Thread: Avoiding bad buying decisions and wasted money

As a novice straight shaver, making sense of the amount of available information can be a real pain in the head. Add to that an equal amount of opinions and individuals' perspectives and it gets very confusing very fast. I have noticed such confusion and discord in personal perspectives in more than a few beginners threads recently and in the past. Over at Straight Razor Magazine, they have taken notice as well and obviously thought some assistance would come in handy. A really good read, with some sage advice from one of the best independent and unbiased sources on the scene:

Originally Posted by Straight Razor Magazine

Choosing the right equipment for shaving can be a daunting challenge. Even more so when choices are seemingly endless, and if there is a new super tool or method being discovered each year (hint: there isn't). We recently came across an infographic with common biases that negatively affect our decision-making [source], and found it quite useful. We have taken the liberty of providing examples for these 20 cognitive biases - from the world of straight razor shaving in the hope that they will help you make more informed buying decisions, and not waste money. Enjoy!

1. Anchoring bias: Be careful when you research shaving equipment. The internet, including this forum, is full of more or less well hidden sales pitches. Make sure your first piece of information is the "Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving".
   
2. Availability heuristic: Never trust immediate examples. Never. Always do your research first, preferably starting with the most objective source (the Straight Razor Place Wiki), and then more subjective, or biased, sources, like the forum, or other internet sources.
   
3. Bandwagon effect: Just because many people share an opinion does not mean it is correct. Example: Some razors were made for export purposes, and therefore very many still exist in the US. Equally many people therefore believe that they are especially good. That opinion is not shared by the very people who made these razors, and therefore most likely incorrect.
   
4. Blind-spot bias: Especially if you are completely new to wet shaving, make sure you realise how much other people's aesthetics or opinions are influencing your own.
   
5. Choice-supportive bias: Keep in mind that many people who write reviews suffer from this. The vast majority of reviews would sound less enthusiastic if people were willing to admit that they bought an inferior product. But they aren't.
   
6. Clustering illusion: somewhat related to Survivorship bias, in that both relate to objective versus perceived causation. Some external conditions or events are in no way influential on your shave. You could wave a dead chicken over the shave puck each morning and claim that this has a beneficial impact on your shaving process (and if you adhere to SanterÃa, perhaps it does), but the logical and demonstrable causal chain is tough to defend. Considering the mechanism by which an external event or condition affects your shaving process helps avoid the problem of “shave superstitions”.
   
7. Confirmation bias: The problem of seeing what you expect to see. So, you have done your research and have come to the conclusion that you think you know what you want. However, as a beginner in a field where nuances are subtle, and choice is overwhelming, chances are your research results are a bit off. So, research again. And again. Then buy.
   
8. Conservatism bias: If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. For many people, this result is fine. But just because something appears to be a surefire way of doing things, that does not mean that it is. Recent research, or experimentation, may have yielded better results and new, superior methods. As such, make sure you have thoroughly researched both old and new ideas. Metallurgy has improved markedly in the last hundred years. An 1805 razor may be historical, and may shave well, but should not be expected to be superior because of its age. Many students of ancient arts like to believe in “special lost knowledge”, but in reality, automobile leaf springs are typically better steel than 19th century straight razors.
   
9. Information bias: A particularly dangerous problem when forums are your primary source of information. There is, indeed, such a thing as too much information. Keep it simple. Ockham’s razor is a brilliant approach to opinions obtained from forums. The more intricate the methods and tools employed, the more likely it is that someone is making things far more complicated than necessary. Razors are pieces of steel, and they have been dragged across abrasive surfaces for centuries. It is not rocket science.
   
10. Ostrich effect: “LA LA LA I am not listening to you!” A very common problem among people who have a favorite product, a vested interest in a product, or who have a hard time when others do not agree with their evaluation of a product (or method, or idea). We, as humans, like being right. It is hard to set aside one’s own preferences or experiences when others provide information, feedback, or opinions that contradict our own. Strongly related to Overconfidence.
    
11. Outcome bias: Randomly picking a shave product (or combination, or shave method) may result in a superior shave. It is unlikely because not all methods are equally helpful for a given individual’s skill level, skin type, etc. Thus, when someone says “I picked the blue box and it worked out great! I will forever pick blue products because that’s the secret to a great shave”, you should remind them that the color of the box has no bearing on the quality of the product, or that randomly picking a product that works out well for you one time does not make “randomizing your process or product” a superior choice every time you do it.
    
12. Overconfidence: Especially as one gains experience and skill, one can succumb to hubris about others’ skills and abilities compared to one’s own. Again, a very human cognitive bias. Related to the Ostrich effect but rather than shutting out negative information entirely, the person devalues the information from others because of their lack of experience, or perceived inferiority.
    
