caveat emptor I am a newb. When I wanted to start with DE shaving I went to my local house of knives and almost had a stroke at the cost of new razors. I went home and posted on all my local buy and sell/barter groups for my area on Facebook my desire for a DE razor with a nice pic and the response has been overwhelming! So far I have picked up; A GEM Clog pruf 5$ Two mint Gillette slim adjustables, a blue tip Gillete, Gillete flair tip, a Gillette knack, and a mint Gillette Fatboy 10$ Tommorow I pick up a new mint Fatboy 10$ A rubber set brush free. So if you are a collector of cool old razors,this may be an alternative you have not thought of outside flea markets, and antique stores. Good luck, and happy collecting Gary Ps what is your best deal in the wild as it where?
So do a Facebook search for "insert your towns name"in front of the following in your search; Buy and sell Barter and trade Swap meet Flea market Classifieds Yard sale Guy n sell Mom swap Online sales ISO in "your towns name" Trader. Freebies Join and post in all of them and step back for the influx. Let me know how it works out for you. Gary
There are some online deals to be found…even on ebay, but I've had my best success in certain antique stores and antique fairs. Not all of them, mind you, as many shaving items are as overpriced as you'll find on ebay. Plus I prefer to hold and visually inspect what I may purchase. I picked up nearly a dozen razors at two antique stores last March, with the priciest being around $25. This old Wostenholm was had for about $20. It needed new scales and a good cleaning. It cleaned up real well and turned out to be a fantastic razor… Another antique store find; this big 8/8" Wostenholm cost me around $24.00. It is still waiting for new scales and a good cleaning. For the price, its a steal. Comparable models, although plainer, fetch a fairly high price on auction.
Wow those are fantastic deals, any tips for an inspired new collector, any holy grails to keep an eye out for? Gary
It depends on what type of razor you're in the market for. With DE razors, there are certain 'grail' razors because there are so few in circulation (the Gillette 'toggle' razors $$$, for example) that rarely pop up due to their limited number. Someone here at TSD found one fairly recently for a fantastic price, either at an estate sale or garage sale. Because of the ebay craze, the model 195 'fat Boy" will still demand high prices at auction, but these can be found more readily in the wild. Certain vintage Gillette open-comb models are worth picking up as well. Best to learn the differences though as there are many OC variations out there; some worth $2, others potentially worth $$$. Vintage straight razors are a whole different breed as there are seemingly countless makers who made them, and many that are being sold out there (both on ebay and in the wild) are often beyond salvaging.
