Dollar Shave Club Is Valued at $615M | Hacker News Reader

Dollar Shave Club Is Valued at $615M

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157 pointschermanowicz203 comments

I liked their branding. It had that hip internet company feel. The little leaflets and stuff that they sent with each razor pack were just fun. After time, their razors began to hurt and feel like they were pulling hair more than I remember at the beginning. One Saturday I did an A/B test with a store-bought Gillette 5 blade against the DSC ultimate 6 blade. I lathered up and shaved with a brand new DSC blade and it was just a little painful. Brand new Gillette, smooth as silk. I decided that even though the Dollar Shave Club was cheaper (Gillette from a drugstore is 15-20 bucks for refills) I couldn't have a painful shave experience. I had my phone in hand to take pics of the experience and thought... hey, I'll just cancel right now. I could not find a way to do it. I could only pause my delivery. Finally a couple of months later, I hunted around their website a bit and didn't immediately see anything related to "quitting the club". After a google search, I finally met with success.... only to start receiving plenty of email from them. I unsubscribed and so far I haven't heard from them again. I doubt I'll try Gillette's shave club as I've heard they just send out their "not as sharp" razors for the reduced price. Maybe I should just grow a beard....

Surprised you had that experience. I've been using them for awhile now, and I think they are great. I usually get bad razor burn while shaving, but using the Shave Butter and Executive razor I get a awesome shave.

I was just saying the same thing to my girlfriend this morning. I love the concept of DSC. Love the leaflets, love the humor, wanted to tell all of my buddies about it...I even liked the razor quality. But over the last month or two I have cut myself multiple times a week and I'm not getting that nice smooth shave I used to get with my Gillette Mach 3's. Now I think I'm going back to the $30 5-packs of Gillette blades at the pharmacy. Oh well--It was fun while it lasted.

Have you tried Harry's?

Harry's concept is similar, an online-only, delivery model at low cost, but their branding really emphasize the quality of the blade. They build their story around buying a blade factory in Germany... Now I wonder with Harry's being the second player, if they emphasized blade quality to hit DSC where it hurts.

I have recent blades from DSC (the mid tier 4 blade type) and Harry's and do not find the Harry's any sharper. Harry's hinge also has less range / more resistance (which can be good or bad depending on technique).

I've tried Gillette, Harry's and DSC and ended up with Harry's being first preference, DSC a backup. Harry's (subjectively) does seem sharper and smoother, with a caveat that I shave in hot shower, with skin being soft, pores being open and all, the experience probably differs if shaving gel is applied onto a dry face.

Harry's clog up for me and stop cutting well mid shave.

My suggestion to stop the clogging is either: - use a beard trimmer on the shortest setting, and then shave with Harrys - Try a Bic Metal razor, single blade with lot's of space so it doesn't get clogged

Or just switch back to the Mach 3 blades I was using before. Which is what I did.

That suggestion is absurd. Why should you have to work around limitations in your razors? Just pay an extra 50c for the branded ones.

Use a safety razor: with a single blade there's nothing to clog.

I signed up out of curiosity when they first came on the scene. I think my subscription lasted until the first shave. Hurt so much that it wasn't worth it to me at any cost.

Would be interested in club where the razors don't tear your face apart, but no amount of funny videos are going to make me want to start my day with that experience.

Its funny how advertising influences "brand perception"

Before this thread I might have, stupidly, recommended them just because they had ads I didnt mind watching

It's also funny what one person considers "hurt" and "bad razor" while the other considers smooth as butter.

I could never stand Gillete for shaving. Crap, hairs caught in between blades etc. Haven't tried DSC, but I do use the plainest blades: Bic Metal. Single blade.

http://www.bicworld.com/en/products/details/178/metal

Funny how their strategy seems to be based on annoying ads and locking people to their service

About shaving: after I got an electrical one I never looked back

Relevant: http://imgur.com/gallery/fkkn3

While interesting, is it really relevant? As in does the observed visual difference amount to significant practical difference

Actually it does make a practical difference but I would argue in favor of the electric razor.

Ever wonder why it itches in those first couple of weeks if you decide to grow your beard out?

Look at that picture.

Shaving with a straight-blade razor basically leaves a bunch of tiny little hypodermic needles behind. When those suckers start growing out, they curl back into your face and start jabbing you, resulting in that annoying itching sensation.

If you want to grow your beard out, take my advice and make your last shave with an electric razor, it's a lot more comfortable.

That makes sense. ha!

> If you want to grow your beard out, take my advice and make your last shave with an electric razor, it's a lot more comfortable.

Shouldn't make too much of a difference after a few days, should it?

Locking in? You can pause your subscription at any time. You can adjust the amount of blades you get in a month based on your shaving frequency.

As a very occasional shaver, I'm very happy with their service, although I agree that the Mach 3 is superior to their top-end razor.

Still, I'm cheap and I find their razor far superior to Schick and other alternatives. I've adjust my shaving techniques to better suit their blades, and am happy to save a bunch of money.

Locking in? You can pause your subscription at any time. You can adjust the amount of blades you get in a month based on your shaving frequency.

Agreed. I very easily cancelled my subscription a few weeks ago (and have since subscribed again, realizing that I could adjust my shipments).

Recommendation for an electric one?

When I was shaving daily, the 3-5 blade razors would last me at least two weeks for each one. I wanted to say 3 weeks, and think that's actually true, but never actually counted the days.

