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Is this Gillette Slim in Excellent Condition or Just Very Good?

Um. There is a difference between user grade, mint and NOS. Unused is typically referred to as 'New Old Stock'.. NOS.
For collectibles I’m familiar with, which have well established resale markets*, the only difference between mint and NOS is that the mint item may have been removed from its original packaging. Once it’s been used however, it can no longer be properly described as mint, not by an honest seller anyway. I’m aware razor sellers don’t follow that convention but I think it’s misleading to use the word mint for something that has been used (and in most cases I’ve seen, shows signs of it too).

*examples would be mint stamps and mint vinyl records. They must be unused. There’s no room for manoeuvre with that description.
 
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For the price I paid I shouldn't have to refurb it.
cleaning a vintage razor isn't refurbishing.... it's a necessary part of this hobby. I see that you're a new member here, are these your first vintage razors? No matter how fantastic the condition is when you get an old razor, NOS, mint, excellent, very good, whatever you wanna call it...the grim reality of the situation is - you're about to scrape and probably nick your face with a 50+ year old hunk of metal that sat for decades in the house of a person that's most likely dead now. Some members use the abbreviation DPR - dead people's razors.

But now that we got that out of the way, onto the good part-... the cleaning & sanitizing process is half the fun of this hobby, besides the actual shaving. Spending about a half hour soaking, wiping, brushing, polishing (if necessary)...that's the time, sweat, and elbow grease that makes the razor become yours instead of somebody else's, you get to closely inspect, massage, and admire every nook & cranny before you use it. I have a few that are between 80 - 100 years old, who the heck knows where they originally came from, or what kinda conditions they were kept in over all that time?

Looking forward to the pics, good luck !! There are plenty of threads about cleaning old razors....quick reference/suggested/recommended cleaning materials - scrubbin bubbles (non-bleach version), dawn dish soap, very soft toothbrush, flitz polish.
 
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I’ve bought 3 Slim Adjustables. All of them H3, my birth quarter. I paid around $25 for each. One of them isn’t in great condition but the other two cleaned up real nice after a bath in Dawn Dishwashing Liquid and boiling hot water and a nice buffing with Blue Magic polish. I wouldn’t pay $87 for one in perfect condition and even $65 seems quite high to me given how many are regularly available on the auction site. But you are the one who has to be happy with it. Enjoy your new acquisition.
 
R

romsitsa

Quality of Gillette razors declined during the 60-ies, your Slim was maybe “mint” but pictures weren’t clear enough.
I had a handful of “mint” Slims with pretty poor finishing straight from the factory (dull nickel, toolmarks, deep scratches under the plating, etc.).

Adam
 
For collectibles I’m familiar with, which have well established resale markets*, the only difference between mint and NOS is that the mint item may have been removed from its original packaging. Once it’s been used however, it can no longer be properly described as mint, not by an honest seller anyway. I’m aware razor sellers don’t follow that convention but I think it’s misleading to use the word mint for something that has been used (and in most cases I’ve seen, shows signs of it too).

*examples would be mint stamps and mint vinyl records. They must be unused. There’s no room for manoeuvre with that description.
Stamp and records are not razors, so they don't have the same grading system, apples and oranges... It was very clear to me, simply by looking at the razor photo below the razor was not, "mint" regardless of the sellers description. this was an user grade razor, many seller on the Bay have little clue of razors, it's quality or how to grade them and with all respect the onus is on the buyer. Do diligence apply's at all time, if you are new to the hobby and have no clue of how to grade then always ask someone who is knowable
 

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Stamp and records are not razors, so they don't have the same grading system, apples and oranges... It was very clear to me, simply by looking at the razor photo below the razor was not, "mint" regardless of the sellers description. this was an user grade razor, many seller on the Bay have little clue of razors, it's quality or how to grade them and with all respect the onus is on the buyer. Do diligence apply's at all time, if you are new to the hobby and have no clue of how to grade then always ask someone who is knowable
I know that stamps and records are not razors - that’s exactly what I’m saying (but in this case the term mint wasn’t used at all, the razor was described as excellent according to the OP). My only point in the first place was that there is no official grading system for razors but that seems to have gone over some people’s heads. Never mind, I give up.
 
Everything looks excellent but tarnishing/Usage? On the one edge
See Photo one.

What I want to know is if this makes the Razor a "Very Good " condition instead of Excellent. I can't decide whether to return it. I paid top dollar $87.00 and after shipping and taxes came out to be $100.00

See picture 1 and 2
And how clean it is on the rest of the Photos

Please give advice I'm not sure if I should complain to the seller.

