Update on the Razor Guard front

[Mr Mockett]

Ok,

So I found a couple places, and got a couple of quotes. The most attractive so far is a nice dip molding company in the Netherlands. Price includes tooling, production, and delivery.

The initial investment would be EUR 1,555 (or $2,390 thereabouts). That includes setup for all the tooling involved.

The price per item, including the printing of the logo is EUR .97 (or $1.50) each.

This was all done for a quote on an initial order of 500 pieces.

According to the prior poll we have interest in 219 pieces, with 73 voters so far.

So here's the breakdown.

To cover the tooling, for the people involved, it would be about $33 per person.

$2,390/73 = $33

$1.50*219 = $328.50

There is also what we would have to cover for the rest of the lot of 500. If B&B would want some to sell on the storefront, they could cover some of that.

So really, not including the per-piece cost we're looking at an investment of $33 per person (assuming 73 people. Less if more people sign up!) to get this going.

Assuming you want 2 of them, that's a $36 investment. This is a one-time thing, of course, since they can produce more of them when we want them once the tooling is made.

 

[ps49556n]

Forgive me but the $33 per person is just to cover the initial cost of starting up and then after than is it $1.50 per guard? Is that correct?


Am I missing something? To me it sounds like members would be paying about $35 each to get the process going and in return get 2 of these razor guards...What happens next? After paying the the initial cost of starting up, who will be distributing them in the future?

 

[RichGem]

Nope. Not for me. Not when I can buy a hard shell case for way less.

 

[Mr Mockett]

That's correct. This is why things like this often don't happen. There is an initial outlay to cover the cost of tooling.

I am not interested in becoming the sole distributor of these things, therefore I'm also not willing to cover the high initial cost of production.

I opened it up to people here to see if anyone is interested in helping me to cover the cost of production, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a non-starter.

I also didn't assume that B&B itself would want to cover the initial cost of production, as this is an even more niche item than brushes. If I'm wrong, Joel, PM me, but I doubt you guys would want to do that.

If enough people (how many people do we have? 7,000 registered?) put in $1 we could cover the cost of the initial tooling, but I only had 73 people even interested in buying the item.

So unless we:

A. Get a lot more people to contribute much smaller sums (2,390 people @ $1 each)
B. Get enough people who want to see this happen

then this won't get off the ground.

Really, if enough people help out, it's cheap.

 

[joel]

That's correct. This is why things like this often don't happen. There is an initial outlay to cover the cost of tooling.

I am not interested in becoming the sole distributor of these things, therefore I'm also not willing to cover the high initial cost of production.

I opened it up to people here to see if anyone is interested in helping me to cover the cost of production, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a non-starter.

I also didn't assume that B&B itself would want to cover the initial cost of production, as this is an even more niche item than brushes. If I'm wrong, Joel, PM me, but I doubt you guys would want to do that.

If enough people (how many people do we have? 7,000 registered?) put in $1 we could cover the cost of the initial tooling, but I only had 73 people even interested in buying the item.

So unless we:

A. Get a lot more people to contribute much smaller sums (2,390 people @ $1 each)
B. Get enough people who want to see this happen

then this won't get off the ground.

As we chatted about via PM, I think you're going to have a hard time. A leather travel case is $7-10. I think you'll have a really hard time finding more than 100-150 people interested (if you can even find that many) - so even then at $16 a pop, it's not such a great deal.

Also - the biggest cost you haven't factored in is shipping. They are a manufacturer - and there is no way they're going to ship all of these items to individual customers (and even if they would - the shipping from the netherlands per item would be exceptionally high) so likely, they would be shipped in a large package (which would add a decent amount of $) but the most important question is - who is going to distribute all of these items? Remember, once you (or whoever) gets all of these items, someone has to take them, and individuals package each one of them, buy the boxes, packing material, tape, shipping labels, etc and fill out each label individually, etc.

