Vintage Russian Strop?

I responded to a craigslist ad selling a vintage barber's chair, also mentioned an antique Russian made leather strop. I offered him $10 for it, he said he figured it was worth more than that. I told him I didn't know what it was worth but I couldn't afford to speculate about its value as an antique but I might pay in the 20's.

What is a fair price, considering that I don't know when/where it was made or whether it is in good condition?

I'm a newbie here, and I don't even currently own a straight razor (probably will be purchasing one in the near future). like the idea of having a nice vintage piece, but I don't want to overpay.

Considering that you can still buy strops brand new from the Illinois Strop Co. for about 30$, let him keep it. If it is in good to excellent shape 10-15$ IMO is fair.

+1 on that!

Yeah, that's what I told him... since I can buy one new for $30, I'm not going to spend a lot of $$ on something with unknown provenance. He said he would rather keep it because the history of it was worth more to him.

So, I guess that's that.

If the history was so important to him why was he selling it in the first place?

What was said so far is good, conservative advice, based on very little information about the condition and provenance of the strop. But, if the strop is in good shape, the leather is supple and free of knicks, and the strop is smooth to the touch, if the handles and cloth and stitching is in good shape, then I would be willing to spend more for the strop. I would be willing to spend more even without knowing provenance.

If it is smooth and in overall good shape, it can be used for stropping in all likelihood. Then, it is still a gamble, but less a gamble. If true, I would be willing to pay $20-25. Heck! That is the price of a cheap new strop. And, there is the chance that it might be a collectible winner.

You probably won't lose. You might win.

That was my logic as well; if useable then it serves its purpose, and if it turns out to have some value, a bonus. However, at this point he doesn't seem willing to part with it. I don't know why he listed it in the first place. The price on the Craigslist heading said $1!

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Originally Posted by LarryAndro

What was said so far is good, conservative advice, based on very little information about the condition and provenance of the strop. But, if the strop is in good shape, the leather is supple and free of knicks, and the strop is smooth to the touch, if the handles and cloth and stitching is in good shape, then I would be willing to spend more for the strop. I would be willing to spend more even without knowing provenance.

If it is smooth and in overall good shape, it can be used for stropping in all likelihood. Then, it is still a gamble, but less a gamble. If true, I would be willing to pay $20-25. Heck! That is the price of a cheap new strop. And, there is the chance that it might be a collectible winner.

You probably won't lose. You might win.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Considering that you can still buy strops brand new from the Illinois Strop Co. for about 30$, let him keep it. If it is in good to excellent shape 10-15$ IMO is fair.

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Hi,
Are they being sold on the net?

With no pics or any idea of what kind of shape it is in, I would not gamble more than 10 dollars.