Mar

22

Supply Expenses: Gillete Razor Blades

March 22, 2008 |

Jose AnesI recently started shaving my head. It will be the look for 2008. At the same time I started using the now popular HeadBlade system.  I did noticed that the triple blade one (I think they call it Sport) uses clones of a very popular blade:  The Gillette Sensor.  As it happens, Gillete Sensor was the blade I used while I was at college more than 10 years ago, and I was satisfied with it.  At that time they where expensive, but to my surprise they are not so expensive as the newer conconotions that Gillete is selling us now! 

What is more, you can find inmitations on the cheap.  They are cheap because they habe been made obsolete — maybe out of patent, I guess.  Just like the Gillette Atra which is being used by many third party shaving system manufacturers. 

I decided to try my old friend again and the shave was as good as it was when I was in college if not better.  However it was difficult to deny that the Mach 3 I have become used to was even better.  Difficult decission now: do I go back to the old friendly blades, do I stay with the ones I like?  In the end I ended up doing both: the double blade Sensors for the head, and the triple blade Mach 3 for the face.  Now I end up buying two types of blades!  Before I ended up broke I had to do something!

I checked at Walgrens and they sell me the blades for an outrageous price.  The new Mach 3 (or worse, Fusion) blades cost about $2.50 to $4.00 per replacement blade, depending on model.  The Gillete Sensor blades cost between $1.50 and $2 per replacement blade.

This is a moment when buying online does make sense.  I did this analysis:

Blade Amazon (Free S/H) Walgreens.com Brick & Mortar Walgreens
Gillette Sensor 23/15 = $1.67 16.49/10 = 1.70 + S/H 17.99 / 10 = 1.80
Gillette Mach3 Cartridges 24/12 = $2 17.99/8 = 2.25 + S/H 18.99 / 8 = 2.38

Things I learned:

  • Groceries Online - This is getting to the point where I may want to start doing some of my general store / supermarket shopping online.  No need to haul things from the market.
  • Worth To Try The Old Stuff Again - It may be worth to check if the things that worked in the past may work  moral of the story is…  Just because it is new and improved it doesn’t mean it does a better service.  In my case I still preffer to use the modern one. But it pays to reevaluate all of the upgrades you have done in your life, and if they have a monthly or weekly fee — find out if the old method is just as good. 
  • Buy In Bulk - Sometimes you get a significant discount by planning your purchases - especially on the non-perishable supplies.
  • Gillette Has Us Addicted - $2 or more for a disposable blade?  How many other disposable things are so expensive?  $2 gets you toothpaste that lasts you a few months, or a great toothbrush that lasts you several weeks.  Somehow, I am starting to think that Gillette has put some addictive drug into these blades.  We seem to be willing to pay anything they ask for them. 

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