Thread: eBay 101

Please don't say this one is bad, because I just won the auction like 2 days ago...lmao.

Anyway, this will be a little pic-heavy since the guy selling it had like 10 or more but I want you guys to see all of them I can show to see how I did. Here goes:

Originally Posted by jdoc

Ok i saw this on ebay and had to post it. How can someone be asking that much for a cracked razor and to say it is a mirror polish, give me a break. I hope there is not some poor new guy that buys this and finds out the hard way! You can see the cracks in the blade and the buyer has the gal to say they are no big deal!

Wade Butcher for Barbers Use Straight Razor Shave Ready Clean Must See | eBay

I am surprised he is asking so much for it, with 2 cracks. If you're careful cracks are ok for shaving though (I have one or two that I use). And if he tried to hide them that would be bad, but he says flat out that they're there.

Aside from the cracks, it's odd to see an old chopper with a straight edge. It looks breadknifed.

So I'm guessing I did good on mine? I was expecting bad news lol.

Tantric, looks ok to me. Should hone up fine. Let us know how she shaves.

Originally Posted by MattCB

Tantric, looks ok to me. Should hone up fine. Let us know how she shaves.

Here's what I copied from the auction:

Please note, all of our SHAVE READY razors have been painstakingly HONED BY HAND! We hand hone all our razors on the FINEST hones and sharpening stones available. Depending on the razor we will use a variety of stones some of which include the legendary Belgian Coticule Hone. The Coticule has been known and used since Roman times. It is a rare stone that was only found in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. This is almost a "magic" stone as, with correct use, it can sharpen and polish an edge. We also use ESCHER hones. These are hones of the Thuringian type, found in Germany and are VERY rare and give a superior polished edge. All our razors will be delivered to you in 100% SHAVE READY condition. This means all you do is lather up your face and use the razor!

I guess I'll see how good their "shave ready" claim is. I mean, it is a Heljestrand, so if they did it right...it should be excellent. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Just be careful if you polish it. Too much pressure on that blade and you will break it. Don't lay it down and push on the blade too much is what I am saying. Hope it shaves great for you :<0)

Originally Posted by 10Pups

Just be careful if you polish it. Too much pressure on that blade and you will break it. Don't lay it down and push on the blade too much is what I am saying. Hope it shaves great for you :<0)

Ok, so be gentle with it...I'll have to remember that. It looks nice, there were quite a lot of bids on it, I scooped it up at the last minute.

Originally Posted by Tantrix

Here's what I copied from the auction:




I guess I'll see how good their "shave ready" claim is. I mean, it is a Heljestrand, so if they did it right...it should be excellent. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Update:

Looks like they are legit. I got the Heljestrand in today. It is exactly as described, and extremely sharp...definitely "shave-ready". I don't care what hones they claim to use, sharpness is not a concern if you order from these people. I am a satisfied customer.

Here's another example of heat damage that's not visible until one gets the blade and can look at it sunlight. Of course the photos in the auction did not show anything like this so the buyer has no idea what is there until he ca see it in sunlight. The seller doesn't SEEM to be familiar with razors but who knows.

I picked up what seemed to be a nice C-Mon that I received last night. Initially it appeared pretty good and I looked at it with an eye to what I needed to do to get it back to original condition. The pictures in the auction seemed to match what was in my hand so I left positive feedback. This morning as I prepared to head out to my shop and give it a quick hone, I noticed in the sunlight that it had very obvious rainbows. Uh oh.. While not obvious in artificial light, in sunlight I can see rainbow coloring from purple to straw on both sides of the bevel and on one side it extends up to the spine. Bummer!!!!

Looks to me like someone went to town with a grinder/buffer using cotton or sisal and kept the blade there for a loooong time trying to remove something. There's no recent indication of any grinding so I'm thinking it was an overzealous buffer.

So this is a $50 letter opener if the seller refuses to refund. Just a heads up for those using eBay that even if the pictures don't show heat damage, look at the blade in sunlight to check for it before leaving positive feedback. In this case I wish I'd asked the seller directly if there was any hint of heat damage or "rainbow coloring". I will always ask if there is a visible crack in the blade if the pix are blurry or dim but rarely think to ask about heat damage.


Here you can see the colors at the top of the bevel - not in the auction pix.



And the other side - also no hint in the auction pix.