Hello, I took a gamble with my first razor. I bought it on ebay. The purchase was actually a set. The set included a DOVO Bismarck 6/8 with a bone handle, a Dovo XL strop, and a Norton 4/8K water stone. I paid 200 (expecting everything to be in mint condition) Everything looks brand new, and probably is, but there is one little problem....

The add said the the razor and strop had been used once, and the hone had never been used. This all looks true and the razor has clearly never been honed (it is as dull as the day it left the factory). But the razor has some visible surface rust on the tang (near the pin), and very slight pitting on the blade's surface.

This is what I guess happened; the guy bought the razor, tried to shave with a never honed blade, got frustrated, stored it away with a bit of moisture on it, the blade sat there for a few months and developed some surface rust. So this is basically a brand new blade that had been allowed to deteriorate due to poor care.

My questions are: Is a little bit of pitting a big deal? Will this likely spread all over and further deteriorate the blade? Should I just try to get my money back? Is it worth just shaving with it, and making sure it doesnt spread, and getting it refinished down the road? Basically, I have no idea how common this is, or how big of a deal this should be to me. (keeping in mind the price I paid for it)

Any replies would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Tristan