Wow what a thread. From my point of view, I think prices of vintage blades are being driven up by a warming market - as demand increases so do prices as the perceived value increases, regardless of any 'real' value a rzor may have - after all, any product is only ever worth what people are willing to pay for it.

A few years back straights in half-decent order could be had on eBay for as little as £3 - £5. Now it's more like £20+ for anything that's not basically scrap. As straights become more popular (and there is every reason to expect them to so do) then second-hand values will continue to rise - it's the same whatever market you're looking at.

From a vendor's point of view this means that resale prices must increase in order to maintain profits - after all, vendors who truly warrant that title have bills to pay too! Our ethos has always been to 'refurbish' (as opposed to 'restore') straights to a usable condition at an affordable price (and yes we do restore as well but let's park that for the sake of this thread).

I can state quite frankly that the work done on any razor featured on our vintage site is usually out of proportion with the price - IF you allow a reasonable hourly rate to be charged. Sure we make money on what we sell - the term for those that don't is normally 'bankrupt'! - but the whole idea is to make SR shaving affordable at a grass roots level. This is sadly becoming more difficult as the market heats up but we do our best.

There are two main classes of buyers that I identify from their emails and queries - those who have 'green' leanings - and those are growing apace - and those who like the more macho aspects of SR shaving. One thing does stand out though - the majority of them are YOUNG guys under 30-odd, though I did send a piece to a 74-year-old newbie recently!

I agree with Lynn - this forum is about promoting the use and popularity of wet shaving generally and I for one applaud the fact that it sees fit to let anyone have a say with no obvious backroom agenda.