I hope you guys aren't just using them a few times, and tossing? And yes--I always hated buying them, but because they seemed to last, it wasn't really a concern.

Locking them up was a bad move? They seem cheap to manufacture? Why didn't the companies offer to replace stolen merchandise? (by the way, I have worked security--guess who steals the most? I'll give them in the order I witnessed: (1) Managers stole the most. (2) assistant managers second (3) clerks (4) then janitorial, maintence, and special contractors. (5) The customers. The customers are always blamed in the media, but not among security insiders.

Since we're briefly on the topic of razor blades: wipe the blade with alcohol after using it, it'll increase its lifetime by deterring oxidation

How does that help? The alcohol will evaporate off rapidly leaving the cleaned metal exposed to the air which contains moisture.

Back when I shaved with a razor, I'd store it in a cup with baby oil. Did work to keep it sharp longer.

This works wonders for preservation (both sharpness and rust). You can also sharpen them by running it backwards on an old strip of denim a few times before each shave.

Purely a guess, but I'd say the alcohol rinses away the standing water on the blades, leaving only the airborne moisture to deal with.

And how did you keep the blades from being clogged up with hair? Usually, they just stick in there, even if I try wiping them off before they get to that point.

Run hot water through both ways (flip the razor while rinsing). Hold the razor at an angle, so that the water runs straight through the blades. Do this after every 2-4 strokes to prevent hair build up, and give you a nice warm, clean razor each time it touches your face. (Mach 3 user for as long as I can remember.)

This is actually why I use the 4x dollar shave club razor instead of the 6x. There are gaps between the blades so you can actually rinse it.

Taliban beards are en vogue nowadays.

Why is that?

http://fashion-year.com/fashion-mens-beard-2015-year.html

You must have seen those beards.

Consider a simple old-fashioned safety razor with double-edged razor blades. They're not quite as fast and effective as the 4 (+1) bladed razors, but for the $30 you'd pay for a four-pack of the Mach 5 blades you can also get ~100 Feather blades off Amazon (Prime) so even if you replace the blade every single time they'll last you four months or so. and if you do that, they will be sharp enough.

I used a safety razor for the last two years or so. The shave quality is nowhere even close to even a cheap three blade razor. Cheap, but you can get (almost as) cheap and a much better shave with just about any modern alternative.

The proper way to shave using a safety razor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IuA8HGacJw

It takes a tad longer than a three blade razor, but I've always had closer and better shaves.

I've tried disposables, cartridges, electric and the safety razor and I'd rate safety razors better than all of them.

Not a bad tutorial. Also check out mantic59 on youtube, aka the Shave Tutor.

Funny, I find the shave quality of a safety razor to be far superior to any of the cartridge blades (Like the Gilette Fusion). My shaves are super smooth and close.

However, I still use a my Fusion daily, since it's so fast and efficient. With a safety razor it takes time to lather up and get a proper shave.

I just used my brand new Harry's 4 blade razor, and I gotta say, it just blows away my safety razor, in every category, except it doesn't get the mustache hairs that are really close to my nose, so I used my safety razor to get those.

I've had just the opposite experience, and the multi-blade razors really irritate my skin.

They're undeniably cheap as chips. But shaving with safety razor takes longer and requires more skill not to cut yourself.

With a cartridge system, it is damn near impossible to cut yourself even if you tried... With a safety razor if you hold it at the wrong angle you'll get cut (and the angle depends where on your face you're shaving, so it is very much a per-face learnt skill).

The main reason why a safety razor takes so much longer is that you need a good lather from the shaving soap. This offers the most lubrication, which will protect your face from the sharp blade. The crappy supermarket shaving foam just won't cut it (minor pun intended).

I use the non-foaming gels with a cartridge, which is fast and smooth. I gave a safety razor a real shot, but I don't want to spend 20-30 minutes before working shaving, I want to spend 5-10 minutes, and have almost no risk cutting myself no matter how reckless I am.

But undeniably safety razors are sharp and cheap. They're just a lot of hassle.

I've found the opposite to be true. My beard hair is so thick it gets stuck in the space between blades on multi-blade razors and I spend twice as long making the cartridge usable again. By the time I'm done shaving I'm irritated and the blades are not in great shape (if only my beard hair were my head hair, hah!). The thing with safety razors is you need to find the right blade/razor combo. The big reason why you get cut by a safety razor is a mismatch between blade gap and your technique. Adjustable safety razors are simply awesome for dialing that in.

Which adjustable razor do you find works best for a thick beard?

I use a Merkur Futur with Astra Blades, set to somewhere between 2.75 and 3.25 (typically on the lower side). That plus any alcohol free aftershave leaves me with the best shave possible with low irritation (I have sensitive skin) and no blood loss. The shave lasts me about a day and a half before obvious stubble shows up. When I used a Mach III I had to shave every day.

That said, you don't really need the adjust-ability to deal with beard thickness, you set the blade gap to match your skin, the angle you shave at, and your blade selection. The idea is more gap means the razor cuts deeper into the exposed hair, giving a closer longer lasting shave. If you get too greedy, you eventually cut your face. Sharper blades typically need less blade gap than less aggressive blades. Adjustable razors just make it easier to tune for the other two variables you can control (sadly it does nothing to make your skin more robust ;).

Having a single disassemble-able razor is what helps with beard thickness. The hair just washes away rather than getting stuck in between the blades. Cut beard hair is fairly sharp and irritates the skin as it passes over your face. It also bends the blades and changes the angle the blades travel at. That can also increase irritation.