Even if you could get the 2,300 people interested - it sounds like it would be an absolute nightmare to iron out the logistics of, and someone would really have to put in a lot of effort. Even with the 2,300 people and them being $1 each, i'd have to imagine shipping from the Netherlands will add at least $1 onto the cost of each item, then the cost of packaging them individually, boxes, tape, and shipping within the U.S. is at least $2-3 - so now we're at at least $5 a plastic cap - and that's absolute best case scenario.

Also - who is going to put up the initial money? What happens if/when people back out? It sounds like it would really be a pain in the rear. If you can make it work, you're my hero - but just the logistics and pain of decanting colognes (which people say they want/will buy - then don't when you actually decant them) was enough for me to become very weary about these kinds of projects.

 

[Mr Mockett]

As we chatted about via PM, I think you're going to have a hard time. A leather travel case is $7-10. I think you'll have a really hard time finding more than 100-150 people interested (if you can even find that many) - so even then at $16 a pop, it's not such a great deal.

Also - the biggest cost you haven't factored in is shipping. They are a manufacturer - and there is no way they're going to ship all of these items to individual customers (and even if they would - the shipping from the netherlands per item would be exceptionally high) so likely, they would be shipped in a large package (which would add a decent amount of $) but the most important question is - who is going to distribute all of these items? Remember, once you (or whoever) gets all of these items, someone has to take them, and individuals package each one of them, buy the boxes, packing material, tape, shipping labels, etc and fill out each label individually, etc.

Even if you could get the 2,300 people interested - it sounds like it would be an absolute nightmare to iron out the logistics of, and someone would really have to put in a lot of effort. Even with the 2,300 people and them being $1 each, i'd have to imagine shipping from the Netherlands will add at least $1 onto the cost of each item, then the cost of packaging them individually, boxes, tape, and shipping within the U.S. is at least $2-3 - so now we're at at least $5 a plastic cap - and that's absolute best case scenario.

Also - who is going to put up the initial money? What happens if/when people back out? It sounds like it would really be a pain in the rear. If you can make it work, you're my hero - but just the logistics and pain of decanting colognes (which people say they want/will buy - then don't when you actually decant them) was enough for me to become very weary about these kinds of projects.

Thanks Joel.

You're right, of course.

I think we should just call this whole project scrapped. If someone else wants to make this a side business of theirs, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the contact I found.

Otherwise, I'm done with this effort. It was a fun idea while it lasted.

I've sent a request to a moderator to remove the poll.

 

[FaPat5]

I am slightly confused about your first post, is it $36 for 2 or $66 for 2? Either way, its a lot of money for a piece of plastic. It wouldn't useful, hell I'm not denying that, and I could certainly use a couple if they really don't touch the blade in any way, but on the other hand, for that money, I can buy an old Gillette case, or a new Merkur case, or something along those lines. The guards would lake up less room, but still. Its a lot of money.

I think we would need to publicise it a bit more on B&B, I have a feeling a lot of people may not notice the thread, or may not bother reading it, thinking it may not be anything interesting. Seriously, I think awareness, more than anything, is the key here.

 

[Mr Mockett]

I am slightly confused about your first post, is it $36 for 2 or $66 for 2? Either way, its a lot of money for a piece of plastic. It wouldn't useful, hell I'm not denying that, and I could certainly use a couple if they really don't touch the blade in any way, but on the other hand, for that money, I can buy an old Gillette case, or a new Merkur case, or something along those lines. The guards would lake up less room, but still. Its a lot of money.

I think we would need to publicise it a bit more on B&B, I have a feeling a lot of people may not notice the thread, or may not bother reading it, thinking it may not be anything interesting. Seriously, I think awareness, more than anything, is the key here.

If people are interested, we can see, but I think I'm done being the spearhead. I got the quote, we know what it is, but unless we get a LOT more people, we're sunk.

And for the math, it would be $36 for 2. $33 initial investment (with only 73 people contributing) for tooling $1.50/each for the covers. And now consider, + shipping

 

[FaPat5]

Hey, I just found this, its not safety razors as we know them, but these sort of things till exist for current razors (though I wonder if they could fit a small safety razor): http://www.moabsports.com/web-pid-0520-Coghlans-Safety-Razor-Cover-item.htm

Considering safety razors are still used in a lot of countries around the world, its a shame this sort of thing hasn't been made anywhere on a production basis, for travel.

