How To Extradite a #21 from The UK

[tallow_first]

I’m sure this auction for what appeared to be a pristine #21 set caused quite a furor among razor collectors outside the UK as the seller was very adamant about not shipping beyond his/her own boundaries, and no amount of begging, pleading, cajoling, or bribery would change his/her mind (trust me, I tried). Of course, if there’s a will, there is always a way, and here’s how I did it.

For starters, since the seller would only ship to a UK address, that’s what I needed. This part was really quite easy as there are several companies in the UK that provide street mailing addresses and forwarding services to enable people outside the UK to shop at stores that won’t ship abroad. The one I chose was AlfaSent because, unlike the others, they don’t charge any setup fees or monthly or annual service fees. All they require is a name, address, phone number, and email to set you up with a physical UK mailing address. Of course no one works for free, right? But it almost seems like they do. The only money I paid to AlfaSent was $30 for DHL International Express service, and I received the razor in only one day after it was in their hands.

Okay, I obtained a UK mailing address, so the next step was to add it to my eBay account and set it as my primary shipping address. After doing that, I was free of the seller’s restriction and was able to bid on the razor. See, eBay blocks bidders based on primary shipping address, not which country your account is registered in, so they are actually providing the loophole.

The next step was dealing with PayPal. PayPal would not allow me (or anyone) to add a foreign shipping address to my US account, so I created a new account using the UK address, and then “gifted” money to myself from my US account to pay for the razor. I had to use this little workaround because PayPal wouldn’t let me add a credit card with a US mailing address to a UK based account. I then linked my eBay and PayPal accounts so the address would show as “confirmed”. I did all of this because I don’t think it would’ve gone over too well with the seller if I was trying to pay from a US account with a confirmed US address, and then telling him/her to ship to an unconfirmed UK address.

I know some of you will think it’s just easier to contact a member living in the UK to bid for you, but I prefer to do things on my own so I know there won’t be any slip-ups. Besides, I never like to draw any attention to an auction I’m going to bid on in hopes of keeping the price down, although that didn’t quite happen in this case, but the final price was certainly within my preset limit.

Anyway, enough of that. Time for some razor porn!

 

[johnmrson]

That is a gorgeous razor. Well worth the price paid. It seems like alot of work to go to though. In the past, I've just politely asked if any forum members in the particular country would be happy to bid on my behalf and I've always had a number of positive responses. I've managed to pick up some very nice razors that way.

 

[Alacrity59]

Thanks for taking the time to write up the process you used. That is a very nice razor. Congrats on your success.

 

[ghostknife]

Thanks for that info, good to know as I didn't even look at that option. I just posted a message here and within the hour or so I had a UK address sorted and she let me bid. Although there was no way I was going that high I knew somebody else here would get it and was just waiting for the posting, congrats....but I'm still annoyed at you for going that high

 

[Ignatius]

Shes a beauty.

Well worth the shenanigans.

 

[Jake]

Nice purchase and creative method of managing a UK-only purchase from the US.

Do you have any ideas why that head pitting developed? I've seen this condition on a number of #21s -- but not all of them. I have the impression that there was some problem with the rhodium plating technique -- possibly these with the strange pitting were early models and they got it worked out later in the year.

Did you purchase that #21 because you don't have one or because the hunt is so much fun and you wanted to see whether it was as good as it seemed to be described? And do you think you'll use this razor or simply keep it on display?

I've found this model to be one of the more elegant of the rhodium-plated Brits, but the shave has only been so so -- and the razor plating is really delicate I've been reluctant to use my #21s very often. A special occasion perhaps, but certainly not a regular shaving razor.

But perhaps keeping these rare models off the street is enough of a reason to purchase them. Just wondered if you wanted to offer your thoughts, comments, perspective.

But congratulations!

 

[galopede]

Reminds me of the problems we in the UK have trying to buy on B&B when it's CONUS only!

Gareth

 

[spinyeel]

Mine isn't as nice as that one. But it was acquired for $AU8.50 at a flea market.

 

[valmara1971]

You should have just asked me buddy, I'd have won it and posted it to you and not taken a $0.01 for my trouble. Next time perhaps and that goes for all you non UK members just so were clear.

