Its Quiet Out There....Too Quiet?

Enjoyed reading the thoughts above concerning a perceived slowdown on BST as suggestive of a potential decline in our appetite for more stuff...

I’ve tapered a bit, mostly to better consider what I like in soaps and AS’s. Particularly from a scent standpoint (been burned a little on reviews of stuff I found awful smelling), in order to minimize new mistakes.

I’m still adding a razor now and then, but not at the original pace. There too, I know what I require now, and not every thing is as beckoning as it once was.

For me, I bought to enjoy. So, I’m taking time to savor and enjoy...instead of simply chase more.

All that said, new blood is the lifeblood of any enterprise’s growth. To keep this thing flowering, there have to be new subscribers.

That’s going to mean younger shavers weaned away from cartridge systems...and THAT means price.

That cohort is VERY cost conscious, and needs value AND logical reason to switch.

When/If they do...there needs to be a much bigger selection of high quality, low cost tools to begin with.

$300 DE razors and $100+ brushes aren’t going to sell to these would-be converts.

We’re talking about Karve quality for under $20 kind of stuff.

Yes, I know...but THAT is what keeping the hobby filled with new arrivals is going to cost. It isn’t the shave “experience” you’re competing against INITIALLY.

It’s the cost of a cartridge razor that’s the target.

And...as WE know (lol)...there aren’t any real savings if we’re only looking at pricey DE gear...

However...once the magic happens, and the bug bites...

JMO.

Great response razor dude. New bodies does seem to be key and your assessment of price I think is important to garnering new business. It was price that brought me to the table years ago. (But it was the realization that a crappy shave was the issue much more than was price that drove me to change). I believe we can already get a Karve quality shave from a razor under $20 thanks to such places as maggard, Italian Barber, and West Coast in their house brand razors. The razors shave awesome on the cheap. I also believe that these same vendors help by offering low cost brushes ( thank you new gen synth) that perform far better than the old school tweezerman badger that weened many from canned foam. Fact is, there is a method to shaving correctly that has not been taught for decades. Perhaps the best way to assure our favorite artisans and vendors have a growing customer base is for us fathers to spend time in front of a mirror showing our sons how to get it done. Shaving correctly, as we have all learned, is more than "slather and scrape" and learning proper prep and technique through trial and error is a daunting task. A mentor removes that barrier. To date I've helped my 4 sons and one son-in-law to shave better. Interestingly the ladies also swapped and used soap/cream, brush, and DE. The ladies might be the more appreciative as they truly are in it for savings and have all mentioned that they no longer push blades past usefulness due to cost because DEs are cheap. Additionally I've helped coworkers and friends to find better shaves. Some continue with carts but most find value in DEs. All see improvement when leaving canned foam. Although I've offered DFS as a reference library, none to my knowledge has created an account or visited for that matter. I will assume that in the shaving world, our dedication to a better shave makes us the weirdos. So at least on my front, the old school shaver number is growing although we will not see them introducing themselves or visiting the BST here on DFS. I suspect there are many others like them.

Apple snobs are the worst...

I was waiting for that

EFDan I loved your comment about early synthetic brushes being a plastic handle with some fishing line glued into it! That was my experience early on with a truly awful synthetic brush from a company called The Bluebeards Revenge. That was maybe 5 years ago and I see the company still exists so I'm assuming they've improved their product since then but dang that was a useless brush. It had a cool skull and crossbones on it though.

A post above mentioned the challenge of bringing new shavers onboard and their price consciousness. I get that and most of us here who have spent any time in the hobby know that it is possible to get very serviceable hardware and software at a reasonable price. We've learned through trial and error and our challenge is to reach out to prospective wet shavers to bring them into torus like DFS where they can learn what works and what doesn't and how to get value if thats your goal. Frankly, there is nothing that will turn off a budding new wet shaver more than taking the time to buy some gear without experienced guidance and finding that its crap. Soap thats not slick, razors that hurt and so forth. One only has to look at shaving gear on Amazon to see how much low quality stuff is out there. For someone just starting out it can be overwhelming.

It is possible to enjoy wet shaving on a budget. Those of us here who lament () about the costs generally choose to spend the amount of money we do, we don't have to. A decent EJ DE89, an Omega boar brush, a blade sampler, a tub of Stirling and a bottle of aftershave could all be had for under $100. A tube of Nivea sensitive shaving cream costs under $4 and is excellent shaving cream. An Omega boar costs under $10 and broken in and properly soaked makes an excellent brush.

