The adventure of searching vs ebay, what do you do?

[Kailand09]

I came across a dilemma today, and wanted all your thoughts!

Before even a single proper wet shave, I'm on the hunt to find a DE. I know I'll be set as far as straights go thanks to my ancestors, but I haven't a DE. I would like to try out a DE as well, and so I've started reading up on them as well. All of this desire to get razors and accessories has me looking to resale shops for things as I am on a budget. This has also sparked (unusual for me!) a high interest in the history of the items and preference for quite old ones since I found out the straights left to me are close to 100 years old.

Today I went to the resale shop to check things out, and found a fairly low quality shave brush, the old spice mug, and a DE of unknown origins. All three seemed quite old. I skipped on the brush, and had a tough time skipping out on the razor but for $18 I thought in my head I could get an ebay or B&B forum for less most likely of a brand I am sure about.

My question is, then, do you find ebay to be too easy almost? As if everything is laid out there for you and not much work is done on your end to find it, get the information on it, etc? As I went back to my computer, I found myself on ebay looking at cheap DE's, and it just isn't as rewarding to me. The search and find through a couple of resale shops and my dad's closet both yielded interesting results, and much more adventure.

That being said, what do you guys do? Do you skip ebay sometimes to put your budget towards something you find out in the wild? Would you just forget about it and just buy a cheap DE on ebay?

 

[Infernal2]

Personally, I tend to stay away from the Bay but not because of razors, rather the search for old, good quality tools on the site are often subject to run up prices when users run into collectors. I wish I had the resources and technical knowledge to start a razor equivalent of a Brass City Records (an amazing tool resale site that focuses on user quality tools, rather than on collector quality). I'm cautious of the bay and prefer the "search" to it because of other experiences.

 

[Kailand09]

Very interesting points. You can't be as sure you're getting something since it isn't in your hand...

Now you're making me question going back for that DE... though it had no markings. I'm having lots of trouble identifying it.

 

[Haggises]

I found the eBay route to be fun to be honest. It takes a while to know enough to sort out the wheat from the chaff, and then trying to find the bargains no one else saw.
Plenty of people better at that game than me, who picked up their double ring in a lot of junk for ten bucks, or happened across a red dot that everyone else assumed was a regular fatboy....

 

[RobE]

Your first DE razor probably won't be your last. I'd buy a something modern (at a comfortable price point) from Muhle, Merkur or Edwin Jagger or others which are readily viewable on retailers sites... use it a few times, and take your interest from there. I wouldn't start with vintage (but that's just me). GL with it!

 

[JaxJim]

For me it's a lot more fun to find razors in the wild. Sadly, they're not as plentiful in antique shops and flea markets as they were even a year or two ago. I still check eBay pretty often, but haven't bid on anything in some time-- prices tend to be higher than I'm willing to pay. If I see something I really want that's a BIN, I'll go that route.

If you should go back to resale shop, you might want to take a photo of the razor and post it here. There are plenty of expert B&B members who will be willing to identify it.

Good luck!

 

[Kailand09]

I believe I will go back sometime this week. The shape seems to say very old gillette to me. Though some characteristics were Merkur in my head from the pictures I've seen of them, also would be an older model.

@RobE out of curiosity what is your reasoning?

@JaxJim this is true, I still have 3 or so more resale shops to check in my area... but then once summer hits there is the most ENORMOUS flea market near my hometown that I get to go to, so I'll probably score some sweet ones there.