For a large swath of the world that isn't a big deal, but it makes it darn near impossible for me to get a good shave.

When I travel I use a non-adjustable 53 Gillette Super Speed[2] due to its light weight and size. It's not nearly as nice as the Futur but responds well to the Astra blades for a shave that is as good as I would get with a Mach III but without the cleaning needs and less irritation. I bought it for $20 off of ebay and it's not quite as pretty as the linked one.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Merkur-Futur-Safety-Razor-Finish/dp/B0...

[2] http://www.razoremporium.com/gillette-1953-notched-super-spe...

Brain dump:

http://www.shaving101.com/index.php/education/double-edge-sh...

http://www.shaving101.com/index.php/shaving-faqs/253-do-i-ne...

Thank you for the detailed response!

As someone who made the switch to safety razors, I have to say that with practice the shaving time gets within a few minutes of cartridge shaving. Cartridge shaving was taking me about 5 minutes, and I've gotten safety razor shaving down to about 7 minutes.

Part of the time savings is going with a tubes of shaving cream. The cream (Proraso in my case) lathers quickly and consistently, and is vastly superior to the canned stuff.

In the end, after becoming fully adjusted, I find that safety razors are just as convenient, give a better shave, and are far cheaper than cartridge razors. It takes just a minute or two longer.

By far the most important factor for getting a smooth, fast shave with a traditional safety razor is finding the right shaving cream. If you get the pre-lathered ones that come in a tube or tub, you can avoid spending several minutes lathering in a bowl. Good creams include Keihl's White Eagle or Blue Eagle and Truefitt and Hill 1805, each of which is pretty much universally loved by anyone who has ever tried them.

With those shaving creams, I find that it pretty much doesn't matter what brand of blade I use any more, and I can shave in 5 minutes. If you really wanted to optimize on the margins, you could get a sampler pack of 10 different kinds of blades and find the one that works best for your skin chemistry.

I had an issue with Proraso, but I started putting Jack Black's Beard Lube on first and it seems to make my shave much more smooth.

Lathering the Proraso takes seconds, rinse my brush with really hot water and put some hot water in the Proraso tub for a few seconds before dumping it out. Swirl around the brush for a few seconds and it's good to go.

>> The cream (Proraso in my case) lathers quickly and consistently, and is vastly superior to the canned stuff.

For what it's worth, Proraso works well with cartridge and disposable razors also.

I find a shave faster if anything - short quick strokes with a sharp razor decimates my thick facial hair faster than a triple blade cartridge.

I typically wait until my facial hair is pretty thick before shaving too. I use Jack Black's Face buff in the shower, then Jack Black's Beard Lube and layer Proraso on top of it. I'd be interested how well my shave would be if I used the same method with a cartridge.

Same here. I have really thick hair and I use an old 1950's style razor with cheap single blades. One pass and I'm done. With the 3-4 blade razors I'd have to shave down 2-3 times in each spot and then back up again to get a clean shave.

This is going to sound stupid, but after a while of shaving with a double-edged razor I found I could shave in the shower with no lather.

I just wait until I'm done washing and the steam has had a chance to soften the hair, then shave directly in the shower. It took a couple of weeks of shaving daily for my skin to get used to it but now I get it done with no irritation. An advantage of no lather/gel is that I can keep putting my face under the shower to keep the hair soft.

(I shave without a mirror, and then clean up afterwards)

This isn't going to be for everyone, and it certainly isn't as close as a gilette, but I can get the shave done in a couple of minutes.

Those of us in California are jealous of your ability to have decadent, long showers!

I haven't used shaving cream in decades. I exclusively use a small amount of regular conditioner. I don't need a foamy mess all over my face, just need the smooth glide the conditioner offers.

Personally I like the multi-blade disposables razors. I think I have a pack of gillete 3 blade disposables that have lasted me almost half a year. It was 7.99 for a pack of 10.

It's a skill you'll have for the rest of your life. It's a razor you'll have for the rest of your life. A minor hassle of a few bad shaves while you learn good technique for shaving your face is entirely worth it. Think long term, get away from short term thinking.

Check out the Beluga Razor from Beluga Shave Co., problem solved. (Drops the mic)

Totally agree! Branding has been their strong suit. Everything from their website to their Facebook page has style and personality.

Your comment reminded me of the story recently about Harry's and how they bought a razor blade company in Germany because of the difficulty of reliably sourcing quality razors. I wonder if the 1DS folks have had supply chain issues?

I'm pretty sure they just resell the blades from a Korean company. I did the dollar shave once then went directly to the company that makes them for a better price. Now I use Harry's which I think are a little better

I've found generic disposables (two blade, throw the whole thing away, handle and all) work pretty well, as long as I replace them regularly. I also use a nice shave oil, which seems to help.

"I doubt I'll try Gillette's shave club as I've heard they just send out their "not as sharp" razors for the reduced price."

I have actually bought OEM hard drives from the Apple store that I can buy cheaper on Amazon on the theory that Apple gets the better drives. I don't know if I am right but that is my theory and is based on past experience with other products (and similar to what you are saying).

You might like a safety razor. You can buy much sharper blades for less money.

Pro tip to everyone using these blades: Pickup a bottle of mineral oil from the drugstore, and fill a small cup about half an inch with it. After you shave, rinse off the blade, blot it dry, and stick it in the mineral oil, so that it's fully submerged. Each blade will last somewhere between 2-5x as long.

