Thread: If you were going to make a production razor...

Keep in mind that you're also competing with the vintage razors on ebay.
You can already get decent razors in the 30 to 40$ price range.
Now you can argue that that is not retail. But keep in mind that anything sold retail has a 50% cut going to the retailer. So your 40$ razor is really a 20$ razor from the manufacturers pov if it is sold retail.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Keep in mind that you're also competing with the vintage razors on ebay.
You can already get decent razors in the 30 to 40$ price range.

Another excellent point. If you start to heavily market the "coolness" aspect, say by marketing heavily in college campuses and by paying to have loved characters in Game of Thrones or the Big Bang Theory or whatever shaving with straights it could backfire on you and become even cooler to have a real "vintage" blade, so your potential customers might flock to eBay or flea markets instead. I know the most "hip" of the hipster students all carry a spork made from a stolen cafeteria spoon with a dremel attached to their keychain and eat with that at the cafeteria, even though there's perfectly good, clean, metal silverware freely available. Then they pull out their expensive MacBook Air or iPhone plus while they eat, apparently not even realizing the huge contradiction/dichotomy... But to them it's all about what's "cool", so if a vintage/flea market straight razor is perceived as cooler than your product then all your marketing dollars will be wasted. Again, if Apple were to make an "iRazor" or "iShave"... But again, then it would be well over the intended price range, I'm sure...

I think in this case even if a lot of people jumped on the vintage items exclusively, it's still the case of "a rising tide raises all boats". If the interest is there it can't help but benefit all aspects of the hobby.

Back on topic ... So we have an example of a company already offering something similar (the PRC Sprite). Based off of the discussion so far I think a $100 - 140 (yes, i raised the price a touch) razor is doable and could sustain a business if a large enough quantity was produced/sold. I think there already is a market for a quality basic straight as every year I see posts from people looking to buy a razor but finding stores sold put.

Originally Posted by MattCB

I think in this case even if a lot of people jumped on the vintage items exclusively, it's still the case of "a rising tide raises all boats". If the interest is there it can't help but benefit all aspects of the hobby.

Back on topic ... So we have an example of a company already offering something similar (the PRC Sprite). Based off of the discussion so far I think a $100 - 140 (yes, i raised the price a touch) razor is doable and could sustain a business if a large enough quantity was produced/sold. I think there already is a market for a quality basic straight as every year I see posts from people looking to buy a razor but finding stores sold put.

I still think it's would be very tough for a anyone (short of a the German makers that has equipment on hand) to make a solid business on supplying only $100-140 razors unless your selling something really basic.
Just looking at the #'s
Lets just say.. the average sale is $125. If you could sale 1000 a year (20 a week).
$125,000 for the year. After tax, insurance, material and the other 100 thing you don't think about... you may be above the poverty line.
I'll be the first to say, if your not Dovo, TI or one of the other EU companies with the equipment, a 1000 razor's is ALOT
If I thought you could seriously make a run at it will $125 razors, I would do it. But, my experience says the # don't work.

True, but sourcing a current manufacturer with the mold would avoid this cost altogether. I had a manager that works in the plastic injection industry and a quick quote for a plas-inj mold is $500k to $1mil. Plus trouble shooting the heating/cooling of the plastic entering said mold. It is a simple design, so it shouldn't need to much trouble shooting.

- Take a look at this injection molding estimate calculator Injection Molding Rectangle with Raised Ends - Small Free Online Cost Estimate I picked a simple part similar (roughly) in size and complexity and ran through the calculator. I upped the finish factor and tolerances and picked an expensive plastic to use. Total cost for 20,000 pieces (10k sets of scales assuming both sides of scales are mirror images) is quoted at 22.5K, with 14K of that being the mold being created. The mold can be reused many more times. The more complex the part, the more expensive obviously.

Check out this as well, lots of options: http://www.wired.com/2013/01/protomold/

Why not a frameback? cut a blank with a good geometry, then attach a frame. The grinding would be minimal or no existant, decreasing cost. you'll be using less steel, again cost reduction. why not just order blanks from a solingen forge? you'll get a blank that needs minimal grinding. As for scales maybe something mild injected or 3d printed.

Originally Posted by MileMarker60

I still think it's would be very tough for a anyone (short of a the German makers that has equipment on hand) to make a solid business on supplying only $100-140 razors unless your selling something really basic.
Just looking at the #'s
Lets just say.. the average sale is $125. If you could sale 1000 a year (20 a week).
$125,000 for the year. After tax, insurance, material and the other 100 thing you don't think about... you may be above the poverty line.
I'll be the first to say, if your not Dovo, TI or one of the other EU companies with the equipment, a 1000 razor's is ALOT
If I thought you could seriously make a run at it will $125 razors, I would do it. But, my experience says the # don't work.

I was mentally basing this on higher numbers per month. For a true production operation I would expect to get at least 400 razors made per month Based on 20 work days a month that would be 20 razors a day. If you don't scale up production with the lower price point I don't think you can make it work.

Napkin math (with some spreadsheet help)




This is really rough and off the top of my head. I have no doubt there are expenses I couldn't even imagine (insurance, payroll taxes, advertising..). That being said, it looks possible to have enough to pay 2, maybe three people with these numbers.

Originally Posted by rocarule

Why not a frameback? cut a blank with a good geometry, then attach a frame. The grinding would be minimal or no existant, decreasing cost. you'll be using less steel, again cost reduction. why not just order blanks from a solingen forge? you'll get a blank that needs minimal grinding. As for scales maybe something mild injected or 3d printed.

A frameback would solve a lot of the problems! Now we are talking! You could even source out the frame and blade separately and assemble in house for final fit and finish. I like this idea, it has lots of possibilities. If you were brave you could move into the removable blade types down the road as well. Not to mention doing any kind of etching on a flat piece of steel and THEN inserting it into the frame would simplify the process quite a bit.

Great suggestion!

Originally Posted by MileMarker60

I still think it's would be very tough for a anyone (short of a the German makers that has equipment on hand) to make a solid business on supplying only $100-140 razors unless your selling something really basic.

Even if this was feasible, I still think the initial investment in equipment, material, and training would make this a pipe dream for most anyone. You would need some solid backing/investments or a pre-existing setup.

Originally Posted by MattCB

I was mentally basing this on higher numbers per month. For a true production operation I would expect to get at least 400 razors made per month Based on 20 work days a month that would be 20 razors a day. If you don't scale up production with the lower price point I don't think you can make it work.

Napkin math (with some spreadsheet help)




This is really rough and off the top of my head. I have no doubt there are expenses I couldn't even imagine (insurance, payroll taxes, advertising..). That being said, it looks possible to have enough to pay 2, maybe three people with these numbers.

2 people pushing out 20 finished razor a day seems really high. Even harder to imagine if they have no experience.