Visited the new AOS store.

mhdena said:

IMO you're depriving yourself of a great soap because as you said in another thread "I pay no more than $10 to $15" , so even when it does go on sale again it seems it won't be good enough for you as it will still be $3 more than your limit, or you will rail on about not fattening P&Gs pockets.


The only complaint complainers make about AOS is the price, some who have never even tried it.

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Ok, you got caught me on a technicality. I was merely trying to not be so harsh on this thread, so I softened up my stance for the sake of being gentlemanly to you.

I'll stand by my argument that a considerable portion, I would venture to say about $18-20, of that $26 is going directly to profit.

What's wrong with railing about fattening Proctor and Gamble's pockets? If there is no accountability in a free market system, there is no free market system. A free market system ensures fairness to all its participants only when there is perfect information.

You don't like P&G fine don't buy it, but why make 4 posts in one thread (to this point) to say so?


You also seem to miss the point that many of us who do like it find sales.

mhdena said:

You don't like P&G fine don't buy it, but why make 4 posts in one thread (to this point) to say so?


You also seem to miss the point that many of us who do like it find sales.

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I voice my opinion and defend my stance because I believe it can provide some benefit to our community, and because information makes the free market system work as intended, to provide for the well being and happiness for those, and only those, who deserve it.

** edit ** I did a little math and thought I'd share it. I don't mean to bash this over anyone's head, but my findings blew my mind.

Martin de Candre - 170g at 34.50 EU (~$42) --> 24.7 cents/gram, includes nice glass jar.

AOS - 95g at $26 --> 27.3 cents/gram, no container.

I could not find any soap that is more expensive than AOS on a per gram basis, not even MdC.

I like AoS Sandalwood scent a lot, but not enough to pay that much for a soap.

Remember who owns AoS...the same people that bend you over a rain barrel whenever you need to buy replacement carts (if you use carts). Hence the ludicrous prices.

wurls said:

Remember who owns AoS...the same people that bend you over a rain barrel whenever you need to buy replacement carts (if you use carts). Hence the ludicrous prices.

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If you're talking about Gillette, they do not own AoS ... both companies are owned (or partnered with) Proctor & Gamble, and the two shaving companies have a sibling-like relationship to each other, not parent and child.

I, for one, am not a big fan of AOS...their products are good but as others have said, overpriced. The only "value" they offer for me is if I want to go and pick something up right away. Otherwise I will wait the 3-7 days (sometimes more) to order from Bull-Goose, West Coast, Royal Shave, or Italian Barber (or some other internet based company).

I was getting my hair cut the other day at my local barbershop...all the guys there, including the barbers, went on about were the cartridge based products they have. When I broke off with my vintage Gillettes and my straight razors, they looked at me like I just stepped off a spaceship. I showed pictures of my shave den, talked about prices of blades, and the bad-assness of straight shaving...I mentioned that there are FAR BETTER options out there than AOS.

Mediocre at best, sorry, but not a fan of AOS.

Le Buzz said:

I voice my opinion and defend my stance because I believe it can provide some benefit to our community, and because information makes the free market system work as intended, to provide for the well being and happiness for those, and only those, who deserve it.

** edit ** I did a little math and thought I'd share it. I don't mean to bash this over anyone's head, but my findings blew my mind.

Martin de Candre - 170g at 34.50 EU (~$42) --> 24.7 cents/gram, includes nice glass jar.

AOS - 95g at $26 --> 27.3 cents/gram, no container.

I could not find any soap that is more expensive than AOS on a per gram basis, not even MdC.

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First, I think your concept of profit is skewed from reality and I am 100% sure that you don't know what each manufacturer spends to produce its soap so your argument about profit is absurd. Second, where are you buying MdC for $42 and why do you keep ignoring the fact that AOS has sales, promotions, etc about 10 times per year? Finally, we get that you hate AOS/P&G for whatever reason, but until you actually try AOS it would probably be better you not comment on its value.

For the record, I did wind up buying a puck and I must say that it's worth every penny I paid. It truly is an excellent soap. I'm very happy with my purchase.

Le Buzz said:

I voice my opinion and defend my stance because I believe it can provide some benefit to our community, and because information makes the free market system work as intended, to provide for the well being and happiness for those, and only those, who deserve it.

** edit ** I did a little math and thought I'd share it. I don't mean to bash this over anyone's head, but my findings blew my mind.

Martin de Candre - 170g at 34.50 EU (~$42) --> 24.7 cents/gram, includes nice glass jar.

AOS - 95g at $26 --> 27.3 cents/gram, no container.

I could not find any soap that is more expensive than AOS on a per gram basis, not even MdC.

