Gillette blades - why are they so expensive?

[ferez]

hi,
i was surfing at westcoastshaving and noted that the price of 5 Gillette swedish blades is 5$, while 100 Dorco's cost only 8$

why are the Gillettes so exspensive? are they really that good compare to the relativley cheap dorco/derbi/crystal etc. ?

tnx, Erez from the holly land.

[trewornan]

1) There's a high cost of advertising to establish a brand as well known as Gillette and as with any high profile brand marketing, it's the consumer who ultimately has to pay.

2) The only point of paying millions to establish such a brand is the "rent" you can extract as a result if you're only charging the same as the competition you don't need a "brand".

3) Gillette want to discourage people from using DE razors - there's too much competition in the market for DE blades, Gillette make their money from suckers buying fusion cartridges. Why sell their DE blades cheap?

[arcman]

Gillette is way out of practice for pricing things competitively.

[soapbox]

1) There's a high cost of advertising to establish a brand as well known as Gillette and as with any high profile brand marketing, it's the consumer who ultimately has to pay.

2) The only point of paying millions to establish such a brand is the "rent" you can extract as a result if you're only charging the same as the competition you don't need a "brand".

3) Gillette want to discourage people from using DE razors - there's too much competition in the market for DE blades, Gillette make their money from suckers buying fusion cartridges. Why sell their DE blades cheap?

Impressive assessment. I like it.

Regarding point #3, though -- why not just quit making DE blades altogether? The Swedish Gillettes are basically as expensive as Sensor cartridges anyway. Why keep your "brand" in a market you view as pointless?

[ferez]

i think that is because they still need to show presence on all of the shaving related sections on the market - that company is all about shaving and shaving only.

and for my second question, i know it measures by individual taste, but nevertheless, are they consider to be better then the other mainstream blades (derby,dorco,crystals...)?

tnx

[kevtex]

I'll take Derbys or Crystals over Gillettes anyday. I've given Gillette enough money already when I was using cartridge razor.

[arcman]

i think that is because they still need to show presence on all of the shaving related sections on the market - that company is all about shaving and shaving only.
...

Gillette doesn't exist as a company any more, actually. Now it's just a brand-name owned by Procter & Gamble, although even before then it produced other products under different brand names.

[_JP_]

The high price of the DE blades makes the higher cost of the cartridges seem not so bad by comparison. Look at all of the extra blades you get in those cartridges!



The above posting is not to be taken seriously.

[laconic1]

Well as far as Gillette blades being really good, my experience is they were the 2nd worst for me of all the blades I tried in the sampler pack, with only the Dorcos doing worse.

[thegrayson]

So far of the blades I have tried Wilkinson, Merkur and Gillette, in that order, the Gillette have been the best. They were also the priciest. I can get the Wilkinson blades for €2.25 in Tesco, the Merkurs were free with my Futur, and the Gillettes were €3.75 in the only Chemist in town that stocks them.
DE shaving won't be as economical on blades for me as for the rest of you as all the shaving stores are in the UK or US. From the UK 10 Crystal €3.20, 10 Derby €3.02, 10 Feather €3.65, 100 Dorco €11.21, all plus postage to Ireland.
All that considered it still beats cartridge shaving once you get past the cost of razors, brushes, soaps......and multiples of each to feed the addiction.

[Roman414]

You may add to all the above, manufacturing costs are much lower in Korea than in Europe and the U.S. As to quality, I find the Dorcos to be as well-made and consistent as any other brand I have tried. Blade preference is a very subjective thing; Dorcos are just like Feathers, Derbys, or Merkurs... Some people will like them, some people will not.

[brz90]

I've tried Derbys, Crystals, Russian Gillettes, Feathers, Treets, Uk & German Wilkinsons and the Swedish Gillette Platinums are better than them all for me. They're only bettered for sharpness and smoothness by a very small cache of 70s' Wilkinson Sword blades I bought off ebay - very cheaply.
You can buy them for £1.25 for 5 over the counter from John Lewis in the UK which seems to be a good price for such a good blade. They cost nearly £2 everywhere else though. Makes a change to pay less for the same thing in the UK than the US even if they are sourced here (though where they're manufactured no one knows).

[wksimple]

You may add to all the above, manufacturing costs are much lower in Korea than in Europe and the U.S. As to quality, I find the Dorcos to be as well-made and consistent as any other brand I have tried. Blade preference is a very subjective thing; Dorcos are just like Feathers, Derbys, or Merkurs... Some people will like them, some people will not.

+1

After working through the sample pack, I have found Dorco blades to be the best for my face, with red-pack Personnas second. As always, YMMV.

[Robxcarlson]

You may add to all the above, manufacturing costs are much lower in Korea than in Europe and the U.S.

I doubt that any Gillette branded blades are made in the U.S.

I was in Niagara, Ontario a couple of weeks ago and I saw 10 pack of Gillette DE Blades for $15. Outrageous no matter where they're made.

[Zach V.]

Well said trewornan. You stole my thunder.

As far as which blades are best, I have discovered that it is a completely individual matter.

I've tried merkurs and derbys thus far, and strictly for me, I think the merkurs are decent and the derbys are excellent. There are tons of variables involved in blade choice.