The more you pay, the more it's worth?

**cr8n** · 01-02-2011, 07:55 PM

I have a puck of Penhaligon's English Fern, yes, tallow based, and still wrapped.

I love the stuff, and had originally thought I would keep it to back up a 2nd puck that I use only on special occasions.

I love this stuff, but times are tough.

I'm curious to learn what you gentlemen consider is good value for products that are no longer manufactured, such as this one. I don't want an offer. I'd like to know your philosophy (?) of pricing on this.

Is it too crass to suggest that this product and others like it should be worth more than the amount I originally paid?

... If it hasn't appreciated in value, I'll keep it. (Beats the heck out of all other comers ...)

Should it be sold? Should it be sold at a premium? If so, should I take it somewhere outside this gentlemanly forum, which is after all not truly a commercial site?

I'm interested in the opinions of the users.

Paul

(P.S. This is NOT an offer to sell the product. THAT would show up in the appropriate forum, or on the bay, if I decided to do so ...)

**hometownhero** · 01-02-2011, 08:04 PM

If it is no longer available then it will go up in value. Look at all the vintage soaps out there that fetch huge sums of cash. Take yardly It was going for ~$100 a puck, or Old spice it sells for ~$30 average on ebay sometimes a lot more but sometimes you can get a steal on it. But I would say it has went up.

**buddydog** · 01-02-2011, 08:17 PM

It's like anything,it's worth what someone will pay for it.Put it on ebay and watch what happens.I will bid on it......

**CaptainK** · 01-02-2011, 08:48 PM

Just FYI.

**Austin** · 01-02-2011, 08:55 PM

Personally, I don't pay outrageous prices for discontinued product regardless what it is. However, their are gents that will pay unreasonable amounts for these products.

**dpm802** · 01-02-2011, 09:06 PM

If you market it as a collector's item, you will probably be able to command a much higher price, particularly if you have the box and can provide a provenance such as the original sales receipt.

If it is targeted to a user who intends to shave with it, it is unlikely to go for any more than the original MSRP.

**cr8n** · 01-02-2011, 09:43 PM

The going price on ebay surprises me a little. And I appreciate Austin's comments too. A shave is still just a shave, I guess.

Although I don't consider myself a collector, I have to say that the price on ebay was low, if I factor in how much I enjoy the stuff.

To my mind, perhaps what would be more warranted in cases like this would be trades for items equally rare. Does that make sense?

For example, (and again this is NOT an offer) I'd trade something that once sold for 50-100 dollars for another "recently vintaged" item.

The one that comes to mind is tallow EF for Floris Vetiver.

Opinions?

**Optometrist** · 01-03-2011, 02:55 AM

With so many other excellent soaps around, tallow or not, I wouldn't pay over the list price at the time of original purchase. If it was mine though, I'd keep hold and savour every shave with it!

David

**Sabre** · 01-03-2011, 03:16 AM

I have been burnt buying these Holy Grails, Coate's was disappointing, Lavanda not much different from the other Portuguese creams. I have been outbid on Old Spice, Yardley's, and Wrisley's that when I do score one I am sure I will be disappointed (I am an optimist, honest Guv'

)

**media** · 01-03-2011, 06:55 AM

Originally Posted by Sabre

I have been burnt buying these Holy Grails, Coate's was disappointing, Lavanda not much different from the other Portuguese creams. I have been outbid on Old Spice, Yardley's, and Wrisley's that when I do score one I am sure I will be disappointed (I am an optimist, honest Guv'

)

+1

In the end it's just a bar of soap. I dont understand paying $100 to enjoy a bar of soap for a few months. I'd rather buy a current high end soap and save $50+.

**kbuzbee** · 01-03-2011, 08:04 AM

I'm in kind of the same situation and recently pondered the same issues.

But in my situation, I have one puck open, I use "occasionally" (well, since I just found it in the back of the closet

) and one boxed. I don't want to sell either one. I'm enjoying the open one and look forward to many years of occasional use between the two. So, for me, I would need to be offered something I wanted even more (not an offer and I don't even know what that would be, just saying

) if that makes any sense?

I would NOT "charge" someone on this fine forum $100 for it. I would just feel badly doing that here (I know, if someone is willing to pay it and all that, it just isn't me). I would charge them what I paid for it ( but that was some time ago and I have no idea what that would have been)

On the other hand, perhaps someone has something that is "worth" $100 (or more) but they don't want/need/use it any longer. If it is something I think I would want/need/use, I would trade them for it (assuming, of course, they also thought it a fair trade). I'd consider that a win/win. To explain by example, someone has a Simpson brush. They have 40 fine brushes and this one never gets used. I've never tried a Simpson brush and would love to try one. They've always wanted to try Pen EF. Of course, they could just sell their brush. Maybe they'd get $120 for it. But they wouldn't have an EF. Maybe they could buy a puck for $120 and save $20 over this hypothetical trade.... But this is the kind of trade I think would be fair to both parties, valid logic or not.

