Futur Clone Ming Shi 2000s: A Review: Buy this bargain now before the price rises!

[Slats6NYR]

Ouch sorry to hear that, better to use paypal when ordering through them.

I did....and the vendor stalled & lied all the same.
I just ordered 100 Zorrik Super Platinum Blades from India, through eBay, and got them in 10 days and able to track the shipment the whole way.
Took over 70 days for AliExpress to see the vendor screwed up & giving me a refund. They don't even have a way of tracking a package.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

 

[eaglesgift]

I did....and the vendor stalled & lied all the same.
I just ordered 100 Zorrik Super Platinum Blades from India, through eBay, and got them in 10 days and able to track the shipment the whole way.
Took over 70 days for AliExpress to see the vendor screwed up & giving me a refund. They don't even have a way of tracking a package.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

Everything I’ve ordered from AliExpress has come with tracking, either Singapore Post or China Post registered mail so they certainly do have a way of tracking packages.

 

[tonich]

AliExpress has tracked shipping too!
You just have to select it on checkout.

 

[Zerpersande]

.... What incentive is there for Muhle, Merkur, Gillette, etc. to develop and improve if they can't reap the rewards of their R&D investments?
....Without that threat, maybe they'd only charge $30.

Without that ‘threat’? Like the pharmaceutical market? Where bc they have the US market cornered bc the drugs are prescription, they can charge what they want?

I get your point, but I have little faith that, if somehow protected, these companies would pass on any savings.

 

[Zerpersande]

I did....and the vendor stalled & lied all the same.
......
Took over 70 days for AliExpress to see the vendor screwed up & giving me a refund. They don't even have a way of tracking a package.

Yeah, this happens a lot on AliExpress. But I ordered one of the Futur knock-offs on Nov. 11. It arrived on the 19th. Abnormally fast, but it shows what can be done. There are just too many crappy sellers in China to expect anything but problems. And AliExpress doesn’t take PayPal.

 

[Zerpersande]

Just tried the knock-off and was extremely impressed. One of my closest shaves ever from a single razor. (I usually make a last pass/touch up with my Fatboy set on 9.) And I even shaved in the shower, just using Cremo. Great razor, very much worth the money.

But I bought this as a gift for my daughter’s boyfriend. I tried it out of both curiosity and not wanting to give him a piece of untested crap. So will I buy one? I’m going on a vacation to Germany next month. I may very well buy the real deal. if so, Merkur sold a razor BECAUSE OF a knock-off.

 

[captnronfl]

I've had both. I can say I sold my Merkur because the clone was actually better. I did get mine from Ali and it took about a month but it was well worth it. I would do it again. I have found the perfect razor for me. It's a 1970 Schick adjustable using a twin blade from Japan. I am keeping the clone and a Wilkerson sticky to use up all the DE blades I bought. The rest I'm selling. I've sold all my top end razors. Now I'm selling everything else including a fatboy and slims that I thought I would be keeping.

 

[cyberdog]

I hear you dcaptnronfl. I have two of the clones, a MingShi and a QShave, and sadly, I honestly feel they're smoother shavers than either my Fat-Boy or Slim, or seem to be on my face. They're also very accommodating of pretty much any blade, where as the Fat-Boy & Slim can be picky or change their personality based upon the loaded blade.

I also added a Schick Adjustable over the past year, and she's a great shaver! Easily a smooth BBS shave, but maybe not quite as long lasting BBS as my Timeless, but boy is it easy and comfortable use shave with. - I've been using it with a Schick Twin blade, and have some of the yellow/Chinese singles as well.

I'm probably going to sell of my Gillettes, keeping the Schick Adjustable, OneBlade (Hybrid), MingShi/QShave, Rockwell, and probably the Timeless.....haven't decided about the Karve CB, it might take the place of the Rockwell as the keeper, but I like shiny stainless. (Rocky is polished). Maybe both the Rockwell & Karve go, as I've decided I just don't need this many razors. (Honestly, I usually reach for 1 of maybe 3 or 4 on a regular basis, the others just sit collecting dust).

 

[Kostas1]

Without that ‘threat’? Like the pharmaceutical market? Where bc they have the US market cornered bc the drugs are prescription, they can charge what they want?

I get your point, but I have little faith that, if somehow protected, these companies would pass on any savings.

Without that ‘threat’? Like the pharmaceutical market? Where bc they have the US market cornered bc the drugs are prescription, they can charge what they want?

I get your point, but I have little faith that, if somehow protected, these companies would pass on any savings.

First off, "holy thread resurrection, Batman!".

I'm not going to claim the drug industry is the most principled, but it's not because they're prescription. It's mainly due to patents and research/business costs. The pharma industry sells the same pills in many locations, and charge based on: 1) what the local buyers can afford and 2) what local regulations allow them to. Kinda like Disney does demand based pricing and airlines have an algorithm to maximize profits.

