Thread: Senior members, a question

Originally Posted by mparker762

This may devolve into an argument about definitions, but that doesn't match any usage for "flavor of the month" that I'm familiar with. Price != popularity - price is dependent on both demand and supply. Oil didn't become a "flavor of the month" just because barrel prices spiked. OTOH the hybrids and Smart cars could be considered FOTMs because their popularity spiked during that period, and collapsed once gas prices came back down.

I believe your focus on price as a proxy for demand has led you to mischaracterise the nature of the shift in demand. The price for the barber's razors is a function of both supply and demand, and the supply seems fairly steady while demand has grown rapidly. But this demand seems to me to be caused by the increase in the number of straight razor shavers, not by some recent fascination with Barber's razors in particular. Their prices are rising along with the prices for every other vintage razor on ebay. That their prices seem to be rising faster may simply be a perception issue (these razors have always been the most expensive of the sheffields, so a fairly across-the-board 3x price increase would send these into the stratosphere), and it may also be a matter of the way the supply and demand curve worked out - if these are a very supply-constrained razor (which they already were 4 yrs ago) and demand is fairly inelastic, then you can get some wild price increases that will dwarf those of the other razors, even if the popularity within the straight razor community remains constant.





They do not seem to me to be any more popular today than they were years ago, relatively speaking. As a percentage of the discussions, there seems to be about the same level of chatter about them, and about the same level of "look-what-I-got" posts for these razors as there was back then. In absolute numbers there are more people interested in those razors now, but that's because there are more straight razor shavers around now. Since the number of W&B barber's razors on ebay any given time has been a fairly steady number, one would therefore expect the price to increase - possibly dramatically, depending on how elastic the demand is, even if say only 10% of straight razor shavers both then and now actually wanted one.

Wonderedges were hitting the $300 mark and higher four years ago, though I haven't really kept up with their prices recently, and while it is true that you could pick up a ratted-out W&B Barber's use for <$50 back then, you couldn't get a really nice one for that price - nice restored ones would run you $150 or so, and even back then guys whined about how expensive they were and whether they were really worth it.

My question was one about quality. Not price. I mentioned WBs and DDs as examples of blades in high demand. I believe your fixation on these two examples has lead you to mischaracterize the question at hand:

I wanted to know whether there is any connection between the market price and the true quality of the razor; how much of some of these "hot" razors are based on trend and how much on quality?

There are many ways to ask the question I had in mind. But it has been answered. However, since your reply oozes an Econ background, maybe this next question will be more do your liking: you mention that the price range for WB Barbers went from [$50 ratty,$150 full resto] to [$50 ratty, $350 full resto]. Well, are there blades whose price range fluctuate significantely less than the norm? "Bluechip" blades, if that helps.

Originally Posted by Ichinichi

Well, are there blades whose price range fluctuate significantely less than the norm? "Bluechip" blades, if that helps.

Any 6/8 and under 'no name' blade... lol It's kind of true.

Originally Posted by Philadelph

Any 6/8 and under 'no name' blade... lol It's kind of true.

Those wouldn't be considered bluechip (in the stockmarket sense of the term).

Originally Posted by Ichinichi

Those wouldn't be considered bluechip (in the stockmarket sense of the term).

Hah, thanks for the link. Shows my economic background lol. Even though I didn't know the real sense of the word- what I posted still kind of applies. Razors that are known to be good and/or desirable will always fluctuate that much in price and the no name razors 6/8 and under will pretty much retain their value and increase in value when restored well. Especially considering the recent (years) growing popularity in straights.

FOTM that is sorta funny actually but as was already pointed out certain blades have held their value fo a very long time....


That being said the price of a razor actually has very, very, little to do with how well it might shave it only has to do with how many people know that information....

Such as everyone on this forum knows that DD razor shave great we all know that W&B's do also, Puma, Henckles, Dovo Fritz Bracht, Reynolds, etc etc: these are "Known" good brands in other words find any one of these in good shape and it will give a superior shave.... Therefore they have a "higher value" in the market....

Now take a lesser known brand name, one for instance, Beau Brummel will sell for half or less than it's cousin the DD, why because less people know the name, and less people will bid on it, even though it is every bit as good a shaver as it's better known cousin..... Honestly IMHO that is the only difference....

Great historical read thanks for posting it.

Looking back through the thread, it sure sounds like you were using price as a proxy for popularity and popularity as a proxy for quality. Ah well, no matter.

The W&B Barber's razors, as well as DD Wonderedges, have been in high demand for a long time, and therefore would seem to meet your standard for "true champions of their contextual raison d'être that truly are exemplary", if I understand it correctly. There are other brands that have been consistently excellent and also fetch high prices. Some of these are well-known (Puma, Livi), but some of the best razors the senior members tend to keep quiet about for fear that their prices will follow the path of the Wonderedge. It seems to be working, since the prices for my favorite brand and model have been stable to slighly declining for the last few years

I will divulge, however, that the most legendary and highly sought-after brand of all would have to be the mysterious Solingen "Chronik", made from some sort of unknown steel that looks like liquid metal and shaves like no other.

Originally Posted by mparker762

Looking back through the thread, it sure sounds like you were using price as a proxy for popularity and popularity as a proxy for quality. Ah well, no matter.

The W&B Barber's razors, as well as DD Wonderedges, have been in high demand for a long time, and therefore would seem to meet your standard for "true champions of their contextual raison d'être that truly are exemplary", if I understand it correctly. There are other brands that have been consistently excellent and also fetch high prices. Some of these are well-known (Puma, Livi), but some of the best razors the senior members tend to keep quiet about for fear that their prices will follow the path of the Wonderedge. It seems to be working, since the prices for my favorite brand and model have been stable to slightly declining for the last few years

Thank you.

Originally Posted by mparker762

I will divulge, however, that the most legendary and highly sought-after brand of all would have to be the mysterious Solingen "Chronik", made from some sort of unknown steel that looks like liquid metal and shaves like no other.

You're kidding.

Originally Posted by mparker762

I will divulge, however, that the most legendary and highly sought-after brand of all would have to be the mysterious Solingen "Chronik", made from some sort of unknown steel that looks like liquid metal and shaves like no other.

Yes that is one of the ones on "The List"
That list is however only passed between very senior members of the forum...... Mr Parker I do believe that he is actually after a copy of "The List"

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Yes that is one of the ones on "The List"
That list is however only passed between very senior members of the forum...... Mr Parker I do believe that he is actually after a copy of "The List"

That's what it looks like to me too, which makes no sense. If we started telling people about them then everybody would bid them up into the stratosphere, and what's the fun in that?

I'm only willing to divulge the Chronik because I've already got one you see.

Originally Posted by Ichinichi

Their presence in the public consciousness here is not in question; the recent upward trend in pricing is what categorizes them as FTOM.

6 months ago, no one would pay $350 for a WB Barbers; today, that's the going rate. That doesn't mean that no one was aware of the quality of WB Barbers, nor is it that the quality of WB Barbers have changed; just that 6 months ago they weren't as highly valued as they are now, satisfying the FTOM criteria above.

People laughed at me four years ago when I paid almost a hundred dollars for one. Basic supply and demand economics. Demand is up - so is the price.

John