Not entirely sure about the mechanism, but I recall hearing the oil slows down oxidation, which is the primary cause of the blade's dulling (it's not, surprisingly, the cutting of the beard hairs).

Have you heard about Beluga Shave Co.? We make single edge shaving easy. Better shave, premium razor, no irritation, super low cost blades, and no clogging.

I've never understood the appeal of the dollar shave club. Razors are very cheap when bought in bulk, and they take up very little space to store, even an entire year's supply. Wouldn't it make more sense and save money to ship a year's supply at a time?

For example, here are 64 razors for $16: http://amazon.com/dp/B00XKVH4O6. The comparable dollar shave two-blade option would cost you $48, since it's $1/mo for blades and $2/mo for shipping.

On the high end six-blade model, here's 24-cartridges for $30.49: http://www.dorcousa.com/pace-6-cartridges-6-pack-sxa1040/ The same thing from dollar shave would cost $54.

If people thought this way a lot of things would go out of business.

I'm almost surprised daily when I see what businesses are doing well, DSC for example. Just about a few hours research a 3 years ago (admittedly too long) and I created a wet-shaving kit that has saved me more than DSC can.

I guess if I really want to create a great business, help people be lazy and not think, only do.

Do you know if the quality is the same?

The dollar shave club not only sells cheap shaving gear (compared to gillette at the supermarket) but also sells reassurance that the gear isn't crap, which I think many consumers fear about no-name alternatives.

Razors are practically, not quite, but practically caveman technology. I'd imagine that any products making it it to the modern market are roughly the same grade.

One thing I'm sure of: A good sign of a superior product is that it doesn't need monthly replacement.

Not even close, there is a huge difference between shaving with a $0.5 razor to a $4 one. I'm talking from experience. Apparently making good razors isn't as simple as it seems.

This is untrue. First off, facial hair has different consistency (tougher, finer, curly, straight, etc.) and what may work for one person doesn't always work for someone else. Second, (as someone who has to shave every day) there's a vast and noticeable difference between safety cartridges; there are really bad ones out there.

Not so. The technology invested in razors is significant, and their pricing has been studied to hell and back. Gillette is selling a very sophisticated product, and they test it thoroughly. It's a pretty fascinating business, actually. Despite the high prices of the top end blades, their price on a cost/shave basis is only slightly higher than cheaper blades - they last literally several times what the cheap ones do, and cut better the whole time.

DSC uses Dorco blades, which are available on Amazon for roughly the same price, if not cheaper.

My point is, most consumers don't know this.

They will probably only know Gillette and some no-name they tried once and hated. If they were to see Dorco on Amazon most consumers would put this into the latter category. On the other hand, DSC has good enough marketing to convince many consumers that DSC are in the Gillette category for a fraction of the price.

Personal care products are frequently 20% product, 80% marketing. There are store brands for practically every product in this category, yet name brands do okay.

CVS branded disposables are probably the best disposable triple blade on the market. I have thick hair and one of those lasts me an entire week. There are deals to be had, assuming people are willing to put in the legwork. I've gone two weeks with one out of sheer laziness before.

That said, stuff like bic is terrible.

And that's not even considering the classic double-edge razor that I and many others swear by. Here's a 200-blade-count for $15: http://www.amazon.com/Derby-Extra-Double-Razor-Blades/dp/B00... And yes, they perform as well (and in fact better, for many people) and last nearly as long as cartridges.

Yes, with a minimal investment in a good brush and Merkur razor + blades a couple years ago, I've already saved by going the double-edged way plus the shave is way better.

Only real problem is that I still haven't figured out how to do carry-on only and keep blades on me.

I've only ever had one TSA agent realize that I didn't have a cartridge razor in my dopp and confiscate my blades. Since that happened (but before I became an enormous beardo), I've brought only the bare minimum blades needed for my trips packed edge on to the x-ray scanner and left the butterfly in my shave kit but opened to show it was empty.

I imagine a safer and less obstreperous way might be to just buy an injector razor for when you travel.

You have a beard, and you carry DE blades on board, detailing how you hide them from TSA scanners on a public forum? Had any "longer chats" with TSA in an airport windowless room yet?

I use Harry's for the TSA and DE Safety for day to do. And because I only travel once every 6 weeks, I am okay with it.

I usually disassemble my Merkur before it's in my toiletry, but have a spare blade or two in wax paper floating around-- it doesn't seem to attract attention if it's not inside the razor assembly...

My own experience (sameple size of one) tells me that the greatest advantage to a classic double edged razor is in learning the technique. You WILL cut your face when you first start with it, but if you persist, you learn the right amount of pressure, the right stroke length for your face, the right angle, how to clean it, etc. The handle on my double edged razor broke, and I couldn't be bothered to replace it (lifetime warranty though). For about 6 months now I've been using cheap double blade dispoasble razors (and only replacing them about once a month) and I'm having a hard time convincing myself to go back. I used to swear by the badger hair brush, nice shaving cream and Merkur blades, but now I just use the hot water in the shower and a cheap plastic razor (that is rarely super sharp because it's usually weeks old) and my shave is just as close. I reckon I could dry shave if required, but the burn would be unbearable.

The best deal I have found in store is at Costco where for $49 you get a 24 pack of Mach 3 razors.

http://www.costco.com/Gillette-MACH3-Turbo-Cartridges-24-Cou...

Honestly, I like their branding.

