Straight Razor market dying out?

[sanookd]

Yeah it's unfortunate. Most of the time when I find myself selling off stuff it's usually in the lower end pieces that aren't mint but they will shave and have a great edge. Usually with the intent to get guys interested in trying out straight razors a cheap option to try them out without having to spend a ton of money on something that they just might not enjoy. I will on occasion throw a Large wedge (FBU, Greaves, Fenney, etc...) or rare natural scale (Swedes like MKs, or sheffield with tortoise/ivory) up for sale but I don't like putting those things on the bay as it's risky and frankly I'd much rather work out a deal with someone that I could potentially connect with later if they have something i'm interested in. Just seems like it's harder to do that these days with guys either flooding a ton of junk as "shave ready" that turns people off or the things that i'm more interested in on the collectors pieces (that can still be shaved with) being harder for me to locate.

Also I noticed that since I was inactive on here for awhile after the birth of my child and new job that I can no longer post in the B/S/T even though as far as I know i've always had a good reputation on there and good feedback on other forums. I get it though, they don't want people using it to pump and dump a bunch of junk or only coming on here to sell stuff every couple months.

Excuse me for asking but why is it risky selling something desirable on eBay?

 

[scag315]

Excuse me for asking but why is it risky selling something desirable on eBay?

mostly an increase in folks who have gotten very good at scamming the system. Risk isn’t about getting the price, it’s about someone exploiting eBays laziness for verifying claims. Generally speaking in my experience, the more expensive an item is the more careful you need to be

 

[HVenture138]

There is obviously a dearth of excellent vintage straight razors available and at low prices. Only with the most rare/desirable items will I feel much pressure to buy quickly. I see most stuff, even at low prices, languishing on the market. And the very desirable razors (fillarmonica/western style Iwasaki/fancy heljestrand) at higher prices don’t seem like they are in any hurry to sell. I feel this has been all been true for a while and even more so lately, which seems unimaginable that it would have nothing to due with the uncertainty caused by Covid-19.

Is Dovo’s problem a waning of the straight razor market or some mismanagement or failure in a different part of there business? IDK.
I’d be interested in hearing about it if someone does know.

I don’t think back orders among, what are essentially one man operations (Wacker/Korrat/RalfAust), is a reliable index as to the health of the straight razor industrie.

It always strikes me as strange that so many wet shaving sites stay in business. So much so that I often suspect the people running them have a secondary or even principle source of income.

 

[xmacro]

It really doesn't cost much to keep a website running. $10 for a domain name per year, Wordpress templates are free, maybe $100-$200 per year for a license for a ready-made plugin that can process credit card transactions, depending on the site.

 

[Colonel Conk]

IMHO Dovo didn't help itself with the rep of the Best Qualities razors... the pricing relative to other models, is enticing, but.. i wonder if someone with more info could write a quick analysis of BQ and it's effects on the market. i wonder what rebrand/resllers like @Colonel Conk think, obviously it's ok and perhaps fits the brands market. is it more of a talking point or having something for everyone. what will they do without dovo? china?

I'd really be interested to see how much a market impact "shave clubs" have had on Dovo or TI, who seem to be the 2 with the greatest volume of "entry" level straights sold/manufactured (maybe boker too?)

i'd think aust, wacker, and others still enjoy a similar rate of revenue as before, being more niche in my mind.

The reasons behind the hit/miss quality control on the BQ razors stem from several factors. One of the main reasons being that they have tried to keep up with demand. Rushing to produce straights in an effort to fulfill a demand led to less than ideal razors leaving the factory. The apprentice blade makers at Dovo are under a strict training program for 5 years before being turned loose on their own in the factory... Its hard to produce skilled blade makers overnight. I can whole-heartedly assure you the demand for Dovo razors has not waned.

The market has recently (~6 years) been flooded with straight razor producers from every corner of the world. This has done two things, made quality razors much more attainable and driven the cost of (non-"exclusive") razors down. What was once considered acceptable and often as premium has become average, again due to the availability of really decent razors for extremely affordable prices. Short of the long... Its much easier to get a decent razor for an affordable price now than it was 5 years ago.