Stainless Steel Razor Costs

[Scritchnscrub]

I received a garlic press yesterday which got me thinking about a presumption I've had that stainless steel razors tend to cost more than other razors because of the added costs involved in the material and/or labour involved in working with it.

The garlic press is stainless steel and admittedly I have no idea what grade but presumably it would be one that has decent rust resistant and durability given it's application lifetime warranty) - and weighs about 450g. It's unclear whether it's just the handles that are SS or the whole thing - but if it's only the handles, I would have to guess they weigh at least 150g. The press is made by a well known manufacturer and appears to be very high quality and is nicely designed and polished. There are also other materials involved such as rubber grips and plastic inlays so it's not simply cast or machined and polished and they're done.

It sells for $25 and has the appearance of a very high end product (i.e. excellent finishing).

I appreciate that there are all sorts of factors involved in setting prices such as, the size of the market, efficiencies of production (economies of scale), market demand, research and engineering, material and labour costs etc.

But it did make me wonder why there generally seems to be a pretty significant disparity between most SS razors and non-SS razors.

This thread is not intended to inflame - I own two SS razors which I'm quite pleased with. I'm really wondering if I may be missing something here.

 

[Mick]

I got a nice plastic garlic press for $2.99. Works just as well as my expensive metal one does.

Value is in the eye of the user.

 

[PFP_Dad]

I would think it has to do with making back design and manufacturing costs + profit. Tradere sells for $170 and I the latest serial number in the B&B registry is 702. This means that gross revenue (assuming everyone paid full price, bought the handle and that they never cost less) would only be $119,340. Assume that the distributors mark it up 20%, this leaves only $95,472 to cover all expenses. In order for this to be a full time job (lets say $40k a year for one employee, the owner), they would mean that cost would need to be kept at $55,472. This includes profit for the business which should be kept to at least double digit percentages.

The garlic press on the other hand probably sells tens of thousands if not more but generates more gross revenue lessening the individual cost.

As for what actual manufacturing, machining, and distribution costs, I have no idea, but when I look at it this way I'm actually surprised that they don't cost more. So I guess I'm not sure if the difference is due to the material use as much as the smaller market for a high end razor.

I used Tradere as an example because it is easier to quantify their work, but I would assume other makers would have similar costs and be competing in a similar market.

 

[Scritchnscrub]

Which one is it? It's not too late to return mine.

I got a nice plastic garlic press for $2.99. Works just as well as my expensive metal one does.

Value is in the eye of the user.

 

[Mick]

Which one is it? It's not too late to return mine.

It is like the one they sell on Amazon for $5 but it was at a local store

http://www.amazon.com/Amico-Kitchenware-Plastic-Orange-Garlic/dp/B007Q9337U

But back to your topic.

Chris hit it on the head.

The cost of stainless razors (at least the ones made by small companies) are due to the low volume and low production numbers. In business high quantity/volume means lower production cost.

Just take a look at the cost of autos to see this.

A factory/assembly-line car is affordable whereas a hand made car like a Morgan or Lamborghini is going to be far more expensive because so few of them are made.

 

[Scritchnscrub]

I would think it has to do with making back design and manufacturing costs + profit. Tradere sells for $170 and I the latest serial number in the B&B registry is 702. This means that gross revenue (assuming everyone paid full price, bought the handle and that they never cost less) would only be $119,340. Assume that the distributors mark it up 20%, this leaves only $95,472 to cover all expenses. In order for this to be a full time job (lets say $40k a year for one employee, the owner), they would mean that cost would need to be kept at $55,472. This includes profit for the business which should be kept to at least double digit percentages.

The garlic press on the other hand probably sells tens of thousands if not more but generates more gross revenue lessening the individual cost.

As for what actual manufacturing, machining, and distribution costs, I have no idea, but when I look at it this way I'm actually surprised that they don't cost more. So I guess I'm not sure if the difference is due to the material use as much as the smaller market for a high end razor.

I used Tradere as an example because it is easier to quantify their work, but I would assume other makers would have similar costs and be competing in a similar market.

This makes complete sense - thanks for your response. I was thinking that an EJ DE89 for example sells for about $35 but forgot that the razor is just one item in a large lineup of EJ products. Whereas a Tradere razor, to use your example, is one of just a couple of products.

In fact, now that I think about it, iKon's dropped their prices with their latest SS releases. Maybe it's because they are building enough of a catalogue that it now makes sense to do this.

 

[rxonmymind]

Raw materials are cheap. It's everything involved after getting the "ingredients ". Time, labor, overhead, regulations, permits(possibly) etc. The actual steel I can get cheap but the expertise and machining cad drawings etc can be expensive.

 

[PFP_Dad]

This makes complete sense - thanks for your response. I was think that an EJ DE89 for example sells for about $35 but forgot that the razor is just one item in a large lineup of EJ products? Whereas a Tradere razor, to use your example, is one of just a couple of products.

In fact, now that I think about it, iKon's dropped their prices with their latest SS releases. Maybe it's because they are building enough of a catalogue that it now makes sense to do this.

Exactly and each head design comes with additional design costs so it prevents a drastic reduction in price. The upside is we have access to the SB and OC and all three plates for the Titan. The more similar the design to the last one (ie. iKon has already done OC and SB razors now they are just changing dimensions) the cheaper it should be in design. The more of each model made the lower the per item manufacturing cost typically.

So I would say it has to do with both the total line up as is EJ's case and the similarity of design as is iKon's. Also the ability to set up distribution is already there making sure more consumers see the product.

 

[Foyle]

I would hazard a guess that a garlic press is produced in far greater quantities than a safety razor is. It's probably not CNC machined either. It's going to cost a lot more for a small one or two-man operation to produce a precisely engineered and manufactured razor than it will to make a mass produced, most likely stamped, garlic press.

 

[JHCC]

Is there a difference in the basic manufacturing cost as well, apart from economies of scale? It seems to me that either casting or machining from stainless steel would be more expensive than casting from brass or some other alloy with a relatively lower melting point.