13. Placebo effect: see also: Advertising. Sometimes the promise of a superior product can convince buyers/users that the product performs better. Sometimes (like Proraso’s menthol, which acts as an anaesthetic) the product deliberately misleads a user. But individual objectivity/suspicion about the true value of a product should provide some defense against the Placebo effect. “blind” studies are useful here too; if the user does not know which product s/he is using, it makes the placebo effect more obvious but also easier to undercut, if there is a true difference between perceived performance evaluations of each product.
    
14. Pro-innovation bias: Do you think six blades in a cartridge gives a better shave than five, four, three, or two? Razor cartridge manufacturers say that they are innovating by adding more blades, but can your face tell a difference? Sometimes innovation isn’t valued (the Tucker automobile, for example), but much of the time, people think new and different must necessarily be better. It does not follow that different is better merely because it is different. (Somewhat the reverse of Conservatism bias)
    
15. Recency bias: Even discounting the actual effect of recency bias, consider this--you can never try a new product with the same conditions as you tried a previous product; you have more experience, a different quality of shave the previous day or days, etc. The number of variables itself is staggering. But overall, you’re a better shaver today than you were the last time you tried a product. New products seem better because they are newer than the products you’ve already tried, full of promise and naïveté about the less-than-perfect aspects of the untried product. But they might be better because you are better, and you should be aware that your improvements might affect your perception of a product quality.
    
16. Salience: Focusing on the most easily recognizable features of a product can distract from its potential shortcomings. When you think about the best shave ever, you might ignore the fact that the specific razor brand or model allegedly provides a daily miracle of hair removal shares most if not all of its features with other, lesser known brands which cost significantly less.
    
17. Selective perception: This is one of the most pervasive cognitive biases when it comes to wet shaving products. You read that product X is fantastic, you buy product X - and you will perceive it to be better than it actually is. Perception can also be influenced by price, making you believe that a product performs better than it actually is because you, or a reviewer, spent a lot of money on it.
    
18. Stereotyping: Products are known to provide symbolic, social meaning about their owners. Social media, including fora, thrive on conformity with actual or perceived social rules, or standards. While buying a product in line with these rules or standards will make on a member of the in-crowd, this does not mean that the product is actually worth having.
    
19. Survivorship bias: Especially relevant to people who believe that shaving was once a paradise of options and uniformly stellar quality. The remaining manufacturers are still in operation because of competition and market contraction, though perhaps the market is growing modestly at the moment. New manufacturers must at least favourably compare to the level of quality existing in the industry. There are out of production soaps that sell for $100 on eBay because of hype. If these products were truly exceptional, they would continue to be manufactured even despite the onrushing tidal wave of Gillette products. One possible exception are the double-edge Gillette “Swede” disposable blades that were removed from the market because they competed with Gillette’s other product lines, but if Grandma’s backyard, black-iron kettle soap was really that good, she would have continued making and selling such a superior product.
    
20. Zero-risk bias: Zero risk means zero progress. Often times we over-value established or venerable products or methods; our interest and pursuit of straight shaving may make us even more susceptible to this particular bias, since straight shaving is so old. The wet shaving scene in general, and its straight razor branch in particular, have seen tremendous progress over the last decade. While this is no invitation to engage in dangerous (physically or commercially) experiments, having a zero-risk bias will likely deprive you of a lot of fun and adventure. Keep an open mind!

Straight Razor Magazine - Avoiding Bad Buying Decisions and Wasted Money

All good points. Also, there are straights that I would shave with and then there are some that I just like and collect. I have been lucky in the last year to have gotten burned about 4 times. Two I was able to return and two I had to eat. I keep one of them next to my computer to remind me of my bad choice.

It reminds me that I have bought a lot of stuff because of hype. I'm not talking strictly shaving either. I'm quite certain there are many fishing lures that are made to catch fishermen not fish. Shaving gear is not much different.

Something I've been troubled with is what I would describe as the the "Youtube phony" phenomena. This phenomena is characterized by Youtubers with some wet shaving skills posting multiple shaving videos monthly reviewing/pushing products. I understand hobbyist posting videos of themselves wet shaving and doing reviews of products they try. There are some, however, that position themselves as an authority basically doing product reviews and technique videos where they don't actually shave, lather, strop,etc. The shame lies in the fact that their created persona and slick editing diverts newcomers away from real subject matter experts.

Leatherstockiings, I have a strong suspicion that the guys over at the Straight Razor Magazine might have written that article with rigged reviews in mind, too. These reviews have become a massive problem. I think that beginners in particular should be made aware of the fact that all that glitters is not gold, and that there are dozens of undercover vendors and their cronies at work in several wet shaving forums, including this one.

