I got one of those Col Ichabod Conk razors by Dovo my first time off of Amazon too. Surprisingly mine was in fact shave ready. Not that I would have known the difference at the time. A couple of weeks later I bought one from another site that I know hones their razors and the two were comparable in sharpness. Its always good to ensure your first razor is shave ready. You need a point of reference to judge all other razors by. Send it out, start out fresh, and if you are still having problems you will know its technique. I know it sucks to wait but well worth it