A Business Model

The BST has been wonderful for me. I can buy an item from an artisan; if it just doesn’t work for me for reasons of performance or scent, I can put it on the BST with generally minimal loss and a win:win for both parties. This allows a hobbyist to satisfy their BAD, SAD and RAD with minimal risk.

We need a Netflix for shaving gear, but it would be a very labor intensive endeavor.

Shane gave an excellent explanation of the challenges. The point that was top of my mind that he touched on was why let a customer satisfy their curiosity for $20 when you could sell them a razor for $200.  It’s like the shaving soap samples. A lot of guys stock up on samples and never buy the full size soap. Given the life of a soap puck and the number in many guys’ collections, samples make sense especially when they’re free. From the soap makers’ perspective the samples are a royal pain which is why many of them will sub it out to a vendor. They also had to charge for them to recover at least soon their cost- mostly their time.  And most of all, ask yourself how much stuff, hardware or software, do you have that you would not have bought if you had tried it out first? 

From a razor maker’s perspective, sending a razor  on a pass around might stretch out the time period to sellout a run to a year when they may otherwise have sold out in a much shorter period. I base this on the fact that most of them are doing small runs and the potential buyers are waiting to test drive before buying.

And most of all, ask yourself how much stuff, hardware or software, do you have that you would not have bought if you had tried it out first? 

I'd guess that about half of the full-size tubs of soap I have now were originally purchased in sample form. It's mostly about trying scents; my overall hit rate for that (ones that I actually like well enough to buy) is very low.

So I do have a drawer full of soap & cream samples, but they hardly ever see any use outside of...travel? Is that what it was called?

JIn my experience I have returned only a Janus as the cost was $500 and the actual razor received far different from what was expected. Because the vendor honored his trial period my risk was minimal. My Blackland Tradere and Timeless Titanium were also purchased with only return postage risk and are purchases that I am very satisfied with.

Looking at razors like the Rocnel Sailor it is understandable that a limited production run from a location where payment and transportation are more logistically difficult would not have a trial period or loaner program.

Wolfman does not need to do anything to sell everything they can produce. If that changes we will see if they change anything. Because of the many gap choices and the variety of baseplates and handles, not having a return option or even an ability to see the razor, I am no longer interested. This is coming from someone that checked their website daily hoping to catch a drop. I thought I wanted a WR1 .74 but at this point I couldn’t even guess which model would be best. Maybe it is the paradox of choice but whatever it is, I no longer see any Wolfman in my future.

We as consumers can choose how much satisfaction risk we are willing to take. Buying from a vendor that offers a trial period makes the risk slight. Buying a limited edition might work out or might force someone to the BST forums if they wish to recover and maybe profit from their purchase.