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Check out Czech & Speake

Le Buzz said:

What's wrong with railing about fattening Proctor and Gamble's pockets? If there is no accountability in a free market system, there is no free market system. A free market system ensures fairness to all its participants only when there is perfect information.

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I don't think you understand what a "free market system" is. It means there is freedom of competition with as little interference as is reasonable possible. If AoS was the only soap available by government decree, you'd have a point. As it stands there are hundreds of soaps available at hundreds of price points. If you don't think AoS is worth $26 per puck (or $15-18 which it sells for several times per year), buy something else. If enough people feel the same way you do, AoS will have to lower its prices or go out of business. This is what keeps AoS (and all businesses) accountable. As long as there is competition, the market mostly takes care of itself.

Le Buzz said:

I'll stand by my argument that a considerable portion, I would venture to say about $18-20, of that $26 is going directly to profit.

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Irrelevant. Either it's worth it to you or it's not. If it's not, buy something else. You're either a socialist or a communist if you believe a company's profit margin should be limited to what's "fair".

wurls said:

I like AoS Sandalwood scent a lot, but not enough to pay that much for a soap.

Remember who owns AoS...the same people that bend you over a rain barrel whenever you need to buy replacement carts (if you use carts). Hence the ludicrous prices.

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No one is "bending you over a rain barrel". As long as there is competition, the consumer holds most of the power. Men pay ridiculous prices for carts because they are either ignorant of the other options available to them (their own fault for not doing a bit of research and asking questions) or they truly find value in the carts, and if they do, more power to them.

TallyShave said:

First, I think your concept of profit is skewed from reality and I am 100% sure that you don't know what each manufacturer spends to produce its soap so your argument about profit is absurd. Second, where are you buying MdC for $42 and why do you keep ignoring the fact that AOS has sales, promotions, etc about 10 times per year? Finally, we get that you hate AOS/P&G for whatever reason, but until you actually try AOS it would probably be better you not comment on its value.

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Yup.

vegaskid74 said:

I don't think you understand what a "free market system" is. It means there is freedom of competition with as little interference as is reasonable possible. If AoS was the only soap available by government decree, you'd have a point. As it stands there are hundreds of soaps available at hundreds of price points. If you don't think AoS is worth $26 per puck (or $15-18 which it sells for several times per year), buy something else. If enough people feel the same way you do, AoS will have to lower its prices or go out of business. This is what keeps AoS (and all businesses) accountable. As long as there is competition, the market mostly takes care of itself.



Irrelevant. Either it's worth it to you or it's not. If it's not, buy something else. You're either a socialist or a communist if you believe a company's profit margin should be limited to what's "fair".



No one is "bending you over a rain barrel". As long as there is competition, the consumer holds most of the power. Men pay ridiculous prices for carts because they are either ignorant of the other options available to them (their own fault for not doing a bit of research and asking questions) or they truly find value in the carts, and if they do, more power to them.



Yup.

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You are way out of line. Don't let your emotions get the best of you, it's just a discussion. There's no need to insult me or spin my argument to get your point across. I'm a rational human being, if you present me with a good argument I won't be opposed to respecting your opinion.

Take a deep breath, calm down, write something that's filled with less hyperbole and derogatory labels and maybe we can have a discussion.

I hate it when this happens to one of my threads. I wasn't trying to bash AOS or get people to do so, I was just bummed that $26.00 was going to get me such a small puck and I was just inquiring from those who've used it if it really was worth that kind of money. Now that I have some I can see it's really an excellent soap. AOS soap really is a cut above in terms of latherability and shave performance. Yeah, it's worth $26.00.

Le Buzz said:

You are way out of line. Don't let your emotions get the best of you, it's just a discussion. There's no need to insult me or spin my argument to get your point across. I'm a rational human being, if you present me with a good argument I won't be opposed to respecting your opinion.

Take a deep breath, calm down, write something that's filled with less hyperbole and derogatory labels and maybe we can have a discussion.

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I'm not trying to insult you, and I'm pretty sure I didn't twist anything you wrote. I just don't think you understand markets and economics in general very well. We don't live in a command economy. If you don't like a product or its price, move on to something else. That's the beauty of a free market economy - nearly unlimited products to choose from. No need to get bent out of shape because one those choices doesn't suit your fancy.

Foyle said:

I hate it when this happens to one of my threads. I wasn't trying to bash AOS or get people to do so, I was just bummed that $26.00 was going to get me such a small puck and I was just inquiring from those who've used it if it really was worth that kind of money. Now that I have some I can see it's really an excellent soap. AOS soap really is a cut above in terms of latherability and shave performance. Yeah, it's worth $26.00.

