What would you consider a fair price for P 74*SPCs in bulk?

awa54 · Sep 8, 2015

I extend my profound apology for stepping on Gentlemanly toes. In the future I'll make sure not to muck up the forum with questions about the purchase or sale of vintage razor blades.

Have a great day Gents!

n/t

mblakele · Sep 8, 2015

Sorry to be that guy, but I have to draw your attention to the TOU:

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Terms_Of_Usage

7. B&B is not an appraisal site. As such, asking values here isn't acceptable behavior. All B&B members, asking and answering, new or old, should be aware that B&B is a community of users, and not an appraisal or identification service.

Most gents know this, which probably has something to do with the lack of response to your question. Sorry, but those are the rules.

With that in mind I will not try to answer your question either. I will risk saying that I found the P74 blades underwhelming, and have no particular desire to buy any more of them. Those were sealed packs. Who knows where a bayonet of unprotected blades has been, or what strange adventures it may have suffered over the past decades?

frstplce · Sep 8, 2015

Unless the post was edited, this isn't really asking about a specific item. Amusingly, in the "similar threads" box below the post, has at least 4 topics with "fair price for 'x'?" mentioned.

More on subject, P74 typically demands a price of $4-5 a blade typically at auction. The Super Platinum Chrome, not so much. Perhaps because they don't have the reputation of the P74.

A few blade rails have shown up on eBay and are probably still there. Not P74, but other popular vintage blades. IMO, they are overpriced. First, as mblakele mentioned, is unknown storage conditions. Secondly, the price. Yep, you can get a ton of blades in one go that way. But if you are patient, you can find sealed packs in smaller quantities at a better price per blade. I've picked up everything from Spoilers to Light Brigades and never pay over $0.50 per blade.

haiti222 · Sep 9, 2015

Also, there is risk in unwrapped or unusually wrapped blades. I personally have bought a variety of Personna blades from around that time period from ebay vendors (particularly in the area of their plant) that appear to be seconds, or even damaged blades. One was a set of blades in a bulk cardboard box with the wrappers on backwards. Those blades were fine. Another was a bunch of bulk unwrapped Injector II blades in plastic dispensers. These blades were incredibly rough and unshaveable. As they came with a mint razor I wanted, I was not upset, but test the product before you buy, if possible, or factor these risks (along with storage risk) into your price.

awa54 · Sep 9, 2015

frstplce said:
Unless the post was edited, this isn't really asking about a specific item. Amusingly, in the "similar threads" box below the post, has at least 4 topics with "fair price for 'x'?" mentioned.

More on subject, P74 typically demands a price of $4-5 a blade typically at auction. The Super Platinum Chrome, not so much. Perhaps because they don't have the reputation of the P74.

A few blade rails have shown up on eBay and are probably still there. Not P74, but other popular vintage blades. IMO, they are overpriced. First, as mblakele mentioned, is unknown storage conditions. Secondly, the price. Yep, you can get a ton of blades in one go that way. But if you are patient, you can find sealed packs in smaller quantities at a better price per blade. I've picked up everything from Spoilers to Light Brigades and never pay over $0.50 per blade.

The recent trend toward $4+ per blade prices for sealed P74* packs is well out of line with my tolerance for price gouging. If the 74* was revived and sold at retail I'd be willing to pay $20 for a 5 pack, but in unknown condition off ebay even $20 a pack is foolish IMO.

That said, the SPCs tend to give me at least a dozen, often as many as 25 great shaves (compared to 3 to 5 shaves from "normal" blades) and the coated 74*s even more, so paying two to three times the price of a regular blade isn't really out of line as far as a cost per shave goes.

Cash_Stronomer · Sep 10, 2015

I want them not only for their 'legacy', but because at what they go for they must live up to it!

awa54 · Sep 10, 2015

Cash_Stronomer said:
I want them not only for their 'legacy', but because at what they go for they must live up to it!

I have quite a bunch of both P74* super (coated) and SPC blades, there have been a few blades with humidity damage (or perhaps that were defective when new) that didn't shave well, but on the whole they are my favorite blade ever, even taking in to account the vintage blade quirks and exorbitant pricing. A close second (and easily available) is the Treet Dura Sharp, but they only last 3 or 4 shaves.

As with any blade, there will be people who get lousy results, but it seems that longevity aside, the 74* series blades are one of the more widely appreciated blades. The whole going a month on one DE blade when you usually get just a few days thing is pretty cool too!

frstplce · Sep 10, 2015

awa54 said:
As with any blade, there will be people who get lousy results, but it seems that longevity aside, the 74* series blades are one of the more widely appreciated blades. The whole going a month on one DE blade when you usually get just a few days thing is pretty cool too!

