An OK blade but WHAT A SHOCK

Every now and then my wife will bring me home a shaving product she found while shopping.  Friday she handed me a package of blades (5 in the pack).  The brand was Van Der Hagen.  I waited until I was ready to replace my blade and put one in my razor.  The shave was good nothing specular and nothing terrible.  She paid $2.88 for a pack of 5.  Seemed expensive.  100 would cost $58 and with shipping and sales tax I was looking at almost $65.  So, I went to several mail order houses and could not find them.  Today Monday, I called their 800 number and told them that I could not find them at any mail order house to which she said they chose not to sell them that way.  I explained to her that $65 for 100 blades was high.  She said she understood and said why don't I visit their web site and see if there was any other product I could use.  I told her that I have more products than I will ever need.

So, about an hour later I went to their web site.  They had basically nothing; two brushes one razor and then I was floored.  They were selling the 5 pack of blades for $4.99.  That's $100 for 100 blades not counting sales tax.  Talk about being shocked.  This company obviously did not do marketing research.  Time will tell.

Yep. We have them in our grocery stores, targets, Walmarts. They have some entry level product, all stuff you can buy for 1/4 the cost on Ali Express or Amazon.

I've never seen their blades in stores. That is a lot of money. I wonder what blade their using... As far as I know, they don't make their own products.

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You got some overpriced no-name blades, which were mediocre, and this intrigued you enough to have a conversation with the owner and visit their website to see what else they sell? You have more patience than me.

You got some overpriced no-name blades, which were mediocre, and this intrigued you enough to have a conversation with the owner and visit their website to see what else they sell? You have more patience than me.

 

Good point.  I have been using (purchasing 100 at a time ) 7 brands of blades for years.  Maybe I do have too much time on my hands but I hope this helps others.

But you can buy them at Walmart so some of that cost is going into shelf real estate purchases and the gents who frequent the isle, tired of Gillette cartridge prices give it a go and find DFS and all our vendors and get better shaves, pricing, and choice,  thanks for your hard work Van derHagen.  Another gent joins the forum and fills a closet with soaps, creams, lotions, and blades.  It all works out (and nope, I don’t want a Hundo of those blades at any cost).  Oh, and I’m guessing you know Van der Hagen has been I the shaving realm for a hundred years.  They are the ones that bought Surrey.

But you can buy them at Walmart so some of that cost is going into shelf real estate purchases and the gents who frequent the isle, tired of Gillette cartridge prices give it a go and find DFS and all our vendors and get better shaves, pricing, and choice,  thanks for your hard work Van derHagen.  Another gent joins the forum and fills a closet with soaps, creams, lotions, and blades.  It all works out (and nope, I don’t want a Hundo of those blades at any cost).  Oh, and I’m guessing you know Van der Hagen has been I the shaving realm for a hundred years.  They are the ones that bought Surrey.

Yes you can purchase one package of 5 at a time.  However, most of us purchase blades 100 at a time.  And again $100 is a bit much.

But you can buy them at Walmart so some of that cost is going into shelf real estate purchases and the gents who frequent the isle, tired of Gillette cartridge prices give it a go and find DFS and all our vendors and get better shaves, pricing, and choice,  thanks for your hard work Van derHagen.  Another gent joins the forum and fills a closet with soaps, creams, lotions, and blades.  It all works out (and nope, I don’t want a Hundo of those blades at any cost).  Oh, and I’m guessing you know Van der Hagen has been I the shaving realm for a hundred years.  They are the ones that bought Surrey.

Yes you can purchase one package of 5 at a time.  However, most of us purchase blades 100 at a time.  And again $100 is a bit much.

No doubt about it and I’d never pay that much. Shoot, Italian Barber has Gillette Platinum 100 for 20 bucks. My point is I’m sure they Van de Hagen have done their homework and are selling to a vastly different market than you and me. My point of “you can buy them at Walmart was meant to indicate that there is a cost doing business with Walmart and buying your position on the shelf.  Glad you made this thread.  It’s been fun.

You got some overpriced no-name blades, which were mediocre, and this intrigued you enough to have a conversation with the owner and visit their website to see what else they sell? You have more patience than me.

 

Good point.  I have been using (purchasing 100 at a time ) 7 brands of blades for years.  Maybe I do have too much time on my hands but I hope this helps others.

Just out of curiosity, which 7 brands of blades do you purchase regularly.

Also, when it comes to loading a new blade, do you stick with the same blade for a certain period of time (like a month) or do you go between different brands during the month?

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Every now and then my wife will bring me home a shaving product she found while shopping.  Friday she handed me a package of blades (5 in the pack).  The brand was Van Der Hagen.  
[snip]So, about an hour later I went to their web site.  ...

Was that at www.vanderhagen.com?
You're relatively lucky.
Here's what I get:

Access Denied - GoDaddy Website Firewall
[blah-blah-blah]
Block reason: Access from your Country was disabled by the administrator.

Real professional. 
[edit...]
I had to start up Opera to see it, using the VPN feature.

I believe the Van der Hagen blades are the same as Merkur, at least that is what my face tells me. They are both labeled as "ice tempered stainless steel" blades, made in Germany. I suspect that means the blades are cryogenically hardened. Since Timor makes "ice tempered" blades in Germany, I believe Timor makes the VdH and Merkur blades.

I have not tried Timor blades, but I have used both Van der Hagen and Merkur. They are some of the worst blades I have ever used. However, I must note that I have a thick, coarse beard. These blades do not come close to being sharp enough for my beard. However, for those whose beard is significantly less difficult to shave, they may be fine. For comparison purposes, they are similar in sharpness to Derby Extra and Shark Super Chrome and are not quite as sharp as Astra SP Green.

Similar in price per blade at the supermarket are the King C Gillette Platinum blades. They come in a 10 pack for about $6. The King C Gillette blades, however, are far superior to VDH. I would purchase a 100 pack if they were available at a reasonable price. Since I can get lots of good blades at under $25 per 100, paying 60 cents per blade for KCG blades is a non-starter.