"Shadiness"

This notion that forum members must abide by some ridiculous "code of honor" is nuts.  

“The Master said, “The gentleman understands what is right, whereas the petty man understands profit.”
Confucious (Analects 4.16)

“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”
Bob Marley

Money must be so far beneath a gentleman that it is hardly worth troubling about.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywo...leman.html

They are trying to do more than talk the talk but walk the walk. Gentlemen make no profits on the shoulders of others. They give, rather than take.

A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.
George Bernard Shaw
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywo...leman.html

Can't fault them for walking the walk (although I still abhor the word)

No. No, no, no, no, no. "Walking the walk" would be treating everyone with respect, compassion, and without prejudice. The places that have these rules in effect, do not treat people in that way, in my experience.

Your experiences at these websites may vary from my own, but the actions of a gentleman go far beyond imposing rules to protect your own profits.

At least one of these places explicitly forbids selling at more than 70% of retail solely to protect the vendors that they require to pay an annual fee just to be members.

If Joe Average can sell a Wolfman razor there for twice retail, why should Mr. Wolfman pay the fee to be a vendor, and earn half as much?

Sorry, but those rules are not in place out of any sense of camaraderie or "gentlemanly behavior". They are there so that the forum and it's owners can continue to make a profit from the vendors they require to pay for the privilege of being a member...

Personally, I find the idea of policing the actions of a purchaser after the sale pretty ridiculous. You bought it, you own it, you can do with it as you please...

What is the incentive to use the BST here? I like the fact that people hook each other up on the other BSTs and flipping is discouraged. If I have a choice between selling here to a flipper vs ebay, might as well sell on ebay.

Interesting how the online wetshaving subculture has changed so much over the last decade. It used to be about technique and information about the tools used, at least on some of the early 2000s sites. For the past 10 years, however, it has been like a shaving version of The Vikings TV series:

Profit
Constant warfare
Sharp-edged steel
Finding treasure of one sort or another
Raids on rival groups
Exploration
Sometimes bloodshed, too.

When I first ventured into tradititonal wetshaving eight years ago, it was in the midst of raging war between the two most prominent figures on the scene. It has continued that way in one form or another ever since. Just as nobody could change the Vikings, the wetshaving forums and online wetshaving scene also cannot be changed. It is therefore a waste of time to try. Accepting online wetshaving as it is - brawling, informative, barbaric, filled with undiscovered riches, and discovering new territories makes a lot more sense.

Tbone, I consider the golden age of online wet shaving sites from the late 90's to slightly beyond. The old MSN then shavemyface. Great vendors like Charles at QED and Lee in New York.

We were quiet back then. Not many and we got to know each other. Now the crowds are all fighting over Wolfmans & Manchurians thinking they actually shave better.

No. No, no, no, no, no. "Walking the walk" would be treating everyone with respect, compassion, and without prejudice. The places that have these rules in effect, do not treat people in that way, in my experience. ... Sorry, but those rules are not in place out of any sense of camaraderie or "gentlemanly behavior". They are there so that the forum and it's owners can continue to make a profit from the vendors they require to pay for the privilege of being a member...

I should have said they "attempt" to walk the walk. These rules fit the "gentlemen" image they want to project to the world.

But in fact, I agree, they worship at the altar of the almighty dollar above all else. This is why they create closed virtual societies where external linking is not permitted.

Tbone, I consider the golden age of online wet shaving sites from the late 90's to slightly beyond. The old MSN then shavemyface. Great vendors like Charles at QED and Lee in New York.

We were quiet back then. Not many and we got to know each other. Now the crowds are all fighting over Wolfmans & Manchurians thinking they actually shave better.

My take is a little different. I consider the Golden Age of online wetshaving to be now. Around 2000, there were only the Yahoo Straight Razor Place and Microsoft Groups wetshavers forums, at least that I know of. It was very civil back then, but also a tiny community. Now, there are infinitely more sources of information, wetshaving products, wetshaving products sellers, and people who wetshave. Traditional wetshaving has reached critical mass, and is a self-sustaining marketplace. It is now big business not an idealized, utopian hobby. Fretting over its imperfections is a waste of time and effort.

Fair enough. I wouldn't call it big business by any means though.

Fair enough. I wouldn't call it big business by any means though.

Big enough to support multiple online and brick &a mortar vendors, suppliers and warehouses...

Italian Barber, Maggards, West Coast Shaving, Connaughts, and how many other vendors that are simply resellers making enough to have it as a sole source of income without even getting into actual artisans and manufacturers that make and sell their own products.

It isn't Microsoft or Apple big, but the business is certainly big enough that it has changed the lives of many people in the last 10 years...


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Big enough to support multiple online and brick &a mortar vendors, suppliers and warehouses

Same for resellers of Beanie Babies. Didnt work out to well including for the hoarders or collectors.

Physical stores popped up and survived for years, then went under.

Yeah, in big business I was referring to your last paragraph, not the small wet shaving community. Maggards does 99%, as they admit, online. Bullgoose is just an online retailer even though there's a space with a sign out front. Italian Barber seems to be thriving but most of the rest appear pretty minuscule. I can count most of them on two hands.