Competitors Should Compete

Well, since you’ve decided you know my motivations better than I do, ignore my points, presume to know details of my business, and are turning this into a bigger deal than it is, we’re done here. There’s no reason to respond to closed ears with an agenda. Have a great weekend!

I have no agenda. Show me an agenda. Same cannot be said for you. 

And here folks, is an example of one razor maker trying to bully the new kid on the block in the name of “service to the community.” Just another example of a competitor trying to compete.

Actually, it's becoming pretty clear your agenda is just to troll and badmouth artisans you don't like. In 2 days i've seen APR, Declaration Grooming and now Blackland. 3 of some of the finest makers in the game.

Says you. Not everyone agrees. I find it interesting that if someone has a negative comment to share, they are labeled as a troll. These artisans dole out criticism to others, they should be able to take it as well. Just because I have certain feelings about certain artisans because of certain things they themselves have done, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the right to express a dissenting view.

This forum isn’t Reddit, where those with dissenting views are torn to shreds by a half-baked angry mob. If I see something I disagree with, I’ll speak. If I like it, I’ll comment too, as should you. All you’ve done since you joined is post a few SOTD, advertise a reddit event, and argue with me.

No one should be afraid to voice an opinion.

Says you. Not everyone agrees. I find it interesting that if someone has a negative comment to share, they are labeled as a troll. These artisans dole out criticism to others, they should be able to take it as well. Just because I have certain feelings about certain artisans because of certain things they themselves have done, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the right to express that dissenting view.

This forum isn’t Reddit, where those with dissenting views are torn to shreds by a half-baked angry mob. If I see something I disagree with, I’ll speak. If I like it, I’ll comment too, as should you.

No one should be afraid to voice an opinion.

Man, you seem to be the one afraid of something. You clearly have been in the game for some time to know all these, yet you are using a 2/3 days old account to 'criticize' people. Why don't you just go ahead and use your old ID. Don't tell me you were a lurker all these times, and suddenly felt the urge to be so vocal about artisan practices.

Says you. Not everyone agrees. I find it interesting that if someone has a negative comment to share, they are labeled as a troll. These artisans dole out criticism to others, they should be able to take it as well. Just because I have certain feelings about certain artisans because of certain things they themselves have done, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the right to express that dissenting view.

This forum isn’t Reddit, where those with dissenting views are torn to shreds by a half-baked angry mob. If I see something I disagree with, I’ll speak. If I like it, I’ll comment too, as should you. All you’ve done since you joined is post a few SOTD, advertise a reddit event, and argue with me.

No one should be afraid to voice an opinion.

Man, you seem to be the one afraid of something. You clearly have been in the game for some time to know all these, yet you are using a 2/3 days old account to 'criticize' people. Why don't you just go ahead and use your old ID. Don't tell me you were a lurker all these times, and suddenly felt the urge to be so vocal about artisan practices.

Afraid of what? Your comment makes absolutely no sense.

Ok, well, this was fun for a day, but the presence of the Reddit crowd is just too strong here to be able to meaningfully contribute anything. Y’all seem to come out of the woodwork all the time, like roaches.

TrumptUp OUT

Ok, well, this was fun for a day, but the presence of the Reddit crowd is just too strong here to be able to meaningfully contribute anything. Y’all seem to come out of the woodwork all the time, like roaches.

TrumptUp OUT

Marketing is basically brand warfare....so making competitive statements is to be expected.
The tone, nuance and severity of those statements needs to be calibrated according the standing of the brand.
Unless Ive completely misread the situation, you won't find James Dufour publicly commenting
on what he thinks of other razors. That's because he owns the high ground right now....and when you're
on the high ground you dont bother anyone below. The brands that do flex a little are the challengers
who need to sound a little disruptive to get attention. IMO there's nothing wrong in both positions.

Marketing is basically brand warfare....so making competitive statements is to be expected.
The tone, nuance and severity of those statements needs to be calibrated according the standing of the brand.
Unless Ive completely misread the situation, you won't find James Dufour publicly commenting
on what he thinks of other razors. That's because he owns the high ground right now....and when you're
on the high ground you dont bother anyone below. The brands that do flex a little are the challengers
who need to sound a little disruptive to get attention. IMO there's nothing wrong in both positions.

The old, “Just spell my name right.” approach.
We’re not on top, but we speak very little of competitors publicly. And boy could we with what we see here.


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As I said at the outset, competitors should compete and there is a pretty broad latitude of legal ways to compete and people are free to choose their strategy in full knowledge of how it might play out in the existing marketplace.  

In the market for custom razors right now I'd assume every artisan would like to get Wolfman prices for their product and even if they can match the quality, style etc, the market will still determine if they're willing to pay that price.  Thats where brand value comes into it.  I have no problem with artisans or vendors commenting publicly on competitors' products or pricing - its not my place to constrain the free speech of others.  Depending on the tone or content of that free speech there will be a market reaction that could go either way for all involved.  

I appreciate ESBrushmaker  post above - they are clearly committed to their craft and having the one DFS LE Brush from last year I can see that the product speaks for itself.  Its a work of art.  I have several brushes, however, if I were to add another, it would be one of those. 

It's a fine balance between allowing the ecosystem to thrive and not pushing each other hard enough. I suspect the soaps space will mainly be owned by local artisans. But if wet shaving in on an upward trajectory, I can imagine Gillette buying and scaling up someone's razor manufacturing capabilities. And I can very much see Chinese razor makers start muscling in ... Yaqi isn't stopping with brushes, folks.