Thread: Advice about ebay purchases

As a newb, I don't have the experience to accurately assess the condition of a vintage blade from pictures. I know to look for rust, hone wear, pitting, etc., but my eye isn't keen enough to tell a pit from a speck of rust, from a watermark. If you guys could assess these pics and tell me if this razor is worth $25, and then tell me how you reach your conclusions, that'd be wonderful!

Specifically, wear on the tang on the bottom picture, and what appears in the pic as a little black speck in the bottom picture on the bottom left of the blade.

If you'd like to see larger pictures, PM me your email and I'll fwd you the email that the seller sent me.

Thanks again guys!

Based on those pictures, I think it would be hard to tell the extent of the staining. I say that because, in the top picture, the makers stamp appears rather faint; typically they are darker. However, I cannot tell if that is because of the level of exposure of the razor, or because only the tang is overexposed and therefore washed out.

There does not appear to be pitting (at least not any severe/significant pitting) on the blade. Hone wear appears rather minimal and even. Also, that is a Wade & Butcher. I would say it is certainly worth $25.

Unfortunately, it seems that I've already got the "itis," also known as Razor Aquisition Disorder. Thanks for the heads up and assessment.

Any thoughts on this one? A boker that seems to be in good condition, for 9.99? I'm wondering what the catch is lol. It seems to be a little rustier, but it also seems to have less hone wear than the wade and butcher. Is that a good assessment?

That Boker also appears like it would make a fine shaver, as Boker's tend to be. I'm not sure about how much time is left on the Boker auction, but I did manage to find the auction for the first razor (I recognized the photos and found that seller's page). Just keep in mind that often, auctions are bid up as closing time comes near, so the price with even just a few hours left could be far lower than the ending price.

There are, however, lots of razors that go for great (meaning low) prices. The advice I was once given (though I forget by whom) is "bid low, and bid often."

I've just noticed that that Boker has no tree on it. Could anyone comment as to what that might mean?

I try to avoid ebay for the same reasons ;-). I am no expert but think that $25 is a good price for the razor and as long as you like it, you should be ok. I have seen blades that unlike yours, look really bad, restored to incredible beauty. I think that you if you are going to continue buying on Ebay, you need to start somewhere and start developing that feel for what constitutes a good buy. Think about it as a long term proposition.

Al raz.

Originally Posted by Alraz

I try to avoid ebay for the same reasons ;-). I am no expert but think that $25 is a good price for the razor and as long as you like it, you should be ok. I have seen blades that unlike yours, look really bad, restored to incredible beauty. I think that you if you are going to continue buying on Ebay, you need to start somewhere and start developing that feel for what constitutes a good buy. Think about it as a long term proposition.

Al raz.

Quite right, you must consider the cost, the current condition, and how much time/money it will take to get the blade to where you want it. With that in mind, a good buy for one person might not be a good buy for another. For example, if you have the equipment to hone that Butcher up yourself, it would be an excellent buy for $25. Having to send it out for honing (which could run up to $20 or so) would still make it a good buy, but the cost to get it to shave must be taken into consideration. The same applies to restoration, as Alraz has commented

That's a good point. I didn't notice the lack of tree until you mentioned it. Yeah, I know that often people wait until the last moment to drop down bids, but I'm not too worried. If I don't win the auction, there will be other razors . Regardless, I wanted to aquire a few vintage razors, partly to work on honing, and partly cause I'm a bit of a pack rat . But I know how much I'm willing to pay, so that's that. Lastly, I primarily posted pics here because I'm interested in learning how people with more expertise assess blades and such, the difference between pitting and rust and how to eyeball it, and all sorts of things like that.

This is going to sound a bit weird (it did to me at first) but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to Don that I wanted to buy a cheap razor on Ebay to learn honing. His response was to buy a new razor to learn. As a newbie, you do not want to screw up your new razor but there is probably no easier way to start the learning process than using a razor that has no other problems. Probably you still do not want to buy a limited edition razor to learn though ;-). No smiley razors either ;-).

Al raz.

I would agree with the bit about buying a new razor so you know there are no problems, but, unfortunately, that is not always the case. I myself have never bought a new razor, but I have heard of many of them being warped, having uneven grinds, etc etc. I don't say this to knock new razors, I only mean ta say that new razors can have problems just like vintage ones can. The difference is that new ones with problems would likely be considered to have manufacturer's defects while vintage ones would likely be considered mistreated, mishoned, or damaged.

If I was to recommend a razor to learn to hone on, it would be a Wapi. I've gotten two of them (I think two) NOS, and, even though one was a bit warped, whey were both quite easy to hone and both took great edges. I honed the first on Spyderco hones and a Swaty and the second on a BBW/Cotucule combo