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If you like the soap, and you think it's worth the money, then I'm glad. Enjoy the soap. Thanks to your post, and my post, a consumer trying to make the decision that you just made will have an easier time making that decision. That's what makes the Internet great... It facilitates our free market system by providing us with something closer and closer to the concept of perfect information.

vegaskid74 said:

I'm not trying to insult you, and I'm pretty sure I didn't twist anything you wrote. I just don't think you understand markets and economics in general very well. We don't live in a command economy. If you don't like a product or its price, move on to something else. That's the beauty of a free market economy - nearly unlimited products to choose from. No need to get bent out of shape because one those choices doesn't suit your fancy.

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I understand markets and economics very well actually, I better after what I paid for my economics degree. Just because I'm not a market purist does not make me ignorant. All I'm doing by posting my thoughts on this forum is contributing to the pool of information available to all participants of our economy. That does not hurt the free market, it helps it.

I do believe in the free market, but I know it has its limits. It is not perfect. The only way that a free market reaches perfection, such as you are describing when you say "the market takes care of itself", is when all participants enjoy perfect information.

The idea that free markets should just be allowed to roam unshackled is deeply flawed in our day and age, because we do not have access to information in a perfect way. Do you think everyone that buys carts is dumb? That's pretty insulting and a little misanthropic. Why do they buy carts? Because they don't have access to the information that you and I have in a perfect way, meaning that all the information that we've read can't just be uploaded to their brain instantaneously. Because they have better things to do than research the drawbacks of using a cart, they continue to overspend. Their time is better spent doing other things, and P&G continue to rape their wallets.

Please don't respond with the tired old slogan that the market will take care of everything if we let the huge corporations do whatever they want because consumers, since they have all the information, will boycott their product for whatever reason. The market is not a magical benevolent entity that we can worship as if it has no flaws.

You are twisting my argument by implying that I would support regulation to limit what a private firm can charge for their product and you are insulting me by calling me a communist when you have no logical reason to do so. All I'm doing is presenting information, so hopefully some young chap that's tired of his canned goo and carts, who is standing in the AOS shop at his local mall, can pull out his iPhone and have access to some information on which to make a decision to buy or not to buy a $26 puck of soap, besides the information that the very self-interested AOS sales clerks are feeding him.

Someone had to contribute information to you to get you to stop using carts, right? The free market worked for you in this case because of the information you were privy to. You read somewhere on the internet that DE's were better than carts. What if everyone kept quiet about mach3's and fusions being a total ripoff? What if the few guys who shaved with DE's kept all of that knowledge to themselves?

Im not saying I'm right... I might be wrong on AOS soap. I'm going to buy a sample and try it out. But for $26 for 95g, I not only want BBS, the damn soap better get me high too.

And........I think the soap is great. But I personally don't think the bowl is worth it. It doesn't even have the AOS name on it or anything. I really wish they were a little classier. The best bowls out there are the DRH ones IMO

I actually like the AOS bowls without any name, I after all know what's inside

YMMV

Gents, this is a top soap, truly outstanding performer. It is one of the very few superb shave soaps out there. Offers great cushion, slickness, even though it may be on the average to good side regarding moisturizing properties.

For those who believe many modern veggie soaps (or even creams) do the job without any difference, do not bother with AoS. You do not need to.

For those who truly comprehend the value of good tallow soaps, get it while you can. Yes, it does not come cheap, but it is made in Italy by Valobra (as is C&S, another truly top soap) and a day may come when P&G will for whatever reason stop making it available to the market. And when that day comes, you'll be paying much more on the various BST boards across all fora or on eBay - if and when you manage to find one.

If I was based in the U.S. I would stock up, but I'm not, and for this reason I have only 5-6 pucks (if I remember correctly). The AoS cream is good, but a tallow soap of this calibre is by definition in another league, unless of course we're talking about an EF tallow 1st puck, a Houbigant or a '50s Yardley.

And yes, the Harris bowls are prettier...

I believe that AOS is good quality at HIGH prices.

Foyle said:

For the record, I did wind up buying a puck and I must say that it's worth every penny I paid. It truly is an excellent soap. I'm very happy with my purchase.

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EXCELLENT! Which one did you get? You should enjoy it for what it is...a great soap, at a fair price (you bought it, the value of the product is what you percieve it to be not anyone else)! I love their Sandalwood and will continue to buy it. Enjoy it brother!

Le Buzz said:

But for $26 for 95g, I not only want BBS, the damn soap better get me high too.

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From my experience, it doesn't get me high but it does get my pants ripped off me!