Artificial scarcity

And...?  There are thousands of artisan soapmakers out there, including several dozen praised on the wetshaving forums.  There is absolutely no reason people could not have purchased another quality soap.

And... back then, three- four years ago, there were only a handful of known artisans, for example Pannacrema in which I'm referring to, MDC and Mike's. No B&M, LPL, L&L etc. It seems that today anyone can make an "artisanal" product in his house and sell it. Things back then were different. Artisanal soap was something new. Wetshavers were doing their best to try one. One not dozens of them. Some like the one I'm using as an example took advantage of it, at least it seems to me like that. Now we read about a new artisan almost every month. Is this logical? How many artisans you think this hobby can stand?

Praised soaps on the wetshaving forums is not always a good thing. Maybe they are not praised for the obvious reason. And maybe that's why we don't read about them after a while. It happens with the razors and brushes as well. This doesn't mean anything to me. I'm not new in this hobby so I don't get excited that easily like most of the new members. A great number of members in today's fora are relatively new, so I don't expect from them to understand.

For clarity and accuracy's sake, we just celebrated our fourth anniversary a couple of months ago. Some of us have been around for longer than you think.

Believe me I know that, but 4 years ago, you just made your first steps, I remember some B&M soaps in refill form, while others were already "big" and known to more people.

And... back then, three- four years ago, there were only a handful of known artisans, for example Pannacrema in which I'm referring to, MDC and Mike's. No B&M, LPL, L&L etc. It seems that today anyone can make an "artisanal" product in his house and sell it. Things back then were different. Artisanal soap was something new. Wetshavers were doing their best to try one. One not dozens of them. Some like the one I'm using as an example took advantage of it, at least it seems to me like that. Now we read about a new artisan almost every month. Is this logical? How many artisans you think this hobby can stand?

Praised soaps on the wetshaving forums is not always a good thing. Maybe they are not praised for the obvious reason. And maybe that's why we don't read about them after a while. It happens with the razors and brushes as well. This doesn't mean anything to me. I'm not new in this hobby so I don't get excited that easily like most of the new members. A great number of members in today's fora are relatively new, so I don't expect from them to understand.

For clarity and accuracy's sake, we just celebrated our fourth anniversary a couple of months ago. Some of us have been around for longer than you think.

Believe me I know that, but 4 years ago, you just made your first steps, I remember some B&M soaps in refill form, while others were already "big" and known to more people.

Yep, most definitely! Just wanted to make the note that the market was already starting to expand even then.

Do we then agree on the definition? Artificial scarcity - intentionally making less of a product than able with the goal of increasing demand and thereby profit.
To the best of my knowledge that would eliminate folks like wolfman, bufflehead, etc from this category.  

I agree with this definition. Artificial means that the producer has the capacity and the will, but as a strategic choice, chooses to cut back production.

Here's my thoughts on Wolfman. He clearly charges too little and this creates a huge discrepancy between demand and supply. He chooses to keep prices where they are, and the end result will be scarcity. This is true scarcity given the price point. If he only raised his prices, all those problems goes away, but then people who can't afford it would be sad/mad. But that's just economics 101.

True artificial scarcity requires the producer to have the capacity to produce more. This is a difficult thing because if you've ever had to deal with supply side issues, you'd realize that it's pretty much impossible to predict how much of any product you will sell, and it is far far far better to sell out than not sell enough. Especially if the product expires. If the product never expires, you can store it for years and just sit on it.

I'm just not so sure that the scarcity is truly artificial. Yes, artisans are probably producing less of a particular scent than they *could*, but given the risks involved in a flop, I would not say they're trying to intentionally make it scarce.

I mean really, how many limited editions have there been? Hundreds at this point in time. How many are selling for even what they sold for at retail? 2? 5? 10? I doubt ten, but I don't look.

Now, when the unicorn reaches unicorn status or unobtanium as it's called, is it artificial scarcity to refuse to make more? The answer is more complicated. You have no idea if the maker actually had to just dump the rest of the run into the trash because it never sold. Maybe it was an extraordinarily slow seller and the maker never actually got around to the second or third run that was originally planned.

It is entirely possible that these unicorns were commercial duds and the artisan, being rational sellers that we are, refuses to waste more resources on a second production run.

Or maybe they were commercially unviable, costing more than the profits.

TLDR: I personally think there are very few instances of the classic definition of artificial scarcity.

Artificial scarcity - see also, Italian Barber products.

Why don't we call it managed supply?

