Where to buy?

[Skrub]

Hello all, I am excited to be apart of this community and finally joining in on the conversations.

I am a beginner looking to try out straight razors for the first time. I've been reading an absorbing as much information from this forum as I can in an attempt to set me up with success. As such, I have been drawn to vintage razors. I find the history interesting, and have the perceived notion that many vintage options and better performers than their modern counterparts.

Now where I am struggling is locating what I am looking for online. Could anyone provide me with some vendors to look at? Matthew at griffith shaving goods has been great in answering my questions and I would love to support him, but it appears his inventory is low (some brands I have been thinking of include: wade and butcher, dubl duck, filarmonica. Ralf aust seemingly gets a lot of praise and will likely go that route if I purchase a new razor).

Is vintagestraightrazor.com legit? I counted ebay out as again I'm a novice not really knowing what to look at and would ideally not like to fall into a pit of having to pay sums of money to restore something I bought there. I suppose I can also make a post in the buy sell trade section and see where that leads me.

Sorry for rambling, and thanks in advance!

 

[Slash McCoy]

You are right to be wary of fleabay sellers. The vast majority do not even shave with a straight razor. Many don't shave at all, at least not their faces, being that they are women, or men with full beards. They don't have a clue about what makes a razor shave ready and wouldn't know how to identify a shave ready edge. And OF COURSE they don't know how to make a razor shave ready. But if you see something you like the looks of, you can post about it on this forum or another forum or multiple forums, and get opinions from members who are knowledgeable. All the "real" sellers are known in the community. On this forum and generally on others you cannot post a link to a live auction. Here at least, you CAN post a link to a BIN (Buy It Now) listing, or an auction that has ended. But to help you along a bit, this seller, april7th1989, I have dealt with in the past and he is reputable. This guy, johnloc1, I know only by reputation but he should be good, too. There are others, just not very many, that you can trust.

On the BST you need to watch closely because the good deals don't last long at all. A really good deal gets snapped up within hours or even minutes.

 

[Ravenonrock]

I purchased an excellent shave ready SR from johnloc1 last year. Came as advertised, ready to go in great shape under $50 Cdn. Looking today he has some tempting offerings that would be suitable for starting out.

 

[sanookd]

Welcome to B&B. I hope you’ll enjoy your time here and learn and improve your skill using a straight razor.
Matt @ Griffith is a good guy to deal with. I’ve acquired many shave ready straights from him. I’m surprised you think his inventory low because I’ve always thought he had more vintage blades available for sale at a given time than most except perhaps than an e busy seller.
The Superior Shave sells new blades that are shave ready but no vintage blades.
As Slash said most important is you start your journey with a truly shave ready blade to gain the utmost experience and establish a baseline of what a really shave ready edge feels like.
The makers you’re looking at are good but not knowing your budget it’s difficult to suggest blades because condition greatly influences the price of a vintage razor.
Good luck and keep posting so we will know how your journey is going.

 

[haggis]

In addition to Griffith (vintage and new) and TSS (new) I have also had good experiences with bobsrazors.com (vintage) and Maggards (probably the best edges I've gotten, repeatedly, on brand-new razors).

 

[Chango]

As a beginner I wish I had just spent the money and went with Maggards for my first straight.

as for vintage. I also bought a razor from johnloc1 on the bay. The edge was good.

 

[Eastcoast30]

Griffith just put up a very nice dubl duck - several other nice ones on his vintage section. I have bought several from him, all shave ready and he is easy to deal with.

 

[rbscebu]

@Skrub Revisor in Germany sell new and vintage SR's. They are worth a look.

 

[sanookd]

Griffith just put up a very nice dubl duck - several other nice ones on his vintage section. I have bought several from him, all shave ready and he is easy to deal with.

It was a nice duck buts it’s gone as of this afternoon!

 

[Eastcoast30]

It was a nice duck buts it’s gone as of this afternoon!

The early bird ...
I missed a beautiful Japanese razor a week or so ago.

 

[sanookd]

The early bird ...
I missed a beautiful Japanese razor a week or so ago.

Was the Japanese razor you just alluded to on Griffith’s site as well? If so it slipped by my eyes as well.

 

[Eastcoast30]

Was the Japanese razor you just alluded to on Griffith’s site as well? If so it slipped by my eyes as well.

I think he had three Japanese razors. I got one; a BELLMAN TAIHEISHOKAI TOKYO half hollow.