Thread: A good webside for buying stones for honing within EU?

Originally Posted by Chimensch

Besides, the weak dollar is only favorable for goods produced in America. It has no effect on goods produced in Europe that are shipped to the US and then back to Europe (except for the extra shipping cost).

Unless the goods have been bought a long time ago in Europe when the dollar was still high. Moreover: wholesalers give discounts to retailers if they buy large amounts. Some retailers accept smaller margins.

Originally Posted by Bruno

I live in Belgium.
50 km from a shaving shop where they sell coticules, and about 100 km from the quarry where the coticules are mined.

And I still bought my 8x3 coticule from Howard at the perfectedge.
Even with shipping and the mandatory 10 euro customs fee, it was still a good deal cheaper.
All thanks to the weak dollar.

Seems the Belgian government is less greedy than the Dutch. We pay 19% VAT + 5 % handling charges.

Originally Posted by Kees

Unless the goods have been bought a long time ago in Europe when the dollar was still high.

That's true, but it is also true that some merchant's take advantage of the rise in the replacement cost to raise the price on older, cheaper merchandise. It all depends on whether you account for your inventory using LIFO or FIFO. As the dollar drops, you know that smart retailers are using LIFO. In any case, if this argument goes on much further, we'll end up writing an economics textbook together!

Originally Posted by Kees

Moreover: wholesalers give discounts to retailers if they buy large amounts. Some retailers accept smaller margins.

Very true. And some retailers in brick and mortar shops haven't figured out that consumers are increasingly comparing prices on the Internet.

Actually, the weak dollar is good because margins are made on local currency.
Howard sells his 8x3 coticules at 185 dollar
The same coticule in antwerp costs 175 euros == 262 dollars.

howard makes a lot less money on his coticules than the people from the shaving shop.
So add in shipping (~30 dollars) then the coticule from howard costs 215 dollars.
For the remaining difference I bought a DMT8C diamond plate and I ended up paying the same amount that I would have paid in the belgian shop.
and that calculation does not include the money for gas (driving there) or shipping (which would be significant) so that would more than make up for the lack of rubbing stone or the 10 euro customs fee.

The invisible edge charges 70 pounds for a bout (134 dollar shipped to EU) while howard sells them for 65 $.
Even adding in the money for a rubbing stone and international shipping makes howard's bout cheaper.

My point was that for europeans, trying to find european shops is often pointless from a price point of view at the moment. The weak dollar combined with lower margins for US sellers more than compensates for the additional shipping cost.

The customs policies are different for each country.
But of all the stuff I've received so far, I either got no additional fee (customs did not even pick it out of the line) or they charged 10 euros, which is the local 'I can't be bothered to check the real value and eligble taxes' fee. Even my expensive packages from So cost me 10 euros. This will be different for other countries so I cannot judge that.

as of comming december 1st, the dutch import taxes are being dropped for imported goods to a maximum of 150€

So maby wait for that and have it send trough holland (holland => sweden = no import tax)

and they sel BC here
http://www.scheerwinkel.nl/catalog/i...0a19b12754b6a9
35€ for 10x4cm stone with free bout

Is 10X4 cm the stone to buy sizewise?

Originally Posted by Denno

Is 10X4 cm the stone to buy sizewise?

It'll do the job. It's basically what I have. You can spend more if you want to but it's not necessary.

Ok so now the only question is, where to order the stone from, and what grind or whatever to buy all those 4000 and 8000 and so on.

Originally Posted by Denno

Is 10X4 cm the stone to buy sizewise?

Size is basically a preference thing.
A 10cm by 4 cm is made of the same material as a 20cm by 7,5 cm

You'll need more strokes on the little stone, and they will handle differently and require slightly different motions. But apart from that it doesn't matter too much imo.

Aha. Is one more easy then the other to work with? Is the handeling different? Or is the motion the same?
I saw some clip where a wider stone you moved the razor straight from side to side as for a more narrow stone in width you had to use a "sawing motion" to get the whole blade.

Is the sawing motion harder to do then a straght motion from side to side on the stone?