Thread: $$ Cost of Startup $$

My start up expenses were:

1. No name $13 Ebay razor - was pitted and is now a practice razor
2. Two vintage razors on Ebay $15 - one is a Shumate and the other is a Wade&Butcher. These two are what I use regularly with the WB being my daily razor. I have been at it for about 6 months now.
3. 1k/6k King stone - $22
4. CrO stick - $9
5. Fake leather 3" wide strap from Goodwill - $2.50
6. Mothers metal polish - $5.

I find that the metal polish works better than CrO and that is what I use regularly. My "wasted" money was on the no-name razor and on the CrO stick. So if you are careful, you can get yourself a starter kit for less than $50. BTW, I use Edge goo in a can since I had a 4-pack from when used cartridge razors and no brush to put the lather on. It works well enough for me.

I started approximately a month ago and I'm in for about 2 to 3k usd I think. But this includes something I ordered but have not received yet.

And over against all of these wide-ranging startup investments, bear in mind that a pack of Gillette disposable blades runs, what, 8 bucks or so at least? And that's 8 bucks that you shell out over and over again (and send to the landfill over and over again, if that's an issue for you as it is for me). If you manage not to succumb to the various Acquisition Disorders (which is looking like a *big* "if") , I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up saving money in the long run.

Originally Posted by rastewart

And over against all of these wide-ranging startup investments, bear in mind that a pack of Gillette disposable blades runs, what, 8 bucks or so at least? And that's 8 bucks that you shell out over and over again (and send to the landfill over and over again, if that's an issue for you as it is for me). If you manage not to succumb to the various Acquisition Disorders (which is looking like a *big* "if") , I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up saving money in the long run.

And a Feather AC cost $80, with no need for a strop or hone. Blades run about $25 a year. If there's straight shavers who don't keep accumulating blades/strops/hones, I don't thin I've met them. You don't get into this thing to save money.

My start up costs were $44 total.

$32 for the razor bought here from Dr. Fred

$10 for mug and boar hair brush from wall mart

$2 for styptic pencil

and I just bought a Tony Miller Strop for $35 shipped, but I didn't really need it(check out my thread in Strops forum on my impulse buy )

who knows eight years later and I am still buying

about $200 without products (eg shaving cream etc), if you count products probably another 100 on top of that.

Realistically I could have gotten away with much less than I did.

Well scratch that initial post. I just bought another razor, another $50 gone

I spent $199 US for a razor, a bunch of soap, strop and Norton stone. (no brush )

The razor wasn't very sharp and I haven't been able to get it as sharp as I want yet though, so I've bought two more razors ($65) promised to be sharp and am waiting for them to arrive in the mail. What's nice about this forum though is that I am confident I can sell whichever two razors I like the least and remain under $200 spent.

Oh and not to discourage you or anything, but I'm still having to finish up my straight shaves with my old Mach II blades. Is it lack of blade sharpness, shaving technique, proper soap and/or application, or a combination of these things, etc etc? So I know the original post was "Cost of Startup" but I spent $200 just trying to startup as I am still battling for a decent shave over my whole face

My biggest expense was my actual 1st razor. Purchased from a member here (Mike_Ratliff) and is a superb Drees.

I think my initial outlay was about $200 total, including:

Razor (from here)
Vulfix Super Badger brush and stand
Strop
Styptic pencil
Soap
Lynn's DVD (an absolute MUST if just starting)

Most of what I started with was a shot in the dark from classicshaving.com. Not a bad way to go, but it was hard since I had nothing to base a decision on.

Having to do it all over again, I would again buy from a trusted source here for the razor. If Topher is still making kits, that is the biggest no-brainer since breating air. If not, Tony Miller and Jim have good kits and if you ask around, you can get started cheap. I spent more than I intended, but it was less than I would have spent on a replacement Braun electric (which I was looking at).

I decided later what my preferences were and I will be up-grading my strop and such. I'm glad I went with an inexpensive strop (Illinois in my case) since I nicked it up learning. I have spent some on various stuff, including a razor that my wife wants to kill me for. I costs more than my entire start-up, but it is something I want and will use for a very long time. That is one aspect that can't be overlooked; for many some of the purchases are emotional! That's not a bad thing mind you since the items you choose are a reflection of your personality in a lot of cases. VERY few folks will ever see any of my razors, but I will so I am building a collection of what I like since I will use them each day!

v/r

Allen