I think vendors should be clearly distinguishable (like with the vendor buttons here, although those are a bit problematic, too) from consumers. I also think that fraudsters should be exposed, banned, and their employers be permanently banned along with their products. HTGAM/PPF/PAA come to mind immediately, not least because they sold mislabeled products in addition to shilling. And that is just the beginning. A friend of mine is a highly successful chemist, and I recently gave him 16 "artisan" soaps. He says that none (yes, none - zero, nada, keine) contain the (expensive) essential oils they claim to contain, but that they contain (dirt cheap) fragrance oils instead.

So, beginners should be made aware of that. And I really like the article Pithor quoted in that respect. It can be used to easily, and convincingly, explain a lot of highly praised shaving items and their alleged mythical qualities.

Only, it takes an open mind to really benefit from the article, so it will get a lot of criticism from the guys with the high post counts. And the undercover vendors. And their cronies. But that is as it should be. Many enemies much honour and all that.

Thanks for the article and my heightened awareness as a newbie...

I noticed the article mentioned proraso menthol and was curious if there is a resource that defines ingredients commonly found in cream and shave products?

Looking at the package would be so much better if I knew ingredients I would avoid or ones I wanted. This would surely help my objective analysis....

There is a lot of information about shaving soap ingredients on the interwebs. The bad news is, you will most likely not benefit from it. It takes in-depth knowledge in chemistry to make sense of these ingredients. "Making soap is dead easy", is something you will often hear, but that's only partly true. Yes, making some sort of soap is easy. Getting it right is complex. Not complicated, complex. Which is why so many "artisans" use cheap soap stock from China. That takes a lot of complexity out of the product. Add some cheap fragrance oils, and some magic fairydust (kokum butter, anyone?), and you're good to go. Find some useful idiots to do your mass marketing - instant win. Wait until the big shaving blogs cannot but give these products good reviews (because they rely on the advertising income), and you're in for a beginner's nightmare.

So, ingredients: Forget it. I have friends with degrees in chemistry who also happen to like to play with shaving products. They turn green each time some self appointed expert extols the virtues of oil XYZ or butter 123 without even having actually tried the product.

This used to be a fun place. Now it's full of undercover vendors and their cronies. If you weren't around five or more years ago, you wouldn't even notice. But I do. And I don't like it one bit.

That is a tremendous article which every newcomer to the world of wetshaving should be made to read.

As a relative newbie to the world of DE & SR's, I've probably fallen into one of the "biases". However, having multiple expensive hobbies and being out of the mainstream of the readily available shaving markets, has limited that shaving exposure and bias.

For those that remember Hill Street Blues, the desk Sergeant had a saying after every morning's briefing..."Be Careful Out There!"

Originally Posted by RobinK

So, beginners should be made aware of that. And I really like the article Pithor quoted in that respect. It can be used to easily, and convincingly, explain a lot of highly praised shaving items and their alleged mythical qualities.

Only, it takes an open mind to really benefit from the article, so it will get a lot of criticism from the guys with the high post counts. And the undercover vendors. And their cronies. But that is as it should be. Many enemies much honour and all that.

The problem with sites such as this (and I'm sure all the others have similar rules) is that criticism of vendors is prohibited. Myself and several of the other Western Australian members began a thread in which we critiqued a certain vendor in Perth with whom we had all had bad experiences. The thread was censured by the moderator and I was warned about criticising vendors (we don't do that at SRP). The problem I see with that is that it reduces sites such as this to backslapping, high-fiving forums where we end up repeating the same topics over and over again every six months as a new batch of members comes through asking the same old questions, without allowing us all to pool our experiences and cull the incompetent sellers, thereby benefiting all enthusiasts. Then again, I've always been a cynic. Ok moderators, this is when you send me a PM, or not so PM, saying something like, "You know the rules, if you don't like like 'em..."

This is a very interesting thread that not only relates to wet shaving but every aspect of society itself. We live in a world of consumerism with more disposable income that ever before. We are a marketing dream and ever ready to part with our hard earned cash.

When I first started with a straight razor I never knew about SRP but quickly found it and spent hours pouring over the library. With all the information available I thought what's the point in a forum? All the information I will ever need is there in black and white. After a while I began to love SRP and enjoy evreyones thoughts on this hobby (if it wasn't a hobby we wouldn't be here.) I also learned very quickly that you definitely have to separate the wheat from the chafe. There are members on here who have a lot of experience and I cherish their help and expertise but some I cant understand what on earth they are thinking when they are posting, some of which bears no relevance the question being asked, biased or just nonsensical.
This can have a detrimental effect on beginners success, so like myself I always encourage beginners to fully read the library, digest it, learn the basics, become profficent and go from there.

The acronym YMMV is never a truer wood spoken, whilst some may swere by product x, meathod y or anything z this doesn't always relate to everyone so shouldn't be taken at face value.

This is just my ramblings and should also be taken with a pinch of salt.