I'm also new, but if you go thoroughly (spelling?) this website you'll see that Gold Dollar razors are not your best bet.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ar-razors.html

Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Two quick advices (again, from someone really new):
- if you're confident your razor is a good one, just not sharp or "shave ready", send it to a real hone master
- if not, then buy a cheap razor on the classifieds of this website (for example) where the seller guaranty you a "shave ready" one. (so you'll have one to shave and to compare to the first one)

christophe