OTOH, if I just needed the money and didn't care about wonderful future shaves, I guess I'd post it on eBay and let the buyer determine it's worth, to them. I wouldn't feel like I was abusing a friendship, like I would here. (counter argument - someone here could feel badly I hadn't offered it to my brothers here first, I suppose

)

How is this different? I don't know. But in my mind, it is. Maybe I need counseling?

Was this helpful? Or just confusing!

Ken

**CaptainK** · 01-03-2011, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by kbuzbee

Was this helpful? Or just confusing!

Yes.

**Go West Young Man** · 01-03-2011, 02:42 PM

I wouldn't sweat it too much. You're not going to retire off an old puck you sell on eBay, at most we're talking movie+dinner money. Use it if you want to use it, sell it off otherwise. If you hold onto it for a few more years, what'll you get for it, an extra $20?

**nole1** · 01-03-2011, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by cr8n

The going price on ebay surprises me a little. And I appreciate Austin's comments too. A shave is still just a shave, I guess.

Although I don't consider myself a collector, I have to say that the price on ebay was low, if I factor in how much I enjoy the stuff.

So you're saying you would be disappointed if you listed it on the bay and it brought in less than $140?? If that's the case I would consider trading it for something you would enjoy just as much or simply pop it open for a shave. The only way I see it bringing in the amount of money you would want for it is if some guys got in a bidding war at the end of the auction. I would expect to see a "I can't believe I paid $x for a puck of soap..." thread posted soon after it ended.

**cr8n** · 01-03-2011, 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by nole1

So you're saying you would be disappointed if you listed it on the bay and it brought in less than $140?? If that's the case I would consider trading it for something you would enjoy just as much or simply pop it open for a shave...

But I don't need to "pop it open" to try it. I have a puck "in process" already, and it's not my first. This one could, by one measure, be surplus to me.

The thing is, to buy this, knowing that it would soon be obsolete, I drove over an hour, paid $10 parking and then did it a second time when I learned the lid of the bowl didn't fit properly. The retailer was kind enough to replace it, but there was some time and effort involved. So ... even at $200, this is a loss for me, if I factor in my costs. ...

As it is, I tend to use the EF on special days or to reward a (minor) business triumph now and then. Since both are so rare these days, maybe the 2nd puck would never be used at all

But I'm not arguing that all my costs be included. I incurred them for love not business. I look at it this way. What if someone offered me use of the puck for one shave for the princely sum of $10. Would I buy that one shave? I have to say that I would, just to try it - even now, just for the luxury of it.... Now, the first puck I used provided me with over 30 shaves. .... So, perhaps that surplus product is worth $300 to me by that measure.

Any takers at $300? Of course not. Then perhaps I should keep it.

Then again, times are tougher than I care to describe here ... etc.

Paul

**BladeRunner001** · 01-03-2011, 10:15 PM

Hmmmm. Even as discontinued, there's no way that I would pay anything more than what new ones go for...but, that's just me. It's a consumable...if it's not going to be used or just used on special occasions, then it's not worth buying.

Besides, there are plenty of great tallow, tripled milled etc soaps out there that are equal, if not better in performance to Pen's old formulation soaps, and cheaper. Why agonize over this?

Besides, what if Penhaligon decides to bring back tallow based formulation? What would you think knowing full well than you could have had something for $x and you paid $2-4x for

?

**cr8n** · 01-03-2011, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by BladeRunner001

... It's a consumable...if it's not going to be used or just used on special occasions, then it's not worth buying...

I hear you, brother ... Just dumped my single malt scotches down the sink. Thanks.

;)

**Drubbing** · 01-04-2011, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by cr8n

Any takers at $300? Of course not. Then perhaps I should keep it.

Then again, times are tougher than I care to describe here ... etc.

Paul

If times are that tough - then $300 - even if you could get it, isn't going to get you very far towards less tough times.

**goby** · 01-04-2011, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by cr8n

To my mind, perhaps what would be more warranted in cases like this would be trades for items equally rare. Does that make sense?

I agree with you. I have some Personna 74 blades that I would not sell. But I would trade them for something. The price of Personna 74s are crazy these days, but I still wouldn't sell them. But I would trade them for EF tallow or C&S soap.