 

[luvmysuper]

You should have just asked me buddy, I'd have won it and posted it to you and not taken a $0.01 for my trouble. Next time perhaps and that goes for all you non UK members just so were clear.

That's a generous and gracious offer. Thanks for that.

 

[ramblin-wreck]

That's a generous and gracious offer. Thanks for that.

+1......and I think I speak for many of us Yank members when I say the same goes for us.

 

[forum9]

To sell Internationaly is more time consuming and riskier. So some sellers just don’t want the hassle.

I think that if you sell to the largest audience you will get the best price.

Glad you found a work around.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Does the end justify the means?

 

[tallow_first]

Nice purchase and creative method of managing a UK-only purchase from the US.

Do you have any ideas why that head pitting developed? I've seen this condition on a number of #21s -- but not all of them. I have the impression that there was some problem with the rhodium plating technique -- possibly these with the strange pitting were early models and they got it worked out later in the year.

Did you purchase that #21 because you don't have one or because the hunt is so much fun and you wanted to see whether it was as good as it seemed to be described? And do you think you'll use this razor or simply keep it on display?

I've found this model to be one of the more elegant of the rhodium-plated Brits, but the shave has only been so so -- and the razor plating is really delicate I've been reluctant to use my #21s very often. A special occasion perhaps, but certainly not a regular shaving razor.

But perhaps keeping these rare models off the street is enough of a reason to purchase them. Just wondered if you wanted to offer your thoughts, comments, perspective.

But congratulations!

I have also noticed that the #21s seem to have an issue with the plating on the doors, and I’m not sure why. Perhaps it was a problem from the factory, but it’s strange that the #15s that came out prior don’t usually look like that. Who knows for sure?

This is my first #21, and I had been looking for some time for a real clean example like this. I have only seen a few crop up on eBay, and they usually have some plating problems or the cases look like hell. This will be used very lightly in a rather large rotation and will spend most of it’s time sitting in a glass case with it’s brethren (#15, #16, #22, #66, #58, #59). I don’t use any of my high end razors very often, and I even have a few gold plated ones that I don’t use at all because the plating seems so thin.

thats smart, but is it insured, i lost alota stuff overseas and its nightmare trying to recover it.

Insurance was available, but the price was kind of steep.

Mine isn't as nice as that one. But it was acquired for $AU8.50 at a flea market.

I’m not listening! La, la, la, la, la, la, la!

You should have just asked me buddy, I'd have won it and posted it to you and not taken a $0.01 for my trouble. Next time perhaps and that goes for all you non UK members just so were clear.

That is quite the generous offer, but I’m not real comfortable asking people I don’t know for favors out of the blue.

Does the end justify the means?

Absolutely. It may sound like I went through a lot of hassle, but, honestly, it took me longer to write that post than to set up those accounts.

 

[CPA]

That is a creative solution to an international problem. I work in international taxation and see similar problems like this in the tax world. Great job solving your problem.

 

[Go West Young Man]

IAbsolutely. It may sound like I went through a lot of hassle, but, honestly, it took me longer to write that post than to set up those accounts.

I didn't mean the hassle, I meant the lying.

 

[Ignatius]

I didn't mean the hassle, I meant the lying.

That's a bit strong isn't it?

The seller wanted to ship to a UK address only, and our OP was able to provide that.


I think congrats are in order for the initiative it took to actually do that. I can't buy any Gillettes or aftershaves I'd like from the US, and all I do is whine about it. So qudos for that.

 

[Go West Young Man]

So why not just tell the seller of his plans? Because the seller had already said no, and thus some measures of deception had to take place.

 

[spanx]

Are you trying to blind us.How about a viewer warning:Apply sunglasses before viewing razor porn.

 

[Ignatius]

So why not just tell the seller of his plans? Because the seller had already said no

He said no to shipping overseas. And he didn't. No problem.

Unless the seller has some sort of moral objection to razors eventually leaving the UK. Now that I think of it, I do! Why can't I find anything other than rusty techs? Machiavellian international collectors, thats why.