Thread: Judging the value of old razors

Gentlemen:

Many antique stores price their merchandise with an eye on the customer's emotion: that as long as it's old it's worth the price. This works for much of their stock. It does not work with straight razors, especially if the customer is a gentleman shaver, who wants the razor not only as possibly a prized antique, but more importantly as a razor that will become a good shaver.

In my experience, the majority of antique store owners have no idea about the gentleman shaver's requirements for that specific razor. What's more, they know nothing about straight razors or straight razor shaving. For instance, a number of antique store owners have tried to sell me a straight razor with a chipped blade, rusted blade, broken scales — a piece of junk — as an antique piece for display.

I have explained to them that such a piece of junk is worthless to me. Perhaps it might be worth the high price for someone who wants to display something old — anything — in his display cabinet. Not for me. But they don't understand.

If I come across a straight razor that reminds me of a pirate with a patch on one eye, a hook for a hand and a stump for a leg, grinning from ear to ear with half his teeth missing, I'll know to shuffle off the other way.

Regards,

Obie

I'm a frugal kind of guy, and don't like to part with money easily, so I buy cheap, mostly of the bay. Someone here said something along the lines of "big low and bid often" and I live by that. It's rare I don't have bids on a dozen razors. Look at the pictures very carefully - personally I don't bid or razors that don't show the blade, or both sides, and those with blurry pictures - decide what you'd pay and bid. Then forget it until you get the email that I won or lost it.

Conduct is important. I lose all the time, sometimes by cents only. Recently I lost one I really wanted to some lucky guy around here by two bucks.

Good luck!

Along the lines of this post, yesterday I was at a Flea market and saw a Str8 when I first walked in to the building. The guy had 2 shavettes and one cut throat. I asked, then picked up the CT and was giving it a once over to find the brand or any distinguishing mark on the tang. The whole time, the seller was telling me that it was "a beauty". I handed it back and asked if he could tell me what brand it was. First he said I could be the proud owner for Only 12 bucks. I asked again, what brand it was. He stuttered a bit as he looked, and by that time I was pretty sure it was of the Gold Dollar family. He told me that he lied and that I could have it for 8 bucks because it was Chinese steel. I smiled and told him I already owned 2 GD str8's and wasn't needing any more of them.

A few more aisles down was a seller with "antiques" for sale. I spotted 2 str8's in his show case and asked what brands they were. He pulled them out and placed them on the glass top and told me to find out. I noticed the scales on both were made of wood and extremely dried out and in bad shape. Then I opened them. One had a 1/4 inch chunk missing (all the way up to the spine) from the blade and the other one was missing at least 80% of the blade. I asked his price. $65.00 each. I didn't mean to, but I just laughed out loudly as I sat them back down. I don't like to insult people for what they ask for their "treasures" but I don't like being insulted with ridiculous pricing either.

Point is, the more you look at places like here at the SRP and read , the more of an educated guess you can make when buying. Personally, If the razor (or anything else) is something that holds value to me, then I will begin to deal on price. NEVER pay asking price at a flea market, either in real life or on the web. IMHO

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I actually enjoy calling people out on their overinflated prices-- even to the point of being rude. I haven't had the opportunity to do this with straights, but I wouldn't hesitate.

i wont pay more than 20 for any razor that i find i antique stores and flea markets, unless it is NOS or it is something that i really want and it has to be in good condition
i had a woman asking 40 for a Wade and Butcher that needed new scales, i told her what needed to be done and she dropped it to 20 (i wanted the blade)

In my experience, it's been one extreme or the other. Either crazy expensive or dirt cheap. I really like the new antique store I found. The owner is a jeweler and great to talk to. He had a ton of razors that weren't priced and we got to talking. I actually helped him price a few. I got a cmon blackie in great condition. He had a dozen or so quality razors. I will definitely be returning. Besides, he has a 60's rolex that I'm going to haggle over every time I head in there...it will be mine.

Most , if not all of these flea market sellers , and "antique" shops don't have a clue about the condition:value ratio for straight razors . They usually find the razors in a box full of other "junk" , that they got at an auction for $5 or $10 . Then they go to ebay to find out what the junk is selling for . Since straight razors don't take up much space , they can put a ridiculously high price on it , hoping some fool will eventually walk through the door and buy it .

If you can find a dealer who is willing to BS with you about stuff, often enough you can wheel and deal to get some good prices. I walked out of an antique shop with 5 or 6 razors for about 90 bucks. A Red Imp, Wade and Butcher ~15/16", and a couple other great shavers that I can't think of at the moment. But then you also run into some guys who will talk with you for 40 minutes, then when you ask if they can drop the price at all they still wont budge. Happened to me with a NOS DD Goldedge that I ended up buying anyway. It was worth what I paid for it: It's my most prettiest razor, and hands down my best shaver.

Originally Posted by Pops!

slightly off topic.. but what's the best way to handle an extremely overpriced antique store? i have one down the street from me that has a heck load of really nice straights i would love to own.. but they all have $150+ pricetags.. i don't want to be insulting..

Don't shop there! <g>

And if you do shop there, don't be worried about "insulting" the seller. He'll either bargain with you, or not.

My "philosophy" is something like this:

. . . . I can buy a decent new razor for about $80.

. . . . A vintage razor would have to be _really special_ to be worth any more than that.

I've seen some overpriced stuff in antique stores, and occasionally bought a nice razor (which needed honing) for $20 or so. Depends on the store, depends on luck.

Charles

In my experience, people who specialise in nothing at all are the ones who overprice everything.

A lot of antiques store owners price everything on the wonderfully objective criterion that it's "Old".

Old doesn't mean it's worth squat. If everything old was worth a million bucks, I could retire for life on the value of my grandmother alone.

I refuse to pay more than about $20 for a straight-razor unless there's something special about it. These people are just dreaming.