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There was a seller that had a rash of bad sells, alot of his stuff said excellent or Nos, I returned a 'nos' fatboy that wasn't the year I bid on , someone else here had the same problem. The vintage prices go up and down alot. Last year red and blue tip gillettes were cheap. Now the reds are going for 50 bucks or there about.
 
There was a seller that had a rash of bad sells, alot of his stuff said excellent or Nos, I returned a 'nos' fatboy that wasn't the year I bid on , someone else here had the same problem. The vintage prices go up and down alot. Last year red and blue tip gillettes were cheap. Now the reds are going for 50 bucks or there about.
"The vintage prices go up and down a lot" That is very true, it's the old supply and demand thing. If I was asked how would you grade razors from user grade, excellent/mint or NOS it would be simple. User grade: Commonly found in poor to good condition, ie dings, dents, plating and mechanical issues. Excellent to mint: Very little to none of the issues of an user grade it may or may not have parts of the Mfg's shipper, case or instructional paperwork, tags and so on. NOS: New old stock that has not been in circulation or used, they would include, all the Mfg's items as sold new.
 
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I know that stamps and records are not razors - that’s exactly what I’m saying (but in this case the term mint wasn’t used at all, the razor was described as excellent according to the OP). My only point in the first place was that there is no official grading system for razors but that seems to have gone over some people’s heads. Never mind, I give up.
Not trying to pick on you my friend, just offering a different point of view:thumbup:
 
There was a seller that had a rash of bad sells, alot of his stuff said excellent or Nos, I returned a 'nos' fatboy that wasn't the year I bid on , someone else here had the same problem. The vintage prices go up and down alot. Last year red and blue tip gillettes were cheap. Now the reds are going for 50 bucks or there about.
I had a look on there earlier and saw a Fatboy that the seller said was 'as new' that had noticeable wear and flea bites on the nickel finish. I've had good luck on Etsy myself but it looks like there's a few dodgy sellers on there, as with the other well-known site I guess.
 
Really the razor I received was excellent condition except for the one edge.

If I had paid $60.00 or $70.00 I might have kept it. I hinted to the seller that I'd take it if he lowered the price but he didn't bite.

I know that the $87.00 +$9.95 ship charge is top dollar for a Slim model that's not NOS or Mint, there were millions produced. If I pay top dollar for Excellent Condition then I expect excellent condition.

Initially I contacted him to negotiate price and he was firm saying that Razors like this usually sell within 2 weeks. Probably I was feeling more selective because he didn't negotiate. I give you your price so you better give me what you represent.

I just bought another slim on Etsy for $70.00 delivered and I'll be a little more forgiving. She was asking $78.00 and I offered her $70.00 and she took it. Also she doesn't specialize in shaving stuff. Getting a better deal tends to put me into a better mood. I'll post pics of the new Razor when it arrives on Monday or Tuesday so we can compare. But she took complete pictures and the razor looks great.

The seller of the first Razor specializes in Shaving Stuff, so I expected more from him.

I'm going to hit the Antique shops and see what's available this week. It might be better to buy and refurb myself.

I may seem like I'm a difficult buyer and actually I don't consider myself to be that. I only want to get what's represented.
 
Maybe I'm spoiled because I bought an excellent condition Fatboy on Ebay for $85.00 and was expecting my Slim to be in the same condition. Look at pics below. Isn't that Fatboy in Fat Condition. BTW the stain on the Nickel top was a trick of the camera. The top of the Razor was perfect.

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I wouldn’t pay $87 for a Slim even if it was NOS. Worth is whatever someone is willing to pay for it. If you think it’s not worth 87 bucks in that condition ask to return it. User grade, Very good, Excellent.....one man’s Very Good might be another man’s User Grade. The bottom line is whatever the buyer is willing to pay is what the value is.

Ask to return it. And if you can’t then I suppose next time when you see a razor in Excellent condition you’ll know it’s really just Very Good in your opinion.

+1! Great advice!

There is no grading system for used razors! Looks like a fine ‘user grade’ razor to me.

My guess is that the Slim should shave just fine (which is what I care most about)!
 
If you get a great razor from a specific seller, save that seller. After an initial couple of bad buys, I started to look more at feedback and clarity of photo descriptions and got smarter. I just bought Fatboys and Slims from 2 sellers I trusted after that.

The more clear the photo, they are less likely to be hiding damage. The more photos, the better. Look at feedback.
 
I actually find if I'm careful Ebay is a great place to buy stuff.

The rating system keeps many people honest. The thing you have to be careful about it's to make sure that the pictures are clear and there are lots of them , if you have any questions contact the seller before purchasing.

For example on the Fatboy I wrote the seller there a story behind this. He wrote that that he bought it at an estate sale. It was next to electric razors. And he thought that it had little to no use. This was the deciding factor and I pulled the trigger and got an excellent condition razor.
 
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