See this thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/284926-Shocking-P74-Haul!!!

Note that box of Personna? Thanks to my studies on this board I picked up box exactly like that one, and for pretty cheap. Inside were 103 blades. I opened each blade when it arrived. Every last one of them a P74. So if I get a month out of each, I will be very happy. Plus, it's kept me from having to give in and pay the crazy prices for the properly marked packs out there.

Cash_Stronomer · Sep 10, 2015

My Dutch blood would be ever so happy with monthly blades! :tongue_sm

awa54 · Sep 10, 2015

Well, if my recent purchase pans out I'll have 1500+ SPCs on hand... at a conservative 15 shaves per blade, that'll be 61 years 2 months of shaves, I'm not planning to live that much longer, so I'll have to spread some around!

All pending safe arrival of the blades and confirmation of their type of course, but I'm pretty confident, since the imprint on these blades is the one seen on "Super Platinum Chrome" labeled post 74* coated blades... the later "standard longevity" SPC blades have a totally different imprint.

Even if they turn out to just be late 70s/early 80s barber blades, it'll have been a good buy, just so long as they aren't all damaged.

frstplce · Sep 10, 2015

I think I have a single pack of SPC, and the date is late 90's. So I'm guessing "standard longevity" since they aren't that old. There's really not a whole lot said about the post-74's. That's probably a good thing as it has allowed you to put together quite a nice stockpile.

It's probably good you've already got plenty of these blades too. I watch eBay pretty closely, so one thing I'm well aware of is that the price of vintage shave equipment has climbed every year. It makes sense, after all, as there is only a finite amount of this stuff out there. If you believe some of the posts here, it may be a growing hobby, which means more demand, so I only expect to see prices get worse.

Toddster64 · Sep 11, 2015

frstplce said:
See this thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/284926-Shocking-P74-Haul!!!

Note that box of Personna? Thanks to my studies on this board I picked up box exactly like that one, and for pretty cheap. Inside were 103 blades. I opened each blade when it arrived. Every last one of them a P74. So if I get a month out of each, I will be very happy. Plus, it's kept me from having to give in and pay the crazy prices for the properly marked packs out there.

Great story. And those Tomac blades are pretty damned good themselves...I picked up 100 for about 12 or 13 dollars a while back, and they easily deliver 15+ shaves for me.

awa54 · Sep 18, 2015

A few more shaves are needed to confirm longevity, but the bayonet of SPCs I got seems to be in perfect shape... smooth, sharp and just like I remember from the various 5 and 20 packs I have scored over the years.

Call this a lifetime supply X5!

frstplce · Sep 19, 2015

Good to hear. I guess that means they were well kept. As a bonus it makes for a really cool storage system. Way more interesting than a bunch of cardboard packs lying around.

I still search out smaller lots of vintage blades, but that's about it. I have too many (edit: enough) blades already, so I now consider it one area I can mostly stop spending money. Of course, no sooner did I make that determination I also realized that I want some new fragrances & aftershaves. It never ends.

awa54 · Sep 27, 2015

Blade #1 is on its second week and still shaving smooth and sharp!

looks like I hit the jackpot

frstplce · Sep 28, 2015

Well, the good news is that if you only replace the blade once every two weeks, those 1500 blades will last you 57 years. I'm actually glad most of my blades don't last anywhere near as long. Otherwise, I'd need to live several hundred years to go through them all.

Assuming you don't have tons of other blades laying around, this may be one of the few examples I've seen of actually saving money here. A couple hundred dollar investment that lasts most of the rest of your life sounds like a good deal to me. Congrats! :001_smile

Actor07 · May 10, 2020

frstplce said:
See this thread: Shocking P74 Haul!!! - http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/284926-Shocking-P74-Haul!!!

Note that box of Personna? Thanks to my studies on this board I picked up box exactly like that one, and for pretty cheap. Inside were 103 blades. I opened each blade when it arrived. Every last one of them a P74. So if I get a month out of each, I will be very happy. Plus, it's kept me from having to give in and pay the crazy prices for the properly marked packs out there.

Can you post a picture of the box, thanks?

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What would you consider a fair price for P 74*SPCs in bulk?

awa54

mblakele

frstplce

haiti222

awa54

Cash_Stronomer

awa54

frstplce

Cash_Stronomer

awa54

frstplce

Toddster64

awa54

frstplce

awa54

frstplce

Actor07

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