You need to do what is most comfortable for you. And it really depends on how you are approaching SRs. If you only want to have 3-5 new SRs and use them in a rotation, then sending them out to be honed may be the best approach. For me, I like to use vintage razors that I find in the wild. I have about 25 SRs and I decide to invest in a set of stones and do my own sharpening. It didn't make sense to send 25 SRs out to be sharpened. Honing is very easy -- there are so many great resources on the web.