I looked though the Gillette sticky and was amazed at the quality of the vintage razors in MTgrayling's collection. I was looking at ebay as well, and was wondering how one would separate the good from the crap? What is one looking for in a restoreable vintage DE razor exactly? I'm not looking for a super rare or perfect razor. Just something that is still decent would clean up well and be usable. Something like a fat boy perhaps? So what should one look for when cruising ebay?
My take on things: 1. don't cruise ebay. You can get better deals through the classifieds on this site. Just post a Want to Buy (WTB) thread with the details of what you're looking for and how much you're willing to pay. 2. If you do use ebay, don't shell out a lot of money unless you're willing to risk getting burned. Do a little research on the razor you want so you can check the seller's claims. If the razor looks too good to be true, or if something looks off, then don't buy. DE razors are growing in popularity and the Fatboy line are especially popular. There a lotta kooks putting out junk. Ask for clear pictures and get the seller to clarify any statements that sound weird.
To be honest, if you don't know what to look for, you're better off buying from forum for sale sections from members, or antique stores where you can look and touch them before buying. Ebay is always a crap shoot, there's some bargains with bad photos, there's some absolute rubbish the seller has deliberately hid any flaws by only putting up a blurry photo. And of course anything with really detailed clear photos normally sells for much more than it's worth anyway. I've got some great bargains from ebay, and a couple of rubbish ones too (which I didn't pay much for anyway). But I'm always blown away from the better deals that someone else has got from their antique store finds, ie my ebay 'bargain' was $10, their store bought bargain was $2. Anyway, my point is, until you know almost everything yourself due to research and reading, and are prepared to take a gamble on blurry photos, mismatched sets and cases etc, I wouldn't venture to far into ebay, it's full of buyers who know what they are doing, meaning you'll never get a bargain, anything worth something will always have someone snipe you so you'll lose. On top of that and sellers trying to rip people off and people getting into bidding wars so you'll pay too high a price to win anything in demand. Join up various shaving forums and use their selling forum to buy a razor from a member is my advice. In the meantime, read, watch, learn and cruise your own antique stores, or if that's not possible be prepared to risk some money on the ebay auctions with crappy photos and not much interested buyers.
Thanks, once I get the required posts, I will post something in the classified section. I'm thinking a nice usable fatboy is what I want to try next. I like the heft of the futur, so thinking that might be a good choice.
The post limit, so far as I know, applies only to selling or trading. You can post a want-to-buy right now. (Mods, here's hoping I haven't led him off a cliff!)
I actually tried to post, the system said I needed 25 posts, I might be able to respond but can't open a new thread. It's ok, I'll get to 25 soon enough and I have a merkur with only about 5 shaves on it, so not like I have to have it right now
There are so many top-notch modern razors out there I say don't bother with vintage if a DE is what you're after.
Going vintage makes more sense for SE and straights, I agree. But I haven't done too bad for DE vintage razors. My first razor was a merkur, but I prefer nearly all of my vintage DE gillettes over the merkur I have. It's possible to get even a fatboy at a decent price on thebay, you just have to spend a lot of time devoted to it. There's way more sucess stories written by people using antique stores or forums for sale thread though, but I didn't do too bad. First of all, I bought a slim in a fatboy case for $17 because I wanted a slim anyway and decided to buy this particular one because it doesn't hurt to have a fatboy case and a set of matching blades. Then I bought a fatboy with two other razors in a lot on thebay for $22. Then I cleaned up the case using a bit of toothpaste. Total cost was about $50 for a very good cased fatboy, a NEW common bar a very good condition slim adjustable and blue tip superspeed, and vintage blades. You may also notice I bought a HD rocket which came in an aristocrat case. Thats because I also wantd to get a HD rocket, but bought that one because one day I hope to find a bargain aristocrat cheap without a case. The opposite with the TV superspeed, I bought that in the wrong case, used the case for my black handled SS on the left there, and I'm on the lookout for a tv case that may show up with a regular superspeed maybe. The cased red tip was bought way back in november last year :happy102 when they weren't so popular and cost me $15. The photo of the fatboy and NEW and blue tip weren't how they were presented on thebay, that's my photo after cleaning them up, they were grotty small and blurry photos when on thebay, so that's why I got them so cheap. A fat boy alone doesn't sell for as little $22 anymore, I was lucky to get them, and lucky they were all in so good a condition. edit: When looking on ebay, don't search for 'fatboy', 'aristocrat', 'executive', search for razor and be prepared to look through all the lots of 2, 3 etc.
