Hi All - Don't know if anyone is watching "Vintage 1930 Gillette Aristocrat NO.15 (BOXED)". It's one of the open comb, rhodium variety. It was previously for sale on a site called Oodle. The pictures showed bent teeth on one corner - which means it has been dropped at some point. Since I was interested in the razor, I contacted the seller (through the oodle listing), who said that the teeth had been 'fixed'. While I'm sure it is possible to bend or tap the teeth back into place, in the ebay listing, they avoid showing any close ups of the razor & that makes me suspicious. Also, since listing the razor on ebay, 2 days ago the seller (who has 0 feedback) has changed the start price/buy it now figure three times. Anyway, the razor may be fine, but I just thought I'd throw this out there, hopefully protecting a potential buyer, amongst our members, from getting burned. BTW, I won't be bidding. I'd certainly like to own one of those, but for the price they command, I'd want one that's perfect, or close to it. CSL.
That would totally suck to bid on one of these and then after patiently (or impatiently!) waiting for the mail to arrive you find it to be bent up. :mad:
Ebay is such a crap-shoot. You can get good stuff, and occasionally get a real bargain, but so often you get junk that you're stuck with. And I've found that it's almost impossible to get your money back or to get any kind of restitution through eBay. I once when through eBay with a problem and it was quite frustrating and, in the end, futile. That's why I've concluded that the best way, by far, to buy shaving-related items is through a forum such as this one.
I've only bought a few shaving related things on Ebay. I only buy if its cheap, that way if its junk I've not lost a lot. I have bought 2 straight and an old strop that was dry and brittle. The stop hardware and handle was salvaged and used for a denim strop and the 2 straights are pretty decent. 1 I had buffed and honed by a pro and its in my SOTD post the other I'm restoring myself and learning to hone with.
Denim?? Boy, things sure do move fast in the wet shave world. I used to read tons on straights and strops - but not so much for the last 6-8 months. Never heard of a denim strop. Makes sense I guess - you would use it with paste yeah?? Can you say a bit more or suggest a link? I know I could search it out - and I likely will - but for now it seems so much easier to just ask!!! thnx!
Well a while back I tried asking all over the place about what makes a strop a strop, and as far as I can tell there are no hard and fast rules its just what works! Linen has been used for stropping fo a long time, I've read canvas is used and seen others mention denim on SRP. So basically I just cut up an old pair of beige jeans which were given to me when my BIL's waiste out grew them! They weren't my kind of thing and in good condition. You could past them or just treat them as you would a linen strop, it works well for me. I made it by cutting a length of denim folding it in 3, ironing a good creas into it to keep it flat and gluing the ends with PVA glue as I don't sew. I then attached it to the old strop hardware again, I used glue rather than trying to stitch it.
"I made it by cutting a length of denim folding it in 3, ironing a good creas into it to keep it flat and gluing the ends with PVA glue as I don't sew. I then attached it to the old strop hardware again, I used glue rather than trying to stitch it." Very creative!
I've been pretty lucky on eBay, but as others have said, I only buy something if it's relatively cheap.
I've bought several razors from eBay. But I did my homework. Asked a lot of questions and demanded more pix from all angles. If the seller would comply I simply did not bid no matter what the pix posted and description stated. With eBay it is certainly Buyer Beware!
I have been pretty happy with ebay overall. I have gotten some duds, but sometimes it is worth the gamble. For me, taking the gamble on a bad picture and poor description enabled me to purchase razors I otherwise couldn't afford to buy. That being said, there are sellers out there who knowingly hide flaws. I think that is dirty. I believe that should be reflected in their feedback.