But yes, companies are in business to make money and all try to maximize revenue. Merkur probably has a pretty good grasp on what the wet shaving market will/would bear and acted accordingly based on market risks. Had risk levels been less, maybe they could have gambled on a lower price point.

 

[Zerpersande]

>First off, "holy thread resurrection, Batman!".
Yeah, I just comment when I find threads relevant to whatever is currently happening in the thing called ‘My Life’.

>But yes, companies are in business to make money and all try to maximize revenue. Merkur probably has a pretty good grasp on what the wet shaving market will/would bear and acted accordingly based on market risks. Had risk levels been less, maybe they could have gambled on a lower price point.
Operative word is maybe. And would that possible price reduction have put that shaver into my price range? Doubt it. And I’m thinking about buying aFutur or aProgress now because of that knock off, so...

 

[Shave Souffle]

I just ordered a QShave razor in black with stand of Amazon. I just tried it tonight and it does seem eerily similar to my satin Futur. I don't have my Futur at the moment to compare it to side by side, but I don't remember the Futur having a slanted angle for blade alignment. This Qshave looks tilted as in not completely flat. I tried putting the top cap on in either direction but one side sits higher which results in the blade being angled. Does anyone have this issue? I'll have to take a picture to show what I mean. I spent upwards of $25 for this with the little stand but I didn't see people mentioning this early in this thread from 2 years ago and they were getting this razor for $7-$8. For $25 I'd expect it to be perfectly even.

 

[Shave Souffle]

 

[Zerpersande]

This Qshave looks tilted as in not completely flat. I tried putting the top cap on in either direction but one side sits higher which results in the blade being angled. Does anyone have this issue?

I just checked mine and it not tilted regardless of the direction of the top cap. Sounds like you should return yours to Amazon for a refund and go to AliExpress. Snpai-Zhang Storehad the lowest price in early Nov at a bit less than $8. I bought another one recently and the price had jumped to about $9.

 

[Chadjaja]

View attachment 1038242View attachment 1038243

Disassemble it by unscrewing handle..reverse the spring and rotate the bottom plate. Easy to do, quick and does the trick. Other threads have pics on it. Will fix that uneven gap.

 

[Shave Souffle]

Disassemble it by unscrewing handle..reverse the spring and rotate the bottom plate. Easy to do, quick and does the trick. Other threads have pics on it. Will fix that uneven gap.

Not sure I want to force the handle off. I did earlier try to see if the handle came off easily and it locks out pretty hard at the lowest gap. I don't want to break it and make it unreturnable. Similar story to PAA with the Bakelite Alpha. It was uneven gap and horrible shave, I watched his video about needing to tighten handle to where you hear this PING sound when loading the blade. I tried several blades and there was no "ping" sound. So I gingerly kept tightening it waiting for the "ping" and then "crack" the bakelite itself broke off where the brass hex nut is covered in bakelite in the top cap.

Is there a thread on the QShave/ MingShi disassembly? Thanks.

 

[Shave Souffle]

I did find a YouTube video of disassembly, and the result is the same. It's tilted.

 

[Kostas1]

Honestly, the argument is moot and circular.

We can complain about costs and prices (2 very different things) until we're blue in the face. Fact of the matter is, unless there is some incentive/goal, no one is putting the money into R&D. And without R&D, Merkur doesn't make the Futur and the knock-offs would not exist (because, as stated earlier, they're not "creating" anything, just copying)...and you would not have a knock-off that tempted you into "considering" buying the original.

The alternative is the Soviet/Cuba/E.Germany/N.Korea/etc. approach of taking smart people and threatening them and their families if they don't "invent" stuff for you (not talking out of my rear, half of my family was in a communist country).

This applies in medicine (even stuff developed at universities is done with grant money), materials development, technology, and yes...even razors.

Which comes back to my original point: The purpose of a patent, copyright, and any other form of "protection" of intellectual property is to encourage creation by allowing the creator to benefit, and companies consider the payback period and necessary profitability (stop to consider the hundreds of failed medicines created before a successful one was, that costs resources). I know this because I'm one of the people that has done these analyses. We considered cost, market penetration at various price points, payback period, rate of return, opportunity/probability to re-classify/extend patent...and oh yeah, how many sales we'll lose and the cost to remove fakes from the market. Plainly said, if the patent period was longer and protections better, we would have charged less to get more market share.

And in all likelihood, if patent protection were longer, yes, Merkur would have probably charged less. Why? Because as good as the Futur is (I have one, it's good), it is not the only option out there so there's this magical force known as competition keeps prices in check too.

 

[Chadjaja]

I watched the YouTube clips. Mine was uneven and it sorted it out. My first shaves were terrible before but now its one of my favorite razors. I nearly gave up before I unscrewed the handle. You won't break it..its pretty robust.

 

[Zerpersande]

Everything I’ve ordered from AliExpress has come with tracking, either Singapore Post or China Post registered mail so they certainly do have a way of tracking packages.

In the beginning the tracking seemed almost useless. These days it has improved. This time I have received email updates of progress that takes several days to show up on the website.