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Russia made blades questions

Eventually, the Russian blades should become harder to find, as I believe most (if not all) Russian products are embargoed at the moment. There's probably a stock-pile of warehouse blades at the the larger suppliers, and as the amount of stock comes down, the price will go up. Also keep in mind that Gillette has factories in other countries, their Wilkinson Swords are made in Germany, India, and apparently China.

I probably have enough blades for several years, so no problem waiting out whatever happens, and there are plenty of blades from other countries. Since the current Ukraine war, I did notice some of the Russian blades briefly go up for around a month, and then settle back down. - DE shaving is still a minority market, and that short lived spike may simply be some shavers having made panic buys, while others are choosing to buy other products, which would make sense.
 
I haven't noticed anything.

Plus, blade distributors and sellers buy millions of blades at a time, and spend years selling them. The blade is a piece of metal. It's already in the pipeline. No use wasting a tool that works. Assuming an embargo stays put, the supply will sort itself out and people will resort to other blades in 5 years.

If I had to guess, P&G probably started thinking about alternatives the night Russia invaded Ukraine. The state will most likely seize the St. Petersburg plant.

Perhaps, P&G will start making Blue Platinums/Astra/Minora/etc in India or China?
 
I noticed that you can still get most St. Petersburg Gillette blades on Amazon at the $10 - $15 price point for 100. I just checked the major US vendors and they have raised the price on many of those blades to $24 - $33 for 100. One popular US vendor has 100 Gillette Platinums at $40!! As supplies dwindle, expect the last bit of stock to sell at higher prices. Wizamets are still available for around $45 for 250, which IMHO, is a pretty good deal.
 
Today, Amazon had Gillette Platinums at the lowest price I have ever seen them. $9.99 for 100. Typically, they are between $14 and $20 for 100. As mentioned earlier in this thread, there are many thousands of Russian blades still in inventory in North America. I suspect there will be deals like this, until the supply gets low. It is obvious that vendors with low supplies have already increased prices. I ordered the Gillette Platinums from Amazon, and will let you know if they are real or counterfeit. I also expect that many Gillette counterfeits will appear, after the blades from St. Petersburg (PPI) are no longer available.
 
Given the current situation, what do you guys think will happen with the P&G production and availability of blades coming from Russia? Unfortunately, the war is going to last for quite awhile. So far the stocks have been OK, but for how much longer? AFAIK, P&G hasn't announced officially a closure of production in Russia (correct me if I'm wrong).
On the other hand, spare parts for machinery are most probably sanctioned, since it's metal working, so even if they want to continue production they may not be able to do so.
 

 
Given the current situation, what do you guys think will happen with the P&G production and availability of blades coming from Russia? Unfortunately, the war is going to last for quite awhile. So far the stocks have been OK, but for how much longer? AFAIK, P&G hasn't announced officially a closure of production in Russia (correct me if I'm wrong).
On the other hand, spare parts for machinery are most probably sanctioned, since it's metal working, so even if they want to continue production they may not be able to do so.
Welcome to B&B @NiOOH

As you can see, this topic has been much discussed over the past few months. There are other threads also. You can check out the threads above to give yourself an overview of opinions and also some great blade alternatives that are out there if the supply really does start drying.

FWIW, my opinion is that there are hundreds of millions of GSB's, Platinums etc, in the supply chain, maybe even into the billions.

I am not seeing any price hikes on these blades so far, at least in the UK.

Nothing to stress about, I would say.
 
This one was started in January before getting locked.
 

Raven Koenes

My precious!
This is not political discussion, at least not intended to be, but my 3 favorite blades are made in Russia. They are still available out there, but the price seems to be going up. What some great razor blades that are not made in Russia? What are some great razor blades whose availability will not be compromised by the European war?
Thank you, input is appreciated.
Lord, Wilkies, Derbys, Personna, Kai, Feather, Indian-made Gillettes, there's a lot.
 
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