Thread: I want Cheap

Every time I see this phrase.it drives me nutz.
Granted,we have many young members with limited incomes,Others just want to dabble in the art to see if it works for them.
You can find a very nice (inexpensive) Shave ready razor in the SRP classifieds.
you can make or buy an inexpensive strop that will serve you well.
You want to buy Hones before you even learn how to shave?? knock yourself out,your making a major mistake.
But understand newbs,you are buying tools that can last you a lifetime,buy quality when starting out and never look back.
You can always sell the stuff down the road and recoup most of what you paid for

I guess like anyone else out there most people are looking for a good deal. BUT you also get what you pay for. Inexperience is such a factor. I haven't been straight razor shaving for a year yet. I love everything about straight razor shaving. When I bought my first hones I figured it would be easy to hone a razor. Boy was I wrong. A lot of time, trial and error, and money was spent. I've learned much and many lessons along my journey. Took my lumps and also got great advice and help from guys on here. I still have a long ways to go. I am having fun with shaving and learning to hone and even lightly restoring my own vintage razors.

I did learn how to shave first.....lol

And yes I do agree that phrase "I want cheap" can drive a person batty hearing it over and over.

I agree with ya 100%.

Buy once cry once. My dad makes fun of me for buying the best I can afford, I make fun of him for buying cheap crap and eventually spending more than my one time investment.

I'm glad I found srd and read about "shave ready" and what that really means. I'm also very fortunate to have stumbled upon srp, as all the collective experience has saved me much blood and tears and has enhanced and accelerated my shaving experience more than I know.

Listen to the seasoned vets when u ask a question, they have made all the mistakes and share their knowledge so you don't have to.

Here here, well said Bill
Quality costs and it lasts

Learn from others mistakes,
life's to short to make them all yourself.

Not cheap, nor inexpensive to start out with a straight razor. It's hard to see a "Life time of use" in a throw away world today. Could be where most of this attitude comes from with a Newb.

The trouble with the word "cheap" in describing something is that it can mean "inexpensive" or "poor" quality and sometimes both. There are a good many shave products that are both inexpensive and are of good quality. The trick is to know which they are.

Oth you do not always get what you pay for either.

I fully agree that newbs should be looking for quality products at a reasonable price.

Bob

The biggest investment I made early on was time. Time to read, and research here on SRP, YouTube, and other sources. Looking for consensus and common themes will help avoid costly mistakes. Some people insist on learning to hone first. Common advise though recommends learning to shave and therefore learning to enjoy the experience.

Some folks already have it all figured out from the beginning...

See I think theres a lack of understanding between the differences of cheap and inexpensive. Nobody actually wants junky equipment but they either can't afford to spend the money on a nice quality razor or they honestly don't know the difference.

When I first started I had walked into one of those Art of Shaving stores. I had no idea what I was doing nor did I go in there with the intent of buying anything, especially a straight razor. I ended up buying a dovo shavette for about 20 dollars more than could have spent on the bay. It was an impulse buy so no time for research and price comparison until I had already purchased the shavette. I learned a lesson there.

After I felt I outgrew the shavette. I went on to the bay where I had seen the same shavette for 20 dollars less because I figured they had the best prices compared to the Art of Shaving. Also I didn't know of any of the vendors that I now know of and I wasn't a member here yet either. I looked at razors and saw all kinds that looked really nice and some that looked atrocious. I couldn't afford to drop 200 on a razor at the time as I had just gotten out of the military and was in the process of looking for a job. So I bought a 6 dollar "Gold Medal" razor. When it finally came to my house I realized that it was garbage. This was also around the time that I had started lurking in the recesses of SRP, not a member yet just a peeping tom looking at your guys' secrets. I learned a lesson here.

I saw that most of the cheapo razors were garbage and you had to get a nice new razor from DOVO or TI or what have you. So I went and browsed all the razors that vendors had and everyone seemed out of stock of stuff. I found one that I really liked a lot. It was a DOVO pearlex. A razor that is about 150-175. Yeah I saw the Best Qualitys', but I learned a lesson beforehand that the cheaper that crappier, so I figured that the cheaper "Best Quality" was anything but. So I dropped 175 on that first DOVO and it came shave ready. I dropped 175 because that vendor was the only one that had it in stock. It came shave ready and all was bliss, until I started buying razor off the bay that were perfectly fine for 20 and 30 dollars and all they needed was a honing.

I regret everyday buying that 175 dollar dovo because I could have bought so many more vintage razors of better quality instead.

Well I know that was long but thats my personal lesson on cheap. DO RESEARCH FIRST

A friend of mine at work always says "Buy cheap, buy twice" and I think he's right.

You should always buy the best you can afford and look after it. Hopefully that way your investment will last a lifetime, or at least a good chunk of it!

I agree bill, I also agree with Dave that some people already know everything and we are merely being argumentative in trying to steer them down the right path.
I also agree with Bob that there is nothing wrong with inexpensive products that work well, it's just a case of knowing what's what.