Razor blades 5 to 10 times the cost at the supermarket

I was given a safety razor as a gift. When I went to Coles to buy double edged razors, I saw the price was $14.99 for 10. I reckon I’d pay about $6 for them. So right there in the aisle, I looked up the same product (a well known brand) on eBay and found 100 for $11.49.

I understand there are advantages to buying at my local supermarket. I can see the product before I purchase it, a refund would be easier, the seller is reputable (mostly), I don’t have to buy bulk and I get the product right away. But at 10 times the cost, I don’t think these advantages are worth the effort.

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Thanks @roony for raising this issue.

I completely agree with your sentiments and am kicking myself for not looking on line for a cheaper option.

May I add that in my opinion ALL disposable razors, electric toothbrushes, and electric toothbrush heads are being sold in supermarkets with exorbitant profit margins.

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Most definitely. The major supermarkets brand themselves as “fresh” but in reality, their business model is something different than fresh food. It seems most of the shelf space is devoted to processed items and high profit goods like razor blades, cleaning products, junk food etc. Take a look at how much aisle is dedicated to potato chips and soft drink!

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My gut feel is that the razor blade company is to blame for this, not the supermarket.

The DE blades sold in Coles (and Woolworths) are Wilkinson Sword’s. They are owned by the Edgewell Personal Care who also own the Schick brand. Schick (and Gillette) manufacturer very expensive 3 to 5 blade cartridge blades.

Now if the DE blade priced at $6 for 10 was sitting along side Schick Hydro 5 blades priced at $28.60 for 6 what do you think might happen?

Where ever these blades co-exist, like in Shavershop, the DE’s are priced at the high end. Where ever DE blades are sold on their own they are cheap.

Thus it is my belief that the blade company forces the supermarkets and the shavershops to sell at the high end to prevent DE’s from eating into the profit margins of the cartridge blades.

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I have noticed a lot on non-grocery items are sold at a premium in supermarkets. It is a successful tactic of selling to a customer who is already in the store and not likely to shop around when they can pick it up there and then.

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I get my razors from https://au.dollarshaveclub.com. The medium level range is $10 a month.

Granted, I use them for my legs and not my face - as they are intended, but I found they work well.

They give you the razor and then send 4 blades a month in a heavy paper envelope. Everything is recyclable. They send no marketing emails or advertisements in the post, in my experience.

I do not work for them, but stumbled upon their product and am quite happy with them. Women’s razor blades are $14 and up in Woolies.

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+1: being using them for the last 12 months

I started to use them as well and found they were fantastic to deal with; no spamming. I stopped using them only because I garnered so many replacements about two years ago, I’ve not needed to subscribe to them again. I guess that’s why they started to expand into other areas.

Matt, I found that I was also accumulating too many blades so went to unsubscribe. I was pleasantly surprised to find they had introduced a bi-monthly option so I switched to that instead!

Beware, there’s a lot of counterfeit razor blades floating around on ebay. I once even bought a big batch from a well known discount pharmacy online and was disappointed when the blade performance was much worse than I’d been used to. I figured the manufacturer had changed their process and worked my way through the blades with regret. When I bought some more from the supermarket I discovered they were just as they should have been. I then twigged to the fact that I’d been sold high quality knockoffs. The fact that Target was conned into selling fake MAC makeup shows that even retailers can be fooled. So now I just buy my blades at the supermarket and forego the apparently amazing discounts available. I do wait for them to go on special though!

Look out for the item on special at Chemist Warehouse - usually much cheaper than the supermarkets (No, I don’t work for them!)

The best tip I’ve ever come across is to make sure you dry/sharpen your blade after each and every time you use it. The process may sound a little silly, but it genuinely works and prolongs the blade by an extraordinary amount.

I use an old pair of folded up jeans so that the thigh area is flat on a hard surface with no seams, lumps or bumps underneath. I then run the blade swiftly and lightly up the leg 12 times and then down 12 times. Its like using an old fashioned strop.

I don’t know what its like with the cheap disposables, but it certainly works on the expensive blades and extends their life x 3. It makes the high price of blades quite economical and somewhat bearable. :grinning: