I have been thinking about the vendor issue as well. We have a sub forum for them, and we have a section in the Classifieds. I wonder whether that is not enough.

As far as companies (in or out of business) are concerned, I would suggest that you wait until the forms extension for the Wiki works. I would much prefer if the articles were very consistent (read: form filling in a template). Mind you, that is not to keep you from collecting information about them.

With regards to the buyer's guide, I think that Bill Ellis's guide is perfect: eBay Guides - Buying Straight Razors On Ebay But I also understand that there are some issues with him and SRP, so a pointer should suffice. Unless, of course, someone can come up with a better guide (which, truth be told, I doubt).