 

[bjrn]

I think you'd need definite commitment for at least 500 units before starting to think about ordering. I'm guessing they'll want to make at least 500 units once the tooling is set up, so you'll have to buy at least 500 units. And then you're at a price of ~ 4.08 euro/piece ((1555 + (500*.97))/500), without shipping.

But as you said, there would need to be a whole lot more interest.

 

[Mr Mockett]

Hey, I just found this, its not safety razors as we know them, but these sort of things till exist for current razors (though I wonder if they could fit a small safety razor): http://www.moabsports.com/web-pid-0520-Coghlans-Safety-Razor-Cover-item.htm

Considering safety razors are still used in a lot of countries around the world, its a shame this sort of thing hasn't been made anywhere on a production basis, for travel.

I think you could modify that to fit a safety razor, looks like there's a lot of slop room.

 

[Aevum]

dont look at me, i originaly said to cut one out from a ciggarette case,

 

[Mr Mockett]

dont look at me, i originaly said to cut one out from a ciggarette case,

I'm not looking at anyone Aevum.

I offered, in the old thread, to get some quotes. I did that, and now we're seeing that this is a significant investment. So I think we're pretty much done here.

 

[Johnnya475]

It's a shame we can't track down the orginal company. Hrmmm, I'm going to try and email whomever's logo was on the original one we have, and maybe they have a "refuses-to-retire" person, or the secretary who knows EVERYTHING that has ever happened, that may be able to get me some more info. Crossing fingers theres maybe a box in a warehouse next to some Hamdingers that is collecting dust. I will reply later with what I find.

 

[Mr Mockett]

It's a shame we can't track down the orginal company. Hrmmm, I'm going to try and email whomever's logo was on the original one we have, and maybe they have a "refuses-to-retire" person, or the secretary who knows EVERYTHING that has ever happened, that may be able to get me some more info. Crossing fingers theres maybe a box in a warehouse next to some Hamdingers that is collecting dust. I will reply later with what I find.

"Compliments of American Airlines Dallas-Forth worth Sales Staff"

 

[solloron]

I wouldnt say this is completely done...i may be able to talk to someone who might be interested in covering the initial cost...i dont think it would have the B&B logo though...but it should be around the same price for each...we will see

 

[Johnnya475]

OK, after sending off the email, and crossing my eyes searching the interwebs, I did find something promising. It's by a company called impack. It's a clamshell type package, and I think if you could cut a hole in the end opposite the hinge, it might work for a DE razor. They also claim that their one product "9400" is both a toothbrush and razor cover. Here is a link to their pricing catalog (it was the only one with a side view of the item). Someone might try to see if they could order a sample, or call them up(no phone skills here, sorry), and see if this could be adapted to a DE razor. They look like they offer a variety of materials also. If I hear back from American Airlines, I will post here.

Forgot the link:
http://www.impakcorp.com/catalog/price_sheet.pdf

 

[Mr Mockett]

I wouldnt say this is completely done...i may be able to talk to someone who might be interested in covering the initial cost...i dont think it would have the B&B logo though...but it should be around the same price for each...we will see

Sounds good to me. Let me know and I can give you the contact info. I'd still be interested in getting some of these, logod or not. No logo cuts the price down, actually.

 

[kand]

Let me throw something out here...

What if we forgot the idea of a B&B-logoed cover, and instead asked for a Merkur, Gillette, Derby, etc cover? These companies could cover the cost as an advertising expense, and then we would buy them from shavingfactory.com, or the decant store, etc. I'm not sure how much (if any) advertising these companies do these days, but it might be worthwhile to ask some PR reps for these companies to see.

 

[Gruder]

No great ideas to add here, but thanks to Mr Mockett for all the research -- your investment of time for this has been an extraordinary gesture.