Thread: "TRY BEFORE YOU BUY" idea.

The drawback I see would be that such a set would have to be cleaned and honed each time the newbie is finished.

The razor and srop have to endure newbie mistakes every day, which means badly nicked strops, dings against the sink or the fawcet, sloppy stropping ...
And by the time they would start to make progress, it gets sent to another newbie to make the same mistakes all over.

The good thing with paying your own stuff is that it motivates you to keep it clean and to think about it beforehand instead of deciding on a whim.
And if you decide it is not for you, you can sell your stuff here to another newbie.

Okay, since it was asked....the drawbacks. I did this two years ago in December. I offered a complete kit ready to go and had about 8 immediate responses. The first fellow on the list actually got a set offered to him by another SRP member at the same time so the set was passed on to someone else on the list but I don't remember which guy as so many responses came it at once. I e-mailed everyone on the list but no replies. The set was never seen again <g>

I posted followups a few times but the culprit never surfaced and probably was not a repeat user of SRP. I am an optomist though so am glad to send off another strop if someone wants to handle this loaner idea.

I do think caution is needed in setting criteria as to how this is dished out. Free things, even on loan tend to attract the wrong crowd. on last Springs giveaway I had 8 strops to give away. Four of the winners had 5 posts or less and never even came back to claim their prizes. I gave the strop to other newbies over the next weeks.

I knoiw our long term guys would never do this but often events like this are cross promoted on other boards that don't have our family atmosphere.

Well, you asked....

Tony

Originally Posted by Bruno

The razor and srop have to endure newbie mistakes every day, which means badly nicked strops.

I hadn't thought of that, thankfully with due diligence I haven't done that yet *knock wood and sacrifices a cat to the razor gods* but I think if we get enough people on board, each taking responsibility of one full kit if wouldn't be a horrible endurance on anybody... and of course each kit doesn't have to have a 24 hour turnaround, it could be made ready at leisure.

ETA (Edited to add:) you could say that only one rehone or such would be given per kit or some such to make people a bit more careful.

Double edit: *sigh* I'm going to miss my cat.

I think it is a great idea, provided human nature doesn't get the best of it. I know of no way to help guarentee this, aside from a reasonable security deposit which you are already planning on. I would like to add that you should try and get information from some of the vendors here (printed) to include as well, at least those who are helping out with the venture. I hope this idea takes off, and props to you for ponying up for the man-hours required to make this work!

D'oh! I didn't even notice that he mentioned the deposit.

I say no for a few reasons.

1) razors can be easily ruined and who will correct that?
2) when you own the razor you are more inclined to stick with it as you have laid out the money!
3) people like different size razors.
4) health issues, people will not feel comfortable using razors that someone else has just used.

I just may be a cynic, but I think this has the potential to be a powder keg. Imagine that I'm a newbie, ask you for the kit, give you my deposit. I proceed to ruin the strop (and razor), copy the DVD, let the razor rust to hell, and then at the end send it back to you. You see the condition of the razor and strop, and say that you're not refunding his deposit (either at all or in part). That's where the wars start.

Also, the other thing I would caution against is stupid frivolous lawsuits - I get the razor, proceed to give myself such a good cut it requires stiches, and then I go back and sue you for providing me with a dangerous instrument without a thousand-and-three warning labels. I think that while this scenario is unlikely, the potential does exist, and without insurance, it could be a very costly generous act.

The third scenario is that I give you my deposit, you send me the kit, and I claim I never received it...now what? Do I get my money back? Can you prove that I'm lying?

Of course, I'm seeing the downside of things.

Mark

Originally Posted by Milton Man

I just may be a cynic, but I think this has the potential to be a powder keg. Imagine that I'm a newbie, ask you for the kit, give you my deposit. I proceed to ruin the strop (and razor), copy the DVD, let the razor rust to hell, and then at the end send it back to you. You see the condition of the razor and strop, and say that you're not refunding his deposit (either at all or in part). That's where the wars start.

Also, the other thing I would caution against is stupid frivolous lawsuits - I get the razor, proceed to give myself such a good cut it requires stiches, and then I go back and sue you for providing me with a dangerous instrument without a thousand-and-three warning labels. I think that while this scenario is unlikely, the potential does exist, and without insurance, it could be a very costly generous act.

The third scenario is that I give you my deposit, you send me the kit, and I claim I never received it...now what? Do I get my money back? Can you prove that I'm lying?

Of course, I'm seeing the downside of things.

Mark

Playing "Devil's Advocate" helps in preventing situations such as you mentioned from arising.

1. As in software licenses. Use constitutes agreement to terms stated. Pictures of before shipped and when received will document failure to comply.

2. Again, use constitutes agreement that the user assumes all responsibility and releases SRP of all liabilities.

3. Proof of receipt; ship kits with signature required. If for some reason somebody actually didn't receive the kit but somebody signed for it, there is recourse.

If somebody is squeamish about using something somebody else used, well DUH, don't ask for it.

As we all know, the folks on SRP are all class folks and I would hope that we continue be so. I enjoy the camaraderie and the banter. It is just a fun place to hang out.

The soap, cup, brush, AND DVD would be non-refundable purchases. The razor and strop would be the loaned equipment with a deposit of something like 90 bucks or so on just those items..

There's health issues with any razor that are resolved by thoroughly cleaning the set and letting it sit for 10 days before sending it out again. Multiple sets on hand would help provide

I agree it's potentially a lot of work but with a required deposit that fully covers the value of the setand an understanding that if the equipment comes back ruined you don't get your money back, there's incentive to make an effort to care for the items. Plus the deposit and other necessary purchases would make enough of an initial investment that hopefully only sincere individuals would participate.

Nicks and dings I would care for myself As I've done in the past with friends who wanted to try out a razor for a while.

Requiring the DVD purchase would provide a base of knowledge readily available to the borrower before the borrower begins.

There's no way to guarantee returned items in 100% perfect condition, but every ebay razor has been a crap shoot also.

Those were my thoughts on it.

Originally Posted by Flanny

The soap, cup, brush, AND DVD would be non-refundable purchases. The razor and strop would be the loaned equipment with a deposit of something like 90 bucks or so on just those items..

There's health issues with any razor that are resolved by thoroughly cleaning the set and letting it sit for 10 days before sending it out again. Multiple sets on hand would help provide

I agree it's potentially a lot of work but with a required deposit that fully covers the value of the setand an understanding that if the equipment comes back ruined you don't get your money back, there's incentive to make an effort to care for the items. Plus the deposit and other necessary purchases would make enough of an initial investment that hopefully only sincere individuals would participate.

Nicks and dings I would care for myself As I've done in the past with friends who wanted to try out a razor for a while.

Requiring the DVD purchase would provide a base of knowledge readily available to the borrower before the borrower begins.

There's no way to guarantee returned items in 100% perfect condition, but every ebay razor has been a crap shoot also.

Those were my thoughts on it.

I guess it could work. Maybe being a New Yorker has jaded my view but I just see problems out there. I hope I am wrong.