If traditional safety razors?

[Aky007]

If the traditional safety razor had a majority market share, what effect do you think this might have on prices of blades and the razor. Would we see an increase of prices? Would gillette and the rest of these companies think of something to get their profits back?
People that i already know are switching to the traditional safety razor for better price and a better shave.
What does everone think of this?

 

[TraderJoe]

If the traditional safety razor had a majority market share, what effect do you think this might have on prices of blades and the razor. Would we see an increase of prices? Would gillette and the rest of these companies think of something to get their profits back?
People that i already know are switching to the traditional safety razor for better price and a better shave.
What does everone think of this?

If more people were buying DE blades and razors, and not enough razors and/or blades were being made to keep up with the new demand, prices would surely go up. DE blades seem like they are cheap enough to make, and I can't see how more wouldn't get manufactured....but as you say they (gillette & etc) would probably find a way to keep their profit margins intact.

I wonder if Warren Buffet (notoriously cheap) uses a Mach3 or Fusion. After all, he did/does own a TON of Gillette stock.....(now P&G after the merger).

~JOE

 

[Kyle]

I would guess that Gillette and Schick would both come out with a "Revolutionary New" DE blade which would include some new kind of blade treatment that would make absolutely no difference but would allow them to charge more. They would also come out with several different series of razors that would be "custom tailored" to each beard type.

Ultimately, they would find a way to cash in and convince you they were providing the best a man could get (sound familiar?).

 

[With The Grain]

....

 

[NMMB]

Ah.... suupply and demand. This is what Economists live for, right? No, wait... this isn't what we live for (unless we are teaching ECON 1001)... but here is the short, simple version. If demand were to go up but the producers were unable to increase production then we would certainly see prices go up as well. However, if the producers were able to (and willing to) produce more blades then this would result in some downward pressure on the price. In this market the willingness to produce more units would be key since the blade producers are but a few firms with great market power. These firms then can act as a psuedo-cartel keeping production down and prices high so as to maximize their profits.

Really, without a lot more information it is not possible to give any answer as to what would happen in the event that this unlikely circumstance is to be realized.

 

[birchhook]

Ultimately, they would find a way to cash in and convince you they were providing the best a man could get (sound familiar?).

I would assume that they would make some sort of proprietary handle that would require you to only use radioactive green, Gillette Nuclear® blades. Either the handle or the blades would have some sort of marketing "advantage".

 

[TraderJoe]

http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?story_id=26243

Yes I'm aware. I wasn't insinuating he was an "old miser," but moroever that most uber-wealthy don't overspend on things like razors, creams, colognes. If you know whether or not he uses Gillette's products, that would be telling me something.

 

[deadgoon]

Even if the market were to move back to the DE, I doubt Schick and Gillette would use the standard DE blade. They would both probably have their own proprietary blades for their new razors and they'd probably each have several different types of blades for different types of razors. And they'd probaby be made of titanium or aluminum or some other space age metal so that they could be priced high. It all goes back to the reason they stopped making the double edge in the first place, there's no money in it. The profit margin on a DE is probably thinner than the blade itself. I can only imagine what the profit margin is like on a Fusion cartridge. You'd have a hard time getting a company to move away from that.

 

[Christoph]

Yeah, I think that prices of blades and handles would go up, because companies would have to advertise for them, and consumers would have to pay for some of this. Also, the big companies would find some way to make the DE 'new' and 'revolutionary'. And, as was mentioned earlier here, if they could not produce enough blades then the price would also surely rise.

remember, very, very few people in the world use DEs. its a pretty small market. I wonder if that will ever change?

 

[Jonnybc]

As long as independant companies make razor blades the prices couldn't be controlled by the razor manufacturers, they would struggle to sell their own brand particularly when competing with the likes of Derby. For me the Merkur blades aren't very good and they continue to be among the most expensive, the price of these blades doesn't stop the likes of Derby boxes of 100 blades and selling them for ad little as £10.

Gillette would have to do a Microsoft and buy out all the independant manufacturers to keep the price high.

 

[ouch]

How long are we going to delude ourselves with the ludicrous contention that we're engaged in this particular practice because it's cheaper.

We use whatever it is that we use because we feel that it's better. When we spend $50+ for a razor or $100+ for a brush, all to be used with our dozens of creams/soaps, the argument that we're really being frugal tends to lose some of its bite.

I'd love to see us in the majority- the economy of scale would be our best friend, pricewise.

 

[yasuo200365]

If demand grew very (and I mean very) rapidly then in the short-term DE suppliers would not be able to keep up with demand & so prices will rise.

Since there is no shortage of steel, DE production will eventually increase, as to will competition because key patents are no longer valid and manufacturers like to make a quick buck.

Demand will be satisfied, economy of scale will come into play and prices will drop.

Will it ever happen? No, not unless someone like Bill Gates Charitable Trust wants to fund the expensive and effective advertising campaign that's needed to stimulate demand.

Regards
John