As far as the point above regarding new artisans coming out every month, I'm all for it. More power to them as competition will drive superior products and superior service. The cream should rise to the top and those that don't cut it will fall by the wayside. Again, the free market at work. Regarding Barrister and Mann, it was my first "artisan" soap 3 or 4 years ago (Will could consult his records) and I was blown away. Yes he was still selling paper wrapped pucks at the time which were an economical option but clearly a bit of a handling and inventory problem. Much better to streamline the supply to a single format. B&M has continued to innovate and grow and continues to blow me away - they're clearly comfortable with competition and I expect to see them in for the long haul.

It was asked how many soap artisans can the market absorb? I guess we'll see, there is huge growth potential as roughly half of humanity is faced with the choice on a daily basis of whether or not to shave their face and if so, what to do it with. A significant number of females also shave various parts and must make similar decisions. I'm excluding the pre-pubescent males for the detail oriented among us.

"I'm not new in this hobby so I don't get excited that easily like most of the new members. A great number of members in today's fora are relatively new, so I don't expect from them to understand."

Understand what?

I've been wet shaving since 1991 and got excited 26 years ago. Young guys should get excited. The more artisans the better. B&M is a good soap but I can list quite a few that I think are much better. More soap makers is great imo.

I recall a great Italian soapmaker, who three years ago created artificial scarcity and you had to be online the exact time he was releasing the soaps to have a chance to grab one. It was very difficult, but most of you know what I mean.

And...? There are thousands of artisan soapmakers out there, including several dozen praised on the wetshaving forums. There is absolutely no reason people could not have purchased another quality soap.

And... back then, three- four years ago, there were only a handful of known artisans, for example Pannacrema in which I'm referring to, MDC and Mike's. No B&M, LPL, L&L etc.

Six years ago, I made a list of all the artisan shaving soap makers I could find with quick and simple Google searches. I stopped at 300, and then deleted the list realizing it was both irrelevant and pointless. Fifteen years ago, there were only a handful of artisan soapmakers. Combined with the larger soapmakers, there was a readily available supply of soaps and creams.

It seems that today anyone can make an "artisanal" product in his house and sell it.

That has been true for centuries.

Things back then were different. Artisanal soap was something new. Wetshavers were doing their best to try one. One not dozens of them. Some like the one I'm using as an example took advantage of it, at least it seems to me like that.

Art of Shaving, Crabtree & Evelyn, Em's Place, Surrey / Van der Hagen and Williams all sold shaving soap in the 1990s. By the mid 2000s, Mama Bear, St. Charles Shave, Kiss My Face Mama's Herbal Creations and Pirates Cove had joined the fray. During this entire time, the were artisans selling bath and shaving soaps at local arts and crafts fairs. Since long before my time, there was Dove bath soap, which does pretty well as a shave soap. So to say there were or are artificially created shortages makes no sense whatsoever. If some individuals get their record needle stuck on one product, then they would do well to look at the forest instead of only a particular tree.

Now we read about a new artisan almost every month. Is this logical? How many artisans you think this hobby can stand?

Since there are hundreds, or more likely thousands, of artisans who make shaving soap, it would be at least that many. What difference does it make how many artisan soapmakers are around, as long as it is more than five or so? Don't forget about the larger soapmakers, as well. Artisan or not, what matters is that there is a readily available supply of affordable products. The cream rises to the top. That is called capitalism.

Praised soaps on the wetshaving forums is not always a good thing. Maybe they are not praised for the obvious reason. And maybe that's why we don't read about them after a while.

There is a huge amount of shilling and fake reviews on the forums overall, even if not much at all here. The shilling is often clumsy and easy to spot, however. In my own experience, if a soap is widely praised over an extended period of time, then there is a better than average chance that it will be good. And soaps that fade into oblivion? Sometimes they are displaced by something better, but not often they are simply no longer a novelty or the soap of the day.

It happens with the razors and brushes as well.

Like there aren't a mountain of safety razors and brushes of all sorts available. If a fellow cannot find great traditional shaving gear at a price he can afford, then he either did not do his homework or should switch to an electric shaver. I'm sorry if that offends anyone, but in today's marketplace there really isn't any cause for complaint. We are offered a gourmet buffet of shaving gear, all available with a few keystrokes.

"I'm not new in this hobby so I don't get excited that easily like most of the new members. A great number of members in today's fora are relatively new, so I don't expect from them to understand."

Understand what?

I've been wet shaving since 1991 and got excited 26 years ago. Young guys should get excited. The more artisans the better. B&M is a good soap but I can list quite a few that I think are much better. More soap makers is great imo.

