor, to hone yours or to hone one that you wish to buy. Half of those sellers are women, and nothing wrong with that, but most of them do not shave their faces and those few that have to, usually do not use a straight razor.


april7th1989 is one reliable ebay seller that I know of, currently active on fleabay. I have bought from him. Most of his razors are not shave ready but if he lists it as so, then it is. He is an excellent source of kamisoris, in particular, and often lists NOS Dorko, Bismarck, etc razors. A couple of my pre-Dovo Bismarcks came from him.

Otherwise, you can always ask about a seller, here, or any other straight shaving forum. Most of us know one another at least by reputation.

Unknown sellers are a real crap shoot. BUT, there are a few clues. Look for sellers who mostly list straight razors or shaving gear. If they often list shave ready straight razors, make plenty of sales, and have feedback at least in the high 90's, you might have found a winner. 100% should not be a requirement. One internet clown or know-it-all or just plain unpleasant and not so intelligent buyer can destroy a seller's perfect score instantly, and it takes months for the hit to go away. But if the seller has a history of bad feedback on his shave ready straights and gets reviews complaining about his edges from guys who obviously know what they are talking about, you KNOW his razors are merely "internet shave ready".

Beware excess hyperbole. "RARE!" That's a good one. I traded a 7 day set of Union Spikes back and forth with one of my buyers and I put it together in less than a month, from ebay, and electro etched the week day on the spines, and scored a 7 day set box, also on fleabay and relined it with new velvet. At least two of those Spikes were listed as "RARE". Yeah, caps. When a seller thinks a very common mass produced razor is rare, he or she obviously doesn't know much about razors. Look for words like "handle" and "sharpened" to indicate zero SR knowledge. Ditto, "collectible". Examine pics carefully, too, for dings or chips or pitting at the edge, or what might be cracks. If they don't even talk the talk, no way in hell they can walk the walk, or more to the point, hone the razor.

If you win all of your ebay auctions, that means you are paying more than anyone else would pay! In fact I would say if you win more than 10% of the auctions you bid on, you are probably bidding too high. Always use a sniper, and set it and forget it. It's not a competition!!! There will always be another one out there. Don't get swept away by the bidding madness.

So, overally, ebay leaves much to be desired as a source of shave ready razors. The BST forum here and on other boards is more reliable, but you have to watch them closely or the good deals will get snapped up before you can click your mouse, and sometimes what is left, the seller is just a bit too proud of. Many times, an offer that you can afford to pay, in a PM to the seller, will get favorable negotiations going, so don't let sticker shock keep you from giving it a go.

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

...Look for words like "handle" and "sharpened" to indicate zero SR knowledge. Ditto, "collectible". Examine pics carefully, too, for dings or chips or pitting at the edge, or what might be cracks. If they don't even talk the talk, no way in hell they can walk the walk, or more to the point, hone the razor...

Also learn to look at what the pictures don't show. That will often tell that they don't know about straights. It is a skill that you learn over time. Often they are suble tells like pics of the whole razor but none of tang stamps, etching, blade face, spine, or any pits, spine wear or flaws. That shows they don't understand what a buyer's concerns would be. One really big dead give away is when they show measurements of the length but NOT the width of the blade. Even if they do show measurements of width showing length of blade and especially overall length with scales while open. No one cares about that. What they want to know is blade width. If they knew straight razors they would know that.

Edit: one exception to that ("no one cares about that,") would be in the case of a shorty.