Thread: "Shave Ready" in the Classifieds

Over the past year, I have bought a handful of shave ready razors in the Classifieds. Of course, with the exception of the more reputable, for lack of a better word, members, many of these were, again, for lack of a better description, of a lower level of shave readiness. Some pulled and were uncomfortable shavers, some required resetting the bevel.

Personally, I don't mind, and when buying from folks I don't know so well, I have learned to factor that into the price. My concern, however, is for the newbie following the oft-heard advice to buy his first shave ready vintage at SRP.

I know that there is now a reputation rating. Actually, I just learned what those little green dots are 5 minutes ago. Despite being here daily. I am afraid that the new members' first impulse is to go by the title "senior member" which may be misleading.

Ben had made a suggestion for a grading system for shavereadiness. While that is a good idea, the question is who will proclaim the grading? The seller's rating is subjective, as is the newbie buyer's. As you know, the latter will almost always have the knee jerk reaction to think the razor is not sharp enough.

My humble suggeston is that a board be set up of say, 5 members who are acknowledged honemeisters, preferably those who provide honing services professionally. Before a seller is allowed to sell shave ready razors, the seller has to send in at least one razor per blade type he intends to sell (mainly hollow ground or wedge) to one member of the board. If it passes, only then can he be allowed to sell his razors as shave ready. Of course one can always sell them as non-shave ready without going through this process.

I think we need to hold ourselves to a higher level of accountablility compared to the other forums' Classifieds, as most come here not only for information, but to buy their first razor. The last thing we want is for people to be turned off from straight shaving because of starting out with improper equipment WE provided.

Without going into detail, I couldn't disagree more. I understand the purpose, but it seems to create a 'consumer reports' on a subjective issue. Shave ready razors with lousy prep gives lousy shaves. Not so shave ready razors give lousy shaves with great prep. Who will be the experts? Credible representations with the opportunity to return blades not shave ready may be a better tack.
IMHO.

I will add that I bought a scratchy 'shave ready razor' and it was 'shave ready' after I spent some time on the hone with it. I understand the idea, but not the solution.

Well said, Ray.

Yours are ok RayG

Not to stir the pot but I disagree also.

Where does this stop? The same thing goes for anything on the classifieds.

What I have seen from this forum has been honesty and help. Have there been known problems of "non-shave ready" razors sold here? I have not read of any issues. The newb's are continually told to deal with known honemiesters.

I am a perfect example of this. I had bought a number of razors off EBay and none were shave ready. My straight razor experience was going down the tubes. I started reading SRP and then later joined to buy a "shave ready" Hess 44 from a SRP member GROTOLORD. He is not a honemiester per se' but does know how to sharpen a razor as do most SRP members.

Rick

I think it may be beneficial to both buyer and seller. One reason I like the idea is that if it is incorporated it gives the seller of shave ready razors some credibility if a buyer starts dragging his name through the mud. Say a buyer is unhappy with a razor sold as shave ready and makes contact with the seller, that is fine. The seller can make it right or give a refund.

I have seen new shavers post on SRP about the poorly honed razor they received from noted honemiesters. While it could be the honing it is more likely the lack of technique or improper stropping..... or both. For established honemiesters this isn't a problem. Their reputation precedes them. For the newer members venturing into the honing for hire it could be an issue. "Don't buy from that guy, I heard he doesn't know what he is doing."

OTOH, a demonstration of honing ability by the seller will give the new guy some assurance that the claim the seller is making that he has the skills to hone a razor to shave ready is a valid one. If an unhappy buyer takes a gripe to the public forum the seller can at least say that he has passed muster with the selected judges of his honing ability.

BTW, I have no ax to grind. I have no plans to sell razors on the forum shave ready or otherwise. If I buy a razor from any source if I don't like the way it shaves I hone it until I do. I just happen to think it isn't a bad idea.

Hmm.... I don't think one should have to have a special certification in order to advertise as shave ready, but it could be helpful for a seller to have a little green square (or two green squares, or three, or four, etc) by his ads in the classifieds denoting the appropriate level of SRP-approved shave readiness

I like this idea of feedback. Like EBay or Amazon???
Not sure how it would be set up but it works else where and is familiar to most internet users.
Rick

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Hmm.... I don't think one should have to have a special certification in order to advertise as shave ready, but it could be helpful for a seller to have a little green square (or two green squares, or three, or four, etc) by his ads in the classifieds denoting the appropriate level of SRP-approved shave readiness

I disagree with the idea of being "certified". We've had several discussions on the definition of "shave ready", and if I recall, there's some disagreement. Having to reset a bevel is one thing, but otherwise...

Also, if someone is less than concerned with quality, they could do a really good job on their "certification" razor(s) and put less work into the blades they sell. That wouldn't be a problem for someone who was less than honest.

I sell a few razors here and there and I'm certainly not a honemeister. I may call a razor shave ready and I always state that that means I've test shaved with it and it shaves me well, but someone else might find it less than perfect. I also make clear that I'm not a honing "pro" and honing is not part of the price of the razor (I don't add extra to the price because I've spent time honing it).

Not to beat a dead horse, but this is one of the reasons I really preferred the old buy and sell forum. It changed from a community selling and swaping place to something more "commercial" in nature. This has made it harder to police. Just my thoughts.

Jordan

I'm too new to know if there has been a number of problems with razors in the classifieds being called shave ready that aren't, but if so, IMO, it should definitely be addressed in some way or another.