Well, wait a sec. I know for a fact that you haven't tried my Reserve base. Happy to send you a sampler if you're interested in reconsidering.

On the subject of market forces, I will voice the unpopular opinion that the current market is extremely unstable. You have larger/more visible artisanal manufacturers like B&M, RazoRock, L&L, etc., but it's the little places that are the problem. Most of those folks have day jobs, and so are not dependent upon actually turning any kind of real profit. They're killing the dedicated soap houses in a death-by-a-thousand-cuts fashion; the more of them there are, the more tiny chunks come out of the revenue of everyone else, not just the larger companies. In the long term, this may bear fruit and force manufacturers to continue to innovate, but the problem is that the companies who just sort of plod along have no reason to drop out because they're not dependent upon the income.

Traditional capitalistic economics are sort of handicapped here. This is not a normal market, and normal market forces are somewhat muted by virtue of the fact that small/unprofitable firms are not closing up shop because their income is heavily supplemented. If the artisan soap world is to continue, then some sort of equilibrium is going to have to be reached.

Incorrect. If your reserve base is Le Grande Chypre & Cologne Russe yes I have. I was sent a large sample and a partially used tub of both above from a long time friend on shavemyface.

And...? There are thousands of artisan soapmakers out there, including several dozen praised on the wetshaving forums. There is absolutely no reason people could not have purchased another quality soap.

And... back then, three- four years ago, there were only a handful of known artisans, for example Pannacrema in which I'm referring to, MDC and Mike's. No B&M, LPL, L&L etc.

Six years ago, I made a list of all the artisan shaving soap makers I could find with quick and simple Google searches. I stopped at 300, and then deleted the list realizing it was both irrelevant and pointless. Fifteen years ago, there were only a handful of artisan soapmakers. Combined with the larger soapmakers, there was a readily available supply of soaps and creams.

It seems that today anyone can make an "artisanal" product in his house and sell it.

That has been true for centuries.

Things back then were different. Artisanal soap was something new. Wetshavers were doing their best to try one. One not dozens of them. Some like the one I'm using as an example took advantage of it, at least it seems to me like that.

Art of Shaving, Crabtree & Evelyn, Em's Place, Surrey / Van der Hagen and Williams all sold shaving soap in the 1990s. By the mid 2000s, Mama Bear, St. Charles Shave, Kiss My Face Mama's Herbal Creations and Pirates Cove had joined the fray. During this entire time, the were artisans selling bath and shaving soaps at local arts and crafts fairs. Since long before my time, there was Dove bath soap, which does pretty well as a shave soap. So to say there were or are artificially created shortages makes no sense whatsoever. If some individuals get their record needle stuck on one product, then they would do well to look at the forest instead of only a particular tree.

Now we read about a new artisan almost every month. Is this logical? How many artisans you think this hobby can stand?

Since there are hundreds, or more likely thousands, of artisans who make shaving soap, it would be at least that many. What difference does it make how many artisan soapmakers are around, as long as it is more than five or so? Don't forget about the larger soapmakers, as well. Artisan or not, what matters is that there is a readily available supply of affordable products. The cream rises to the top. That is called capitalism.

Praised soaps on the wetshaving forums is not always a good thing. Maybe they are not praised for the obvious reason. And maybe that's why we don't read about them after a while.

There is a huge amount of shilling and fake reviews on the forums overall, even if not much at all here. The shilling is often clumsy and easy to spot, however. In my own experience, if a soap is widely praised over an extended period of time, then there is a better than average chance that it will be good. And soaps that fade into oblivion? Sometimes they are displaced by something better, but not often they are simply no longer a novelty or the soap of the day.

It happens with the razors and brushes as well.

Like there aren't a mountain of safety razors and brushes of all sorts available. If a fellow cannot find great traditional shaving gear at a price he can afford, then he either did not do his homework or should switch to an electric shaver. I'm sorry if that offends anyone, but in today's marketplace there really isn't any cause for complaint. We are offered a gourmet buffet of shaving gear, all available with a few keystrokes.

Interesting post.

I think we have to clarify the meaning of artisan and artisanal products. Artisans can't be large companies by definition.
Sure there were makers of shaving soaps, but as far as it concerns the average wet shaver that didn't have to google to find 300+ different makers, the well-known and tested artisans were only a few.
Let's not compare the current artisan market with the one we used to know a few years ago. I've lost the count of artisanal products currently available a long time ago.

Does anyone think that all these artisans comply with any regulation? EU cosmetic regulations are strict. Can you say the same about the American? No doubt why the American artisans are so many nowadays.