Seems like you have been getting some great advice on the vintage Gillettes. You're best bet is indeed to cruise the Buy, Sell, Trade forums of the various shaving forums, TSD, SMF, B&B. You will have less of a chance of being burned than on ebay. After you have acquired several vintage Gillettes and have read this and other forums for awhile you will gain the skills to hopefully make an ebay deal without being snookered. Still with ebay you look beyond the pix, good or bad ones. As for new razors, I would agree that the Merkur razors are the best of the newer ones. There are others out there that are cheap but in my opinion not anywhere near the quality of even the worst of the vintage Gillettes. If the newer razors were all that great guys would not be flocking to get their hands on the vintage razors. And I must also get in my ad for the Single Edger razor like the GEM and Ever Ready razors. These are also wonderful razors that take a little but different though very enjoyable technique to master. Do not discount a GEM, GEM Jr, or Ever Ready from 1912. Finally, as you post & read more you will learn who the razor "experts" are on this forum. Most of them would be very happy to help you with their opinion on any razor you may see on eBay. Just contact them by PM and ask. Good Luck with finding your FIRST vintage DE. I assure you that you can't buy just one!
I do not think that ebay is such a bad idea. What others have said about it is very true but with one caviat - the buyer needs to t ake some time to educate himself as to what a safety razor typically costs and where to look for flaws. Pick an internet store and use that store's prices as a gage to understand what a good price is. Personally I use razor and brush as a benchmark to spot great deals. Here are the price bencharks I typically use when buying off ebay: Merkur adjustable - $60 Merkur closed comb - $50 Merkur open comb - $34 Merkur long handle - $34 Merkur travel - $34 Any brand TTO - $25 Non Merkur three piece $9.50 Non merkur long handle $15 Shipping is not included in any of these prices. I typcially will require at least 5% below those prices to get my attention. I can get those prices already so I never pay those costs one ebay. I will typically require a very clear photo of all sides of the head before I will consider paying these prices. For example Pablo's photos would not be considered exceptable I would need a much clearer photo of the product and would need a clear photo of all sides of the head. Without that I typically cut the prices I pay in half. So with a little understanding and some precautions I find that I typically can get a square deal on ebay. I got a perfect condition late 60s super speed for $4 from some idiot who had no idea what the thing was worth, would have paid $12.50 becuase he did not present a photo but managed to get much lower than that.
That's the point, it's a crap shoot. Anything with briliant photos from all angles will not be cheap on thebay. Anything with poor quality photos is what will be a bargain, and is what we have to take a risk on. 99% of things worked out for me, and it worked out for you too in the instance you mentioned. If I was paying market price or higher for a razor that had great all round photos that attracted a lot of bidders, most of the time you are better off using forum 'for sale' sections. All my buys bar one were a bargain even if the photos shown were a blurry one angle shot, I had some luck and bought from the same sellers after that and wasn't disapointed, even if they never cleaned, presented or photographed their razors well. The only time I was let down was a lot of 5 razors, a bengall straight, a new improved, some miscellanous and a rocket. I bid $5 because of the rocket and I won it. The rocket was stuffed, head was loose, TTO lock up so the head screwed off rather than open up. Dissapointed because I bought it for the rocket, but then again I have a bengall that sliced my thumb open today :sick007
Pablo, did that rocket in the #22 case come from down under? Was there a paper square that fits in side against the lid?
BOO.. The vintage stuff is often so much better then the modern. But I will qualify that statement by saying that I prefer older things usually. Most of us like the thought of using a vintage tool that was made to last. It is a connection to the past.
Yes it is a mismatch. I remember seeing a rocket like that in the #22s case and I thought it came with that cardboard type square that says Gillette Aristocrat on it. If it was that one I was going to offer to buy that square and put it with my set.
I second the suggestion that you check the classifieds here at Shave Den. I bought my first razor from a user named "Razorthief" and it was a fantastic deal. I imagine it was a little more expensive than something else, but I love my 40's Gillette SS. It's in PERFECT condition and works like a DREAM! I'm also one of those of us that love using something old, something that has survived almost 70 years and still works that well? Man, I'll probably pass this razor on to MY son!
Yes, that's the one. I'm hanging on to it because that's the reason why I bought it. I've seen many orphaned aristocrats so the main reason why I bought the HD rocket in this case is for the case. I missed out last week on a lot of 5 razors which had a 'crat in it. I'm hoping I get lucky one day... then that will be the last DE that I buy. I just want one of them for under $100 and I'm done. I'm already looking at SE and straights instead now.
I saw a FatBoy go for $112.50 tonight I don't know if it's because it's Saturday night and people have lots of time to watch the auctions, but I was stunned to see a Fat Boy go for $112.50 in an auction on e-bay tonight. Wow. Sure it looked nice, but....