Its up to us to spread the gospel in a reasonable and practical way. Nobody "needs" a Wolfman razor (I know some would quibble). Perhaps a thread focusing on novices and the practical gear they need along with tips on technique. Most people want a soft, economical entry into wet shaving. They can branch out later once they realize how awesome it is. Thats how I did it. Theres nothing wrong with sticking with the Arko, the Omega and an EJ DE89 and focusing on the experience itself rather than on the collecting of paraphernalia.

Enjoyed reading the thoughts above concerning a perceived slowdown on BST as suggestive of a potential decline in our appetite for more stuff...

I’ve tapered a bit, mostly to better consider what I like in soaps and AS’s. Particularly from a scent standpoint (been burned a little on reviews of stuff I found awful smelling), in order to minimize new mistakes.

I’m still adding a razor now and then, but not at the original pace. There too, I know what I require now, and not every thing is as beckoning as it once was.

For me, I bought to enjoy. So, I’m taking time to savor and enjoy...instead of simply chase more.

All that said, new blood is the lifeblood of any enterprise’s growth. To keep this thing flowering, there have to be new subscribers.

That’s going to mean younger shavers weaned away from cartridge systems...and THAT means price.

That cohort is VERY cost conscious, and needs value AND logical reason to switch.

When/If they do...there needs to be a much bigger selection of high quality, low cost tools to begin with.

$300 DE razors and $100+ brushes aren’t going to sell to these would-be converts.

We’re talking about Karve quality for under $20 kind of stuff.

Yes, I know...but THAT is what keeping the hobby filled with new arrivals is going to cost. It isn’t the shave “experience” you’re competing against INITIALLY.

It’s the cost of a cartridge razor that’s the target.

And...as WE know (lol)...there aren’t any real savings if we’re only looking at pricey DE gear...

However...once the magic happens, and the bug bites...

JMO.

I've noticed this a lot with my nieces and nephews. They are more cost conscious and, "Pay as you go," more than I ever was at their age.

I remember looking at Above the Tie razors around 2013 ish and saying to myself, "You have GOT to be fing kidding me!?!? No way," yet here I am and have owned several of them.

If it’s quiet out there then quiet must be really good for business because I’m seeing a constant and increasing uptick and other companies seem to be enjoying similar success.

If it’s quiet out there then quiet must be really good for business because I’m seeing a constant and increasing uptick and other companies seem to be enjoying similar success.

And there you have it! Thanks for the report.

I'm starting to research English soaps and creams. I go through stages. I've got artisan fatigue presently. Next on my lisdt is look into some of the French soaps.

I noticed many French soaps had used a variety of vegetable oils like coconut, sunflower, palm/palm kernel, and not too many with tallow. I wish some of them were a bit softer in consistency (higher amount of sodium versus potassium hydroxide). If they were more easily loaded off product, the lathering wouldn't be so hard to develop a coat of lather. Lots of the soaps I remember light to include shea as a common superfat. Let me know if you looking to try any specific ones.

Martin de Candre will solve all these problems - one of the easiest soaps in existence to load. If you load it like conventional soap, you’ll overload the brush every time. It needs about 20-25% less loading than ‘normal’ soaps.

The forum ‘slowdown’ has been observed and mentioned on several forums, but I don’t think that’s indicative of wet shaving overall. Many folks have moved to social media groups for a variety of reasons. I never liked social media and prefer the good ol’ forums like this one.

Go to somewhere like Maggards and look at the number of artisan soapmakers - there must be a thousand products. High end straights are still holding their price points, the SR artisans all have waiting lists, and ditto for the more desirable artisan DE razors.

If forums are slowing down the owners need to take a look at their business model. I got tired of forums where I had to keep track of who paid who, be careful what I linked to, etc. That’s why I’m here and FB groups are strong. They’re tired of the nonsense.

The forum ‘slowdown’ has been observed and mentioned on several forums, but I don’t think that’s indicative of wet shaving overall. Many folks have moved to social media groups for a variety of reasons. I never liked social media and prefer the good ol’ forums like this one.

Go to somewhere like Maggards and look at the number of artisan soapmakers - there must be a thousand products. High end straights are still holding their price points, the SR artisans all have waiting lists, and ditto for the more desirable artisan DE razors.

If forums are slowing down the owners need to take a look at their business model. I got tired of forums where I had to keep track of who paid who, be careful what I linked to, etc. That’s why I’m here and FB groups are strong. They’re tired of the nonsense.

social media is good for quick and live conversations but it's absolutely terrible for organizing and archiving data, at least in my opinion.