It is unique enough to stand apart, but not so far out there that its unapproachable or unnecessarily too hipster, and manly enough without scaring off the metro-sexual or gay crowd (and please, don't take this as offense, it's just that they gravitate to certain brands that are more "gentlemenly" than flat out "manly").

Their website portrays their brand extremely well, their famous video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI) is absolutely amazing for how low budget it is, and, well, how fail it is and they just keep rolling with it. Its genius.

I just wish they'd veer into the double edged safety razor market, which in my opinion, needs a bit of disruption too.

What's unique about their branding? I've seen that logo a million times before[1].. http://yourlogoisnothardcore.tumblr.com/

[1] not that I really have any problem with it. It's a popular template to copy and many have used it successfully.

[edit] Bleh, formatting fixed. I hate the various inconsistencies of markdown implementations.

Branding != logo.

The logo seemed like a good place to start. Look up "hipster ribbons" and "hipster arrows" and "hipster fonts" and you can find the rest of the pieces that make up their style. They've got a complete implementation of a popular formula; it's nicely done but it's far from unique.

A better place to look is their video ads, which have gotten quite a bit of viral traction: https://www.youtube.com/user/DollarShaveClub

The DSC business model is really simple: take a no-name commodity product (Dorco razor blades: see http://lifehacker.com/5903771/forget-dollar-shave-clubbuy-th...), wrap it in very-social-sharing-friendly marketing, charge three times as much. Boom, you make enough money to cover the costs of the marketing and then some.

As a gay subscriber, I completely agree with "manly enough without scaring off the metro-sexual or gay crowd." Masculine without being defensive about it.

How on Earth did this get downvoted?

I remember when Dollar Shave Club popped up on my radar. I thought to myself, "You know what? They are right. It's ridiculous that I spend so much money on Gillette razor blades. I only get 2-3 good shaves out of them."

I ended up buying an $80 Philips electric razor and haven't looked back. Takes way less time, I don't have to use shaving cream, and I don't have to be careful either.

Exactly this but with a Wahl Professional Peanut Clipper for like 50 USD.

I did the same until I got a safety razor and found some good blades.

Smoothest shave of my life, refills come out to about $.50/week. The first shave wasn't pretty, but after that it was smooth sailing and I'll never look back.

Makes things like DSC seem quaint; people think safety razors are either:

- archaic - dangerous

But the truth is they are a fantastic, cheap way to get a high quality shave and I don't mind being an evangelist about them if it gets people away from fully disposable razors.

I bought a double edged about 2 years ago and haven't looked back. I shave my head with them every 1-3 days and find the closeness unparalleled. I am generally less diligent with shaving my face, but it's terrific for that as well. There's a really nice thing about the whole ceremony of it all; making the lather, making the strokes from the different angles, fixing any mistakes.

I did the same, until I saw a tip that somebody posted here :) Since then I've been using the same Gillette cartridge (it's been over a year) and it's still as sharp as it was when I bought it.

The trick is to rub it against your bicep or forearm (effectively stropping it) before use. I also do that after use, which helps to dry it up (keeping it even sharper).

I've already saved a small fortune on cartridge refills. Best shaving tip I ever got!

Ditto - I get ~50 shaves per Gillette Fusion Power cartridge, so I'm still working on an 8-pack I got for Christmas 2013.

Interesting: http://lifehacker.com/5502841/extend-the-life-of-your-razor-...

I'm going to give it a try, cheers for passing the tip along!

I do the same with my safety razor, and just always make sure to store it in a dry place, not in the bathroom, just to be safe. I don't remember the last time I replaced the blade.

I live in India and I can get a shave from the local barber here for around $1. These guys use straight razors. I tell you, the shave is closer than anything Gilette or Aldi or DSC or Harry's can do.

I like safety razors as well (it's what I use at home). The blades are cheap and give a good shave.

But they take way longer to shave than a cartridge or disposable razor. I use a gillette mach 3 when traveling, and it literally takes a minute or less in the shower with a bit of soap suds to shave. Using a safety razor is a much longer process and requires more gear.

> I did the same until I got a safety razor and found some good blades. > Smoothest shave of my life

I have an honest opinion about that... I've done the disposable refills most of my life, but recently was balking at the amount of money I was spending. Did a lot of research, and decided to give a good electric a try. I'm rocking the Braun 790cc. It's actually a great shaver, and in the last year it's cost very little to maintain. Even buying cleaner cartridges and replacement heads periodically, it's MUCH cheaper than disposable blades.

Problem is, the electric DEFINITELY doesn't shave as close. I totally can tell... the few times I've switched it up and used a blade again, the difference is incredible. That said, I am a white guy with very dark, dense stubble. No matter how close I shave, you can still see my beard line. It's Homer Simpson syndrome.

So I'm left thinking in the end that if the electric shaves close enough that I don't look unshaven, it's good enough. Basically, when I get formal in the evening, I just do a quick followup shave with the electric to make sure I'm 'presentable', and I've never had an issue.

I went through a similar thought process, but I just resigned myself to shaving with dull blades most of the time.

After the dollar shave club hoopla I researched more into a better way of shaving (electric razors gave me really bad rashes and didn't cut particularly close), and ended up switching to a safety razor[1].

100 refill blades are about $10 and can each be used about four times with the blade being razor sharp each time. I went whole hog and got a fancy tub of old fashioned shaving cream[2] and brush, so every shave is a neat ritual of lathering up the cream. I'm getting pretty good at it.

