Thread: Grading Standard for Classifieds

I propose something like this be suggested or mandated and made visible in the Classifieds, and made available to be seen when sellers post an ad and when buyers browse ads

Taken directly from the yahoo group help files. This was drafted by misterbenicio (Joe Lerch):

Great idea. I'm in favor of it. One thing though. I see no need for "shave ready" to be mandatory for an Excellent or Good condition razor. What's wrong with "shave ready" either being offered as noted in an ad or noted that a blade is not "shave ready"?

Chris L

"And I second that emotion"

I agree that a system of standards would be preferable to have in place, and I also think that "shave ready" should be expounded upon, either with a number system or just better descriptions.

10 - light sabers don't cut as well as this baby - hair voluntarily leaves the follicle

8 - fantastic shaver - very smooth shave with the edge recently left off of a very fine stone

6 -great shave - smooth shave with no tugging, you'll be good to go for a while

4-decent maybe a little tugging - it either takes tons of stropping to make this right or needs a trip back to a finishing hone

2 - you can shave with it, but you'd really want to go back to at least an 8k and then a finishing stone before too long.

0 - not shave ready

It wouldn't hurt for the seller to describe the honing regimen, i.e. "Norton 4/8k, Shapton 16k, a few light laps on CrO." or "Honed by Lynn three months ago, maintained on a Swaty since then"




Now maybe my descriptions/ ratings need some help, so let's not try to pick apart my post, I'm just trying to give an idea of what I'm talking about. I was studying till the wee hours of the morning, so try to cut me some slack here. I know that some people can get squeeze a much better edge out of an 8k stone than others and this system doesn't account for that, but it's better than the "pass/fail" rating system we now employ.

I just think that we need more clarification rather than just "shave ready" or "not shave ready", since it seems that people are expecting shave ready to be "OMG that's an awesome shaver" sometimes.

Also, I think it's perfectly acceptable for a newbie to say "hey, I've got a razor that was recently honed, but I'm not sure how "shave ready" it is as far as a scale goes. I can shave with it, but I'm a newbie so no shaves are so comfy for me right now." If you're buying a razor from a newbie, you should go with the idea that perhaps it could be a good shaver, but it'll probably need a trip to the hones.

I've seen lots of people say "Well, if you bought a razor from a member in the classifieds, then I have no doubt that it's shave ready"..... that's a load of bs. There are just too many members on the boards now to be able to make such a broad sweeping statement. Some members claim that the Norton 8k is just the best it gets and you don't need any more, whereas others would rather skip shaving than to shave with an 8k edge. So to personally endorse everyone in this regard just isn't feasible.

Now, all this being said, for me PERSONALLY I could care less if it's shave ready or not. I'm pretty dang sure that I'm going to take the razor to MY hones anyway and put the edge on there that I like, unless I'm buying a razor from floppyshoes or Gssixgun or another honemeister whose edge I haven't yet experienced, in which case I'd be interested in trying one of their edges out. All I'm looking for is a razor in good or restorable condition, and I can do the rest.

I like the idea of standards. Have you ever seen the term "Great condition for its age." That means absolutely nothing. I like the idea of making some standards such as condition of the blade, condition of the scales, pivot tight, and hone wear. These could all be rated on a scale of 1-10. Maybe we could have a sticky of what a 3,5, and 9 looks like. This would be great to put into the Wiki.

Let us not forget Bill's chart - not that we should use his chart, but it could serve as a guide

Grading Chart

Sorry, but I disagree with the chart. Not all great razors are show-pieces. Some of my best shavers are aesthetically crap. Now I don't intend to sell any of them but some razors can have minor localized pitting but other than that be pristine. According to that chart they would not even qualify as good, instead they would be restorable. Come on, not all razors need to be pretty and not all of them need to be restored. A lot of them just need to be razors, meaning they just plain shave.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Sorry, but I disagree with the chart. Not all great razors are show-pieces.

Well,

This chart is mostly intended for the Collector, as the User can get a pretty darn good shave from a 2.5 razor on this chart. Grading can be used from this chart through two viewpoints. With the blade opened or closed. For an overall score, combine, then divide by 2, then subtract .5 to 1 points because of the lower score.

I am not suggesting we use Bill's chart - in fact I am not crazy about it myself, but it's a good excuse to get some more interest in the original idea*

Maybe there is some way to slice up the first chart for more degrees of separation and more specifically quantify - er,... I don't know what I'm talking about but it would be nice to have a more consistent system than we do now. As it is, about 2/3 of all razors listed whether they look almost perfect and are not shave ready or they have lots of cosmetic issues but are shave ready are simply listed as being "great".

- Lee

I posted my first add in the classifieds a couple of days ago and was torn when asked to provide an overall condition of the razor. The blade itself has no rust/pitting/stains on it, but there are a couple of marks around the pivot. I chose to rate the razor at the lower Good, instead of Great. I then tried to take ample pictures of the blade.

Some sort of guidelines would be much appreciated.

It is a good idea and the chart is good but I do agree with Utopian as I too have razors that are cosmetically challenged with a bit of surface corrosion but are great shavers. I guess that as long as a price point is up to the seller and not dictated by parameters within the grading standard the seller can list the item for what he feels it is worth and the buyer can take it or leave it. To me the satisfaction guaranteed is the important thing.

I have to apologize for this ahead of time but I am going to digress into a Rant here....

I personally don't agree one bit here, I think any system other than the Gentleman's system is a bad, bad, idea and is sliding down a slippery slope....
You either establish a reputation or you don't, you are either honest or your not, I guess I have an automatic knee jerk reaction to "Rules" of any sort....

I realize that things have changed in the last year or so, with a HUGE influx of new members, and some of those members are selling razors that they really have not the slightest idea of what they are doing... But still before somebody slaps down a chunk of change it is ultimately the buyers responsibility to check out what he is getting himself into...

The ultimate thing here is for each seller or provider of services needs to go out of their way to establish their own rep... I learned this from Joe Chandler way back when...

You want to establish yourself as a Honemiester then offer to do some work for free, pay it forward, and help out somebody that is having a problem, they will tell people how good your edges are...

Want to establish yourself as a restorer then again help out, and restore some blades and donate them to the giveaways, let those that receive them brag on your abilities...

If you are just going to join the forum and try and jump in and make some quick cash, basically you are a re-seller and guess what, this forum will know very quickly, and they will spread the word....

end of rant