Buyers of Un-sharp razors

I visited a local mens shop here in Baltimore that sells Trumpers items along with a few Dovo razors. They don't stock strops (yet<g>) nor know anything about the razors they sell. While there a previous staright razor customer of their walked in and told me about the worst shave of his life with a dull razor he bought there.
It made me think.........how many newbies buy razors from the local knife shop, internets knife stores etc... only to find they are not shave ready when they arrive.

There must be dozens of places to buy razors now, knife stores, Nordstroms, fancy shave emporiums, etc..... but very few other than Shaving Shop, Classic Shaving and myself offer to sharpen them. Most of those other retailers don't even sell tools to get them sharp if the buyer needed or even knew he needed them. I wonder if these retailers even give it a second thought.

I know I agonize over every one I sell, wondering if it will be sharp enough for the buyer or will I leave him disapointed. I know Lynn takes the same care and pains as well with those he sharpens for Classic.

I am sure there are plenty of newbies out there that give it one try and never turn to it again.

Tony

When I bought my Paki, I had the same experience, since I didn't know jack squat. 4 scars later, I decided to find out what I was doing wrong and came across this place. The people here have been and still are phenomenal. However, you raise a great point Tony. Retailers should take more responsibility when selling SRs and inform themselves and the customer about the product.

Tony, I think that Nordrstroms quit selling straights for that very reason. In addition, aside from the Nortons and the very pricey Belgians, I've only seen razor hones for sale in a catalog that my barber showed me. I haven't heard anything good about the Colonel Conk hones, so I ruled those out.
-Fred

Fred,
Good point. In many cases there are not hones, etc.. readily available.

The whole market is akin to selling a guy a new car but telling him he will need to do engine work to actually get it to work.....and, oh, by the way, they don't sell wrenches to fit it either <g>

Tony

Tony, What shop?

I bought my first razor and strop from Crabtree & Evelyn (White Marsh). Of course, I thought a brand new razor was as sharp as it was ever going to be. This was in the dark ages before the internet.

My second razor, a Henkels Friodur, I purchased from Chesapeake Knife & Tool (Harbor Place). Since it cost three times more than the C&E it must be three times sharper, right?

Oh, those were bleak days indeed. Of course, no one working retail knew a thing about the products they sold. It is sad that our whole economy is based on this botched paradigm.

Luckily I was too stupid to give up. Somehow I improvised my own pasted strop (seemed like a good idea) and did manage to get some decent shaves after awhile.

I learned more in ten minutes at this site than I did in nearly twenty years of messing about on my own.

regards &C

LG Roy

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Originally Posted by cudahogs

. I haven't heard anything good about the Colonel Conk hones, so I ruled those out.
-Fred

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The first razor I bought was from a shop in a mall. amd I realized it wasn't sharp enough either, but I did by a Col. Conk hone. Your right they're not vary good, but it was better then nothing. Then I found the SRP and found enlightenment.:)

I almost had the same experience as Firestart. Not knowing squat a bought one of those $5 Zeepk or whatever the heck they are called from E-bay. I got a nice lather going and made my first swipe. Nothing, not 1 flippin' hair came off! I'm not kidding when I say I could have cut a square out of a Mountain Dew can, mounted it on a popsicle stick and got a better shave! I know I could at least scrape off a few hairs with the can.

That was almost my last try with a straight. I knew it had to be better, so I scoped out E-bay again. I managed to get a Dubl Duck special #1 very cheap.
This time, out of pure luck, it shaved pretty well, not great, but OK.

It wasn't until I got a razor from Bob Keyes that I knew what it felt like to shave with a well honed blade. It was that razor from Bob that finally allowed me to see the light.

A very expensive TI from classicshaving was terrible when it arrived. I bought one from one of the Big Knife shops that claimed to be shave ready. It was terrible also. I was doing excellent beard prep so I know that was not it. I imagine some guys never go back after shaving with one that is not shave ready when it arrives.

I wish I would have found this site before I purchased those first razors, it sure would have saved me alot of trouble. Retailers should know a little about what they sell and stop claiming the razors are ready when they come out of the box. That piece of junk Zeepk wouldn't even cut the box it arrived in. How can that even be called a Razor?

Chuck

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Originally Posted by Library Guy

Tony, What shop?

I bought my first razor and strop from Crabtree & Evelyn (White Marsh).
regards &C

LG Roy

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Wow, small world. I live 5 minutes from there and got my first exposure to straights in C&E. I bought a green handled Badger/Bristle blend brush which I still own. That was over 15 years ago. Too bad the stores are no longer what they once were.

As for the local Trumpers guy, go to www.samuelparker.com . It is an upscale local haberdasher with a touch of old England located in the Mt. Washington section of Baltimore. Tell Ken I sent you. Great store, great owner.

On my visit I got to try on a $1100 Ralph Lauren purple label sport coat......on my way home I bought lottery tickets <g>.

