(04-25-2016, 05:46 PM)racerx1 Wrote: The number of soaps 'tried' will always be greater than the number 'owned' assuming one at least tries all that one purchased. My point was 11-40 seems like an exceedingly low number for soaps "tried". I really thought the majority of answers would be in the hundreds. Especially considering the number of soap "brands" available - if one were to "try" a sample from each that would still place the value above 40. Couple that with the fact if one finds a brand of soap one really likes, one would presumably purchase several different soap scents of that given brand. As an example, I can't imagine a person would try just one scent from B&M and not want to try any of Will's other offerings.
To be frank, I'm not surprised by the numbers. I've asked the same question elsewhere and 10 "owned" (not tried) was the sweet spot. Sure, some people have tried 200 but thats rare.
As to 40 different brands, while that is true, not all offer samples. I know where to get samples from about 75 companies. But after awhile, my experience is that if Brand A is in the same price range as Brand B, don't expect too much of a technical difference, particularly if the company is not well known. Maybe that is a bias but "for the most part" you get what you pay for. That does not always hold true.
As to trying one scent, I have learned NOT to buy samples of everything a company sells. Why? Three reasons:
1. If you don't like the scent of lavender, it's not going to smell like Roses just because your soap maker is selling it. It will still smell bad to you.
2. Whenever I read something has 8 different scents in it accompanied by a long winded description of
"walking through a Spring rain in a meadow, the storm clouds are approaching and forest nymphs are dancing on mushroom heads ..." 
it's totally lost on me. If something smells like ginger ale, then tell me it smells like ginger ale and not some long song and dance. So long winded explanations, to me, are useless.
3. Do you know everything you are allergic to and at what strengths? I don't. I discovered I was allergic to some TOBS products. If I had bought a full tub, I would have been very irritated and the excuse of "just sell it" does not go over well with me. There is the aggravation of trying to sell it, packing, money exchange, etc. Its just not worth the effort to me. To this day, I'm not sure exactly what ingredient I'm allergic to but have suspicions. But I would never buy ALL the samples from the same soap maker.
Don't forget, for many people they are trying to save money. They want the MOST number of shaves per blade and the CHEAPEST soap/cream per shave. That doesn't mean own 10 different tubs. It means own "maybe" two.
Just some thoughts.
