You want how much for how many blades?
- Thread starter a_bit_crafty
- Start date
I paid $6.00 (When I was really new) for 10 Walgreens blades (Personna Blades)
$2.50 for 10 pack of Kroger blades at Fry's (Also Personna)
$1.76 for 10 pack Wilkinson (Germany) and Personna (USA) at Walmart
All good very useable blades.
$2.50 for 10 pack of Kroger blades at Fry's (Also Personna)
$1.76 for 10 pack Wilkinson (Germany) and Personna (USA) at Walmart
All good very useable blades.
same blades at shoppers drug mart in calgary canada 14.99 for ten blades
- Thread starter
- #24
OK, here's an update. We were back at the grocery store and saw the blades again. This time, the price was different. Not sure if they were in the wrong place before, or if they changed the prices, or if we read the wrong price (the prices were listed in the opposite position of where you'd expect them, so this is possible).
The correct price turned out to be ~$2.50 for 10. We went ahead and picked some up for the heck of it. I tried them out, and they weren't too bad. A bit thinner than I expected, which is neither here nor there. The shave was fine. A combination of DFS and BBS, like most other blades I've tried. It did get a little more dull than I'd expect toward the end. In the end, not bad, but nothing particularly special, either.
The correct price turned out to be ~$2.50 for 10. We went ahead and picked some up for the heck of it. I tried them out, and they weren't too bad. A bit thinner than I expected, which is neither here nor there. The shave was fine. A combination of DFS and BBS, like most other blades I've tried. It did get a little more dull than I'd expect toward the end. In the end, not bad, but nothing particularly special, either.
One thing to keep in mind about consumer pricing is that the posted price almost always has next to nothing to do with what it cost to produce the product. The more pertinent question pondered by manufacturers is: What will the market bear? If it is perceived by the public that DE blades are difficult to procure, then you will get a buying decision from the consumer that is favorable. While a customer might grumble, he will pay $10.00 for blades rather than change to another type of razor if he is satisfied with his current razor to begin with.
I would also suspect that when you look at the demographics for DE shavers, that ages 50+ are over represented. Historically, this is an age group that is resistant to change, and not all that internet savvy. I'm in my mid 60's so obviously, I don't fit part of the pattern. Blades are way too easy to find on-line at a bargain if you're willing to purchase 50, 100 or 250 at a time. I have purchased Wilkinson DE blades from my local Wally within the last couple of weeks but only because:
a) That's the brand I normally prefer
b) The price was acceptable at $1.59/10 blades
c) I wanted to do my part to show some inventory turns for Wally so that they will re-stock the blades and perhaps keep them in stock. Someone posted earlier that Kroger has dropped DE blades and I can confirm that as far as our local stores go. Nothing but cartridges. My wife does some of our grocery shopping in Wally and I have asked her to add a pack of DE blades to her weekly list for the next couple of months. I've tried the blades and I like them.
I would also suspect that when you look at the demographics for DE shavers, that ages 50+ are over represented. Historically, this is an age group that is resistant to change, and not all that internet savvy. I'm in my mid 60's so obviously, I don't fit part of the pattern. Blades are way too easy to find on-line at a bargain if you're willing to purchase 50, 100 or 250 at a time. I have purchased Wilkinson DE blades from my local Wally within the last couple of weeks but only because:
a) That's the brand I normally prefer
b) The price was acceptable at $1.59/10 blades
c) I wanted to do my part to show some inventory turns for Wally so that they will re-stock the blades and perhaps keep them in stock. Someone posted earlier that Kroger has dropped DE blades and I can confirm that as far as our local stores go. Nothing but cartridges. My wife does some of our grocery shopping in Wally and I have asked her to add a pack of DE blades to her weekly list for the next couple of months. I've tried the blades and I like them.
I'll probably never buy DE blades again, as I have a large stock, bought on the Internet, and use them infrequently anyway. I do notice grocery and drugstore prices occasionally, and around here, it's typically about $5 plus tax for a 10 pack of generic DE blades. Not good, but not insanely high, either.
What is insane, and this relates to what you said above, is what my local grocery charges for a USB flash drive, $39.99 for a 512 MB model. The point being, for certain items, stores either have no clue what the going rate is, or they have correctly judged that their customers don't have a clue.
Nice example of unreasonable pricing down in Oz; Wilkinson Swords 10 pack for 16.95.
That's the "Oh crap, I urgently need this and it's 8pm on Sunday when nothing else is open" pricing model. I paid more than that for a flash drive in NYC one day when it was an absolute emergency (although the story ends better when I realized the shopkeeper was putting a 16GB drive in my bag instead!)
I bought a pack last night at Kroger in Loganville, Georgia... 10 for under 2 bucks ($1.76 maybe?) and a puck of Williams for $.98.
Lots of old-timers and country-folk out here so maybe the call is higher?
Or maybe they're there because no one has bought out the remaining stock yet.
Yeah, same thing in Ottawa - $14.99 for Wilkinsons at the local Shoppers. The Rexall brand are indeed Personna and they're my go-to blade when I'm travelling within Canada. Still, the fact I can get 50 red-pack Personnas on eBay for $12.50 shipped is almost cause enough to either mail a pack ahead of time or check my luggage...
This is not true. I got 10 Feathers and 10 Bics from Jeremy (check out the Vendor forum) for dirt. Really. First purchase I made from him was 25 Kais. Kais are pricey, but I didn't have a worse price than if I had bought them in a pack of 100.
They have that crazy price in Halifax shoppers too.
That's why it pays to get your blades from one of the vendors who are on B&B.
S
Sydney Guy
Wow Paul, you really are getting ripped off! When you consider that you can get 100 Astra SPs airmailed from Turkey for $15, even $12.95 for 10 is outrageous. IMHO the reason for the high price of the WS is that they are distributed in Oz by P&G, who don't want the DEs to be so cheap that some of the sheep begin to question why they are using cartridges.
A cheaper option if you're really stuck is Franklin's No Frills(?) brand DE blades at $5/ten. Never used them, but they say "Made in Israel" on the pack. Since I can't see two blade factories in Israel, these are probably the same as Crystals/Red Pack Personnas.
I agree 100%.
I think it's more important to give our business to the vendors here so they can grow and and stay around. It's also more likely they are actually into DE shaving themselves, though I don't know for sure about that.
I chimed in about shoppers more to point out the greed in such an outrageous price like that.
Bleh. I think I'll stick to ordering them online - I just picked up 200 Derby's for $6, shipped.
I have seen ridiculous prices at Publix as well...it made me smile inside!