Each shave costs approximately 2.5¢ for a fourth of a razor and a few pennies more for the pea-sized spoon of really nice shaving cream I use, and it's blindingly sharp and perfect every time.

I might at some point switch to a straight razor, but I have no reason to.

1. Like http://amzn.com/B000NL0T1G but not this exact model - they're all very similar.

2. http://amzn.com/B009BLN3M6 Don't get shaving soap - it dries your skin out and usually smells terrible.

There are plenty of shave soaps that moisturize and smell great. I've got a couple that smell great and produce a fantastic lather.

I don't trust myself with a straight razor, but the DE razor works really well for me. Plus it seems just so sophisticated with the bowl and brush sitting on the bathroom sink.

I haven't tried an electric razor for a while, maybe they are better now but they always seemed to take forever to get a good shave. I buy half way decent 4 blade disposables and get 5 or 6 months out of each one. I shave in the shower with soap. A few weeks in they loose their edge a bit but then come back. The slight corrosion of the stainless steel actually puts an edge back on.

Same thing here. And if you buy a new head every 6 months to a year, the quality/closeness of the cut is still as good as the day you bought it.

I've had the same electric razor for about 6 years now, the battery still goes a couple weeks between charges, and shave quality is as good as I ever could get with a manual razor. I just don't get why most people prefer the more expensive, more labor-intense option of razors + shaving cream... I guess for some, it's nostalgia?

I too find it mind-boggling that men choose to shave their faces with mass-market manual razors.

However, the conventional wisdom -- and my own experience -- is that even a typical drug store manual razor, if it is fairly new, will give you a closer shave than any electric razor. It's just a function of having a thin metal foil between the blade and your skin, or not having one. And a poorly-made electric razor will give a much worse shave than a blade.

I still shave with an electric razor, though. The hassle of dealing with a manual razor massively outweighs the tiny fraction of a millimeter closer shave a manual razor gives me, especially since by lunchtime the difference is already unnoticeable.

My experience with electric razors is that they take forever to actually cut every hair, and if you've got some stragglers, you have to go back and forth 30 times to get them cut. It's a waste of time. Maybe you got a good one, but I've used 3 or 4 different brands, and it is all the same.

I do use an electric trimmer when I don't want a close cut, but I use a safety razor otherwise.

Electric razors don't shave anywhere near as close as a blade. They also get dull as they age, and start pulling (especially the Philips/Norelco spinning head types). Also, they break -- mostly by the battery wearing out.

I've been through two Braun shavers in the last 25 years. Extended the life of both by cracking them open and replacing the batteries myself. Other than that, and replacing the cutting head and screen every couple of years, they worked fine.

Spinning head shavers pulled like mad, and I hated them.

Every few months I have to use razor blades (forgot electric razor on a trip, etc.), and it's horrible.

> I only get 2-3 good shaves out of them.

I don't think razors will ever work for people with thick hair.

> I ended up buying an $80 Philips electric razor and haven't looked back.

These tend to work significantly better than razor blades. I've given up though: even electric razors don't last too long on my tough beard. All I do now use Wahl hair clippers: they result in a very uniform and tidy shadow.

I explored straight razors for a bit, but decided to just be lazy and grow a beard. I've used the same $15 trimmer I bought at a discount store for 5 years and haven't been happier.

I actually bought their 2-year supply back when they were doing that. Details here. I guess it's the best $30 I've ever spent since I'm still using the same blades. Change every couple of weeks depending on how ratty they get (so it's more than a two-year supply) but I've never had any noticeable irritation. I do prefer the occasional Gillette as well as "pass-thru" cleanability as mine can get kindof gummed up and difficult to rinse otherwise.

Order Date: 08/20/2011 - 16:22 Shipping Method: Flat Rate Shipping Products Subtotal: $24.00 Flat Rate Shipping: $6.00 ------ Total for this Order: $30.00 1 x Ninja Blade Twin 24 Month Membership - Bulk - $24.00 SKU: NBT24-BULK

Private equity bubbles occur when there's not much money to be made in publicly traded companies. This is because there's a capital surplus because of quantitative easing, and a lower cost to access capital. Everything in economics is cause and effect.

All true. Also been true for ~7 years, so maybe it doesn't matter much.

At some point, the balloon will get squeezed and all that money is going to rush elsewhere. I don't envy either part of the balloon.

But will it? The big lesson of 2009 was that ratings agencies aren't trustworthy and investment banks have no problem selling you junk investments.

The Dollar Shave Club looks like a prudent investment in comparison. Perhaps it's overvalued, but it's safe from outright fraud.

$20 Merkur Double Edge Safety Razor $20 Large sample pack of razors from amazon $10 bristle brush and lather bar soap

That was three years ago, haven't bought anything since. I'm confused why if people want an affordable solution this route isn't more popular? Is it simply because most stores have stopped selling plain razors for much more expensive handled disposables?

I am in the exact same boat. Though I have since spent a few extra bucks on a stand for the razor and brush and a mug for my soap. It makes the shaving ritual a bit better.

Those brushes are amazing even using 'regular' 2/3/4/6 blade razors. Same goes for shave soap.

I've got a double-edged Merkur and a straight Classic Samurai razor: both are great. Blade-wise, I've only tried Derby Extras & Sharks, but both are great.

