Thread: Cost vs. Quality

Originally Posted by gugi

as far as the entry level dovos i'd rather have a vintage one. lynn's honing is of course great, but it's much better on a great razor.

I beg to differ. I found them to be excellent shavers (I like hollow blades with a hefty ridge). Personally, I believe them to be among the best value for money as far as new razors are concerned.

And yes, their scales are not the prettiest in the world.

Originally Posted by gugi

i'm not so sure about this, i hope it's not true, since it translates to significant overhead.


actually there are some excellent razors which have not sold because people just aren't paying attention. as far as the entry level dovos i'd rather have a vintage one. lynn's honing is of course great, but it's much better on a great razor.

I respectfully disagree. I've purchased from just about every vendor here in the US, Vintage, Classic, SRD, Bill Ellis, Philadelph, Bob Keyes to name a few. Every one want's YOU to be happy. They offer returns provided the item is in the same condition, which usually means, "No Honing".....You can't buy one, practice on it, and send it back...

P.S. That Wapi is in Israel, Our new friend is in the States...That's another consideration. Our members are worldwide, You must consider your shipping costs.

Gugi, Maybe you'd rather have a Vintage blade, but for a new guy, A new Dovo is nice razor. They're great shavers, True, they'r not Vintage, but for a new guy, At least he's getting something new, nicely honed, with no issues. I'm sure if they weren't any good Lynn and Don wouldn't sell them. Other than the scales, What is wrong with the 74.00 Dovo's on SRD?
As far as returns go, I don't know about Europe, but vendors in the States, take returns from guys in the states. I know this first hand. Maybe when they ship to Europe, the cost is too great. This makes sense to me.

A razor from SRD is 100% safe IMHO. I bet Lynn will even fix it for you if you mess it up honing it. He's also very nice and answers his emails. Big thumbsup for SRD and Lynn. You can shop there with no worries.

As a new guy I was in the market for a vintage razor for the cost effectiveness. I know most guys in here will say it won't happen, but let's say you just can't get into straight shaving? Worst case is you spent $40 on a Wapi or Geneva and you can probably just re-list it for the same price. It beats dropping 120 bucks on a top shelf razor and having to be worried about turning that around.

I like the idea of shaving with classics, even though I haven't done it yet. Stay tuned for how that works out...

Straight razors are not the cheapest way to shave in the initial stages. Strops, hones, soaps, and other things add up in cost. THe good news is that a good razor will hold its value. A vintage razor that is well restored and honed will shave as good or better than anything you can buy new. This is the main reason I prefer English made blades over Solingen made blades. The key is what fits you. If you want something that you can shave with for generations and will be more valuable in years to come, then go vintage from one of the restorers here on SRP. If you want something new that you will be the only one to use, then by from Straight Razor Designs. Some people swear by Dovo, Double Duck, Dorko and many other Solingen blades and many of these can be purchased new. You can even go to your local Art of Shaving store(if you have that) and purchase a Theirs- Issard that they will tell you is shave ready when it is not. Buy one shave ready form someone knowing what that means. For me is was the basic carbon 5/8 Dovo from Classic Shaving pre-honed. Just don't get hung up on one brand or age, a good vintage blade will shave equally with any new, it all depends on the honer.
Good Luck!

Originally Posted by zib

P.S. That Wapi is in Israel, Our new friend is in the States...That's another consideration. Our members are worldwide, You must consider your shipping costs.

That hadn't passed me by. However, the razor that came to me from the states cost about $4 to ship - they're not exactly heavy. I actually think that $40 is maybe a little steep for a S/H wapi - it's perhaps not a great deal - but it's not a lot of money either.

The point was that there are razors on the classifieds that are cheap to buy.

Cla???? What kind of razor are you looking for ???? and what kind of price range are you willing to pay????

These are the only two questions you need to answer to yourself...
Once you have that nailed down then go shop....

As to the title of your thread, heck cost and quality don't even go hand in hand on new razors, look at the TI's for example cost a ton and still have QC issues... I would love to own a TI but I know I will get the warped one of the bunch....

Just make sure regardless of where you get it that it is shave ready.....

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

As a new guy I was in the market for a vintage razor for the cost effectiveness. I know most guys in here will say it won't happen, but let's say you just can't get into straight shaving? Worst case is you spent $40 on a Wapi or Geneva and you can probably just re-list it for the same price. It beats dropping 120 bucks on a top shelf razor and having to be worried about turning that around.

I like the idea of shaving with classics, even though I haven't done it yet. Stay tuned for how that works out...

A top shelf razor my friend goes for well over 1000.00, Spending 120 for a razor is modest....
In any case, I agree with the fact that you can turn around and sell it on the classifieds. A Zowada, or Top Shelf Livi and the like, you may not get the 1200.00 you spent on it.

Ok you caught me in all my noobish glory... but spending that kind of money on a razor is wild. I did see that "damascus" blade on the classifieds going for a cool grand... I guess I just misused the term "top shelf".

Originally Posted by zib

A top shelf razor my friend goes for well over 1000.00, Spending 120 for a razor is modest....
In any case, I agree with the fact that you can turn around and sell it on the classifieds. A Zowada, or Top Shelf Livi and the like, you may not get the 1200.00 you spent on it.

WHAT !!!!!