Tony

Tony,

This is exactly what happened to me. I bought a Dovo at a knife store in the mall, tried shaving with it twice, with dismal results. It ended up in the back of the drawer in the bathroom and sat there for about 8 years until I found it one day and did an internet search and found SRP.

I also wonder if a razor bought in a retail store would even be returnable due to health department issues. That would certainly irritate an already upset buyer even more. I think that the razor manufacturers would (or should) put a little slip of paper in each razor box explaining that the razors need to be sharpened before using. Or course that would probably then lead to razor butchery with the old file in the bottom of the toolbox, with even worse shaving results.

Ed

Ed,
Most places will not let you return a razor. Most online sellers make this clear and even my distributors do as well. The Dovos come with a label sealing both ends of the box. Once the label is broken, it's a keeper.


Tony

I don't think the retailers out there can be blamed too much. They have to work against the disastrously effective Gillette marketing damage. I bet most shops that carry straights get about three inquiries per year and no sales.

I NEVER impulse buy no matter how much I want something. I always ask lots of questions and walk away. If I still want the item a few days later and can't rationalise not getting it then it's a buy. If the sales staff can't answer my questions satisfactorily (man, I'm a tough customer) then I won't have confidence and there's no sale.

When I was perusing a Crabtree & Evelyn for my recent brush purchase. I asked the lady to show me the brushes she had in stock (which included the Edwin Jagger I now have) the first thing out of her mouth was, "These are all made with genuine boar hair". I corrected her and she instantly retreated from any sales pitch. After all I was the one out of the two of us who actually shaves. It must be tough to be in a position like that. You're not knowledgeable about your product and invariably it's the expert who's coming in to buy. I felt for her, but I bought the brush at another location.

X

X,
I was thinking more of the online specialty shave shops. Most cater to DE users but still carry quite a few straights and hanging strops yet know nothing about them. I can see where C&E does not have a clue as well as many knife shops.

Tony

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Originally Posted by Tony Miller

I was thinking more of the online specialty shave shops.

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Yeah, that's a good point too. It was the utter lack of good response I got from my emails to most of them that kept me searching. I eventually found this place.

X

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Originally Posted by xman

I don't think the retailers out there can be blamed too much. They have to work against the disastrously effective Gillette marketing damage. I bet most shops that carry straights get about three inquiries per year and no sales.

I NEVER impulse buy no matter how much I want something. I always ask lots of questions and walk away. If I still want the item a few days later and can't rationalise not getting it then it's a buy. If the sales staff can't answer my questions satisfactorily (man, I'm a tough customer) then I won't have confidence and there's no sale.

When I was perusing a Crabtree & Evelyn for my recent brush purchase. I asked the lady to show me the brushes she had in stock (which included the Edwin Jagger I now have) the first thing out of her mouth was, "These are all made with genuine boar hair". I corrected her and she instantly retreated from any sales pitch. After all I was the one out of the two of us who actually shaves. It must be tough to be in a position like that. You're not knowledgeable about your product and invariably it's the expert who's coming in to buy. I felt for her, but I bought the brush at another location.

X

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X, I know what you mean six months ago I went into The Art of the Shave in Manhattan. The sales clerk while attractive, knew very little about str8 razors she was sure they came shave ready and didn't need to be sharpened for several years. When I corrected her she immediately moved tothe shaving creams and oils. Why try to sell what you don't know anything about? At least learn your trade. Needless to say I left without purchasing anything.:confused:

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Originally Posted by xman

I NEVER impulse buy no matter how much I want something.

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X, PM me, I'll teach you. It's very easy.

Nenad

The part I don't get is the pressure to make a sale. At my local straight razor shop "Cheasapeake Knife Co." they often emphatically state "No these are sharp and ready to shave, no honing needed atleast for the first year or two".

I would feel much better if they just said, "No, ofcourse not. Each user has to know how to maintain their razor, thats why we sell this (crappy) hone as well"

Just to add an interesting datapoint from the new guy...

I went to the local C&E in the mall here in Concord (CA) on saturday to pick up some aftershave... I didn't have any at my fiancee's house after I got done shaving with my str8 and my face was definitely feeling the lack, so we swung by the C&E because I knew they'd have something I'd be able to pick up quickly.

I ended up teaching the staff there how to properly use a brush and soap, had some interesting talks about shaving and directed them to here and classic shaving for their boyfriends/husbands. After chatting with the two salesclerks for a while they asked me if I'd be interested in coming in and teaching their staff how to use the men's shaving products so they can sell them more effectively. I left them my card and if they do call me back I'll hit them up for store credit as compensation for the training sessions :)

They were all *very* interested in learning how the stuff worked and were frustrated that nobody had trained them in how to use them so that they could sell them effectively. They also mentioned they've been getting a lot more interest in the men's shaving line of products lately.

They also sort of halfway offered me a fulltime job but I just sort of smiled and changed the subject heh.

-- Gary F.

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Originally Posted by superfly

X, PM me, I'll teach you. It's very easy.

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Thanks Nenad, but my wife teaches me everything I would want to know. :rant:

X