Thread: What would you have paid, if anything?

I was bidding on an eBay item, pictures to follow, and my bid did not even get noticed by eBay. Maybe it was because my bid was in the last 3 seconds and my internet connection wasn't up to snuff!

Here's my dilemma: I have read and read post after post regarding how to spot good and bad purchases online. I think I am getting better but how do I know if there is no one to point out my errors? I thought these were worth purchasing for a lot more than the price at which they sold. They winning bid was $66.00 plus $5.35 for shipping. I did see uneven honing wear, pitting on some blades and damage to the scales. But over all, I thought the set could have been restored and given a new lease on life.

What are your thoughts and comments? I am not looking for any valuation, just you input on what you see as the good and bad of these razors.

Wickstrom "Wick's Special"

Kobar in bone scales

F W Engels "Perfection"

Providence Razor Co "Guaranteed"

H Boker & Co "Clean Shaver"

And the last razor was:

Joseph Rodgers & Sons “Majesties”

Well since we don't do "Valuations" on SRP you make this a little tuff, so I will try and approach this in a different way

The Rodgers looks to be a nice razor, once you put scales on it..

The rest of the razors have wear issues, that relegate them to "Shaver" status..

I share Glen's opinion here, the olny one I could have considered to place a bid on is the Rodgers, the other ones are too worn for my interest.

+1 on the Rodgers......the others might hone up to be great razors but they are past their prime. Along the line of razors are worth what you are willing to pay for them, I have purchased more than one which would be considered worn out just cause I like em. Most of them can be made to shave just fine but you gotta be careful of those sellers who decide to "restore" junk and resell it as often time they burn up the razor while buffing it and that doesn't always show so well in photos.
Our members offer some truly great values in the classifieds. Compared to most of the Ebay variety they are like new. There is more than one vendor here on SRP who will sell you very well done restorations far below what the Ebay crowd offers for the most part.

Glen: I had the same concern you did with the way I originally posted this message, ie: asking what someone would have paid! I had changed the wording and post because I really wanted input, not valuations. I am surprised the old wording is still showing up since the changes were made prior to your post. The new wording is: "What do you think of these razors? Good? Bad?

As to both of the above comments, I am assuming you are speaking of spine wear when you say they razors have wear issues. Is that correct? Again, I am trying to train my eyes and mind to be more discerning in looking at razor pictures.

Thank you and Zephyr for taking time to give input.

Originally Posted by BRGriff

I am trying to train my eyes and mind to be more discerning in looking at razor pictures.

.

If you look at the shoulder of a razor and find the deepest area of the arc from the grinder this locates the center of most blades that weren't double ground. From judging where that center is in relation to the edge you can judge how much razor is missing. If there is a stabilizer it is easier to see how far up into the blade previous honing has gone.

When the toe of the razor has developed a curved edge it is often but not always echoed in the spine wear and it will be a challenge to hone. The Providence razor looks to have a slight frown again a challenge to correct and will cost a lot of steel.

Originally Posted by BRGriff

Glen: I had the same concern you did with the way I originally posted this message, ie: asking what someone would have paid! I had changed the wording and post because I really wanted input, not valuations. I am surprised the old wording is still showing up since the changes were made prior to your post. The new wording is: "What do you think of these razors? Good? Bad?

As to both of the above comments, I am assuming you are speaking of spine wear when you say they razors have wear issues. Is that correct? Again, I am trying to train my eyes and mind to be more discerning in looking at razor pictures.

Thank you and Zephyr for taking time to give input.

As Jaswab already pointed out look to the spine and the edge to have matching wear and profile patterns

I answered very carefully above , the Rodgers could be a true beauty when finished, that however doesn't mean some of the others won't shave circles around it though..

This is while "Value" is so subjective, as shavers those razors may be excellent, but because of the wear they will never be lookers, and they might require some honing gymnastics to get them shaving properly... You are going to have to put in the work to find out


Details:

Boker; look at the heel see the hook developing??? look at the spine above the Sha in Shaver see the odd wear???

Povidence: Look at the back side spine above the heel for 1 inch that is very heavy wear right in that spot also the edge is quite worn you can tell from the front side and that the edge is into the etch

Engels; Heavy toe and heel wear I bet this shaves though

Kobar; This razor looks to be well used which might mean it will be a great shaver

Wick's; Second best razor of the group next to the Rodgers, the wear looks fine, I am wondering why it is high in the heel. that could be a high shoulder ??? you won't know until you hone it


I think that is the info you are asking for???

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Well since we don't do "Valuations" on SRP you make this a little tuff, so I will try and approach this in a different way

The Rodgers looks to be a nice razor, once you put scales on it..

The rest of the razors have wear issues, that relegate them to "Shaver" status..

What Glen already said.
The JR has a very interesting spine design and looks like it would clean up nicely. For that I would have paid good money if I was looking for something like that. The rest are nothing special. Just good shavers that I'd sell off for a couple tens of dollars a piece if they were part of a lot.

Thank you one and all for your comments. Those are exactly the kinds of remarks I was looking for!!! Reading the posts and then going to the razor mentioned I was truly able to see the defects you pointed out. I now have a far better understanding and keener eye for what to look for when viewing images of razors. Value of razors? Unknown. Value of your information? Priceless!!! Thank you so very much. I keep learning something new here daily.

Randy (yes - another one)