Thread: About the Gold Dollar razors

Hi all,

lately there has been much ado about the Gold Dollar razors. We've had some lengthy discussions about these razors among site staff and decided to do the following:

1) merge all GD discussion threads into 1 master thread.
2) publicly state that we do not consider these razors good value for money.

Point number 1 is being handled by one of our senior mods and will be done over the next day(s) or so. Point number 2 is what this announcement is about, and I want to take the time here to explain why we are doing this.

SRP is a site dedicated to the art of straight razor shaving and getting the best shave possible. We are not about getting the cheapest shave that is still somewhat acceptable. For some people (for example those primarily into it for the economics / ecological angle), a straight razor is simply a means to an end. There is nothing wrong with that, and if that is your motivation you will get a lot of good info here. More power to you. However, this site is about 'the means' and not 'the end'. Or rather, our 'the end' is getting a great shave, and that is the goal that we work hard to promote. We are into it for the love of the shave and getting the smoothest shave possible.

We've debated long and hard about whether we should speak out on this or not. The biggest drawback is that we don't want to be seen as endorsing some products and bashing other products. It was felt that if we do that, we go down a slippery slope, considering the number of vendors here and the fact that some of our site staff are vendors themselves.

Otoh, we feel that people should be able to feel confident that if they find information here on SRP, they should be able to trust it and be confident that they're getting good information that was given with the ideal of the perfect shave in mind.

Just recently we've had 'arguments' with a vendor who called us elitists because we told him he was not allowed to start a vendor thread for his pakistani razors. He felt that not everyone was looking for the perfect shave, and that some people were happy enough to settle for less if it meant saving money. That member is gone now, along with his razors.

In case anyone thinks the same: this has nothing to do with elitism. For as low as 30$ you can find good razors in our classifieds. If you can hone and know what to look for, ebay can be a treasure trove. Even the low cost razors can be surprisingly good. Wapienicas are among the finest shavers around and I remember when I could buy them NOS at 9$ a piece.

We feel that Gold Dollar razors do not fall in that category, however. They are maybe not outright junk like zeepk razors (only an opinion), but neither are they quality razors made from high quality steel, and we feel that we need to mention that we don't consider them to be in the same league as the other razors that are discussed here. They are just cheap, and their one saving grace that keeps us from giving them the 'zeepk' treatment is that they apparently shave to some degree.

I don't think for a second that everyone will agree with our assessment, and no doubt there will be people who think it unfair that we speak out in public like this. That is too bad. The most important thing from our point of view is that anyone should feel confident that if he gets information on SRP, it was given with the idea of getting a fantastic shave as the primary objective, and not just with the idea of the cheapest acceptable approach to facial hair removal.