There is a market to find and distribute varieties of double/single-edge razor blades, not that anyone's tapping it. Wouldn't it be nice to get a couple blades sent in advance to every hotel you fly to? Or just to get a few different blades for $1 or $2/mo? (what are Feathers like?) You don't always need or want the 100-pack (though it usually is just $6 or $7).

We are in what will be called "the private equity bubble".

"Dubin claims Dollar Shave Club accounts for 7 percent of all razor cartridge sales in the U.S."

I find this hard to believe given that I don't know anyone personally who uses it. But if that's really the case, it's not as absurd given that Gillette was bought for $52 billion in 2005.

http://recode.net/2015/06/21/dollar-shave-club-raises-75-mil...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aA.la...

I'm curious, for how many of your (say) 10 closest friends do you know where they buy their razors?

For me I'm going with one; I know one friend who swears by his electric and although I'm sure he also has some sort of low tech option it almost certainly isn't DSC.

You're right, it'd be strange if I did. However, given that they have a referral program I would have expected a bit more buzz for 7% market share.

http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/faqs#/faq11

I don't think so. The inverse, 93% of razor cartridges, aren't from them. So you're far more likely to not even have one friend who uses them.

They must be resonating with some group that doesn't really overlap with the HN crowd... I've not seen any advertising other than the original YouTube video.

They advertise on TV, nationally. I've seen the commercials. They also advertise heavily on Facebook.

At first I thought the same thing. But if you'll bear with me for some back of the envelope math, with 2 million members paying an average of $5/month, that means they're bringing in $120,000,000 a year. That's a multiple less than 6x of revenue, hardly that outrageous.

What is the gross profit margin on the back of your envelope?

Gillette's brand is valued by forbes at $20B (~2.5x Revenue)

http://www.forbes.com/companies/gillette/

About about the gross margin?

Still great.

Key to subscription based businesses are retention and cost of customer acquisition. Which, I predict for this business with no knowledge about the industry at all, are low and high, respectively.

That is a high multiple for a company that sell physical goods.

We're in a bubble? http://imgur.com/a/GaGtl

Neat concept, but they didn't get my money. I assumed they would be cheap (per their name), but quickly realised that my local Aldi is cheaper. Furthermore, I shave daily and use disposable razors but simply don't need them at the frequency DSC ship them to you. So DSCs ad got me thinking, and all I ended up doing was swapping from Gilette to Aldi.

Furthermore, it isn't more convenient for me - I still need to go and buy other things from the store, so as long as I remember once every 2-3 months to pick up blades DSC certainly isn't making my life simpler or easier.

This is just another pets.com to me, neat idea but really just not that compelling.

I just want to be that person who brings up the oppression inherent in the clean-shaven-male culture.

The skin on my face hates shaving. I disagree with the resources spent on shaving, and the pollution. I've shaved my face fully once in the past 10 years, but I do shave around the cheeks and neck, so I have to deal with the shaving thing a bit anyway.

Also, I'm from Adelaide, home of 'The Beards', here they are with their track 'If Your Dad Doesn't Have a Beard, You've Got Two Mums' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmFnarFSj_U

Flattered to be on featured on hackernews.

We're hiring Devops, Platform Engineers, Mobile developers and QA automation engineers.

For more info email: engineering-careers@dollarshaveclub.com

We're hiring software engineers at DSC: SDEI (software development engineer in infrastructure), SDET, iOS/Android engineers and platform engineers. Email engineering-careers@dollarshaveclub.com

For what application?

To shave the world, of course.

I don't see DSC as overvalued at all. They're selling real products that everyone needs (not wants), in an arrangement that makes total sense (razor blades are the sort of consumable that needs restocking at predictable intervals). They face high competition in the sense that I wouldn't bet on any retailer that isn't Amazon, but I'm sure that's priced into the valuation.

> They're selling real products that everyone needs (not wants)

Sikhs?

alright wise guy

It is around one full year that I am growing a beard, but when I use to shave I used a straight razor.

The one like the old far-west movie, but more secure and safe.

It is a niece white piece of plastic, (2€) and I bought a little packet of 10 blades (1.2€) if you shave every morning I guess a blade will last at least a week.

But you need to learn how to shave with a straight razor, the first time is just little piece of your face floating in blood, the more you practise the less you will cut yourself, I used to don't have the little scratch on my face... It is definitely a different and more enjoyable experience...

Their premium model has six blades[0]. Made me chuckle remembering this article[1].

[0] https://www.dollarshaveclub.com/blades

[1] http://www.theonion.com/blogpost/fuck-everything-were-doing-...

Gag from the early '90s, being the "Gillette 3000, with 16 blades..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YleuLyCUx28

Worth watching for the description of what the blades do.

Both are still lagging the "Trac LXXVI Razor", published in 1979 by Mad Magazine.

It will be interesting to see if Harry's will "catch up" with a similar valuation in the near future. Estimates at the end of 2014 put them in the $200-300 million range, although they seemed to be neck-and-neck otherwise.

Personally I have been following the forearm method [1] of keeping my disposable five-blade cartridges sharp. Maybe it won't work for everyone, but it certainly seemed to make a difference to me. Then again, I also grew out a beard so now I only shave a part of my face, and generally do so twice a week, not every day. Having said that, my most recent cartridge lasted me just about a year.

[1] http://lifehacker.com/5502841/extend-the-life-of-your-razor-...

I have a nice 1/2 inch beard, and my razor is scissors. $8/10-15 years.

Best advice so far on this thread. Luckily my facial hair is very slow growing. I would only shave about once ever 3 weeks. My wife suggested that I plug my hair out, like she does with the hair on her legs. The pain is a bit too much for me.

Not working for goatees though.

If you have a goatee or a soul patch, your shaving method is not your biggest problem.

First time laughing at a HN comment this week. Wish one of my coworkers would see this...

I don't have to shave very often (once or twice a week), so the price and convenience of not having to remember to buy something I already don't think about very much is great. They deliver the 6 pack of blades once every other month or so and I'll often pause it if I get a backlog of blades.

I can't really speak to the quality of said blades or the shave, since I'm pretty sure 14 year old boys shave more than I do. But I've never experienced a painful shave as others have.

"Dollar Shave Club is burning through 'low single digit millions' of dollars each month, according to a person familiar with the figures."

Missed opportunity: "Shaving away 'low single digit millions' ..."

Missed opportunity to you, "dodged temptation" to others perhaps.

Does that mean $1,000,000 to $4,999,999?

I think they get their blades from Dorco. I can buy that much cheaper in bulk on Amazon.

Bring on the armchair private market economists.

Tried DSC (even with the quad blades) for several months, had terrible shaves and switched to a Fusion and never looked back. I wanted to like them since they're cheap and the marketing was cool, but the product just didn't live up to expectations.

I had an epiphany when I switched from Mach 3 razors to a safety razor - some markets are dominated by marketing, meanwhile there is equivalent, sometimes better, solutions that exist but don't have the means to market their product due to having such low operating margins.

Dollar Shave Club comes around as is able to mimic that concept, but hits a middle ground between a low-margin and mainstream marketed solutions.

The irony in all of this is that the Dollar Shave Club is still too expensive when compared to my safety razor that costs me about 10 cents per shave. So it is actually more like the mainstream solutions they're trying to undermine than not.

The valuation seems high to me. I've been told that valuations should be around 3.5x revenue; at $615m, that should mean that DSC has sold $175m of razors last year. I would be astounded if that were the case.

Note that there is not any rough revenue multiple that would apply in a broadly formulaic way for early-stage companies. They are all unique to some extent along axes that matter to investors (addressable market, growth rate, competition, etc.).

However, a couple of numbers from TFA might support the notion that DSC did ~$175m last year:

"“We have 2 million members that get a shipment every month or every other month"

...

"On average, the company’s customers pay a subscription fee of about $7 per month"

If those are both accurate, that's a $168mm run rate. (Right, that's not TTM, but if the company is growing rapidly, investors will want to have more of a forward bias and so TTM becomes less relevant.)

where did you hear that 3.5x number? I thought 10x revenue was common for internet companies. Although this isn't an internet company, but they did get their start on the internet (I think?)

The short cut is to compacte with other players in the same industry. Somewhere else in the thread it's said that Gilette is valued 2,5x. So 3,5x is not too far off.

The real way investment managers calculate potential worth is much more complex, calculating expenditures per dollar earned, looking at the market saturation, risks from competitors etc. Because these calculations are usually the same for businesses in the same industry the shortcut is usually close.

In this case their multiplier might be higher than that of Gilette because they spend less on marketing and they're smaller but with a steeper growth curve.

They do offer shaving cream, shaving butter, aftershave, hair products and moist butt wipes, allegedly that's where growth will be coming from - all the various products they can pack into a box and ship to customer's door on recurring basis.

Everyone says it's a bubble and yet seven years later, since 2008, I can only think of three major VC implosions off the top of my head: fab.com, zynga, and groupon. Fab was a train-wreck that anyone with a pulse could have seen coming. Zynga... way too dependent on Facebook and a fad. Groupon is the better of the three, only seeing its valuation fall from $30 billion to just $4 billion - but still well over $1 billion. These valuations, as lofty as they seem, ain't goin' lower.

I found a Schick injector razor probably five years ago, and bought a supply of blades for it off of Amazon for about $15. I really only use it for cleaning up my neckbeard, but I'm not even halfway through the blades I bought.

It does take a little care until you know what you are doing, since you can really carve yourself up with the single blade if you go too hard. But it's certainly sharper and does a better job than any of the multi-blade disposable razors I used to use.

If you clean and dry your razors - whatever kind - you'll get many more good shaves out of them. I clean mine and then blast with a can of pressurized air.

What amazes me is that their business strategy is so easy to replicate- 1 - buy another manufacturer's blades in bulk 2 - sell

yet they pull in that kind of valuation.

If only it were that easy.

I think the subscription model is a big part of the valuation. Investors love seeing steady (and predictable) income.

I really like what they're doing, I keep seeing their ads in facebook and I wonder if that's because I look at razor stuff on google, reddit or amazon... But yeah they're marketing well, they're doing something nice!

Having say that, I wouldn't buy any, and I advise clever people here of not doing so as well. Safety razors are super cheap and are amazing.

I don't really look up razors or related products online and I also see their ads all over Facebook. I'm pretty certain they're just aggressively targeting the 18-35 demographic.

You can buy a box of their top-of-the-line razors from South Korea for like ten dollars. This is 100% marketing. I don't mean there's anything wrong with that, just that this valuation is for something that is pure marketing. They don't really have an edge in their products...... badum-psh!

If for some reason you love DSC's razors, you can buy direct from the manufacturer, Dorco USA, for even cheaper.

dorcousa.com

Another way to save money on razor blades

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-extend-the-life-of-yo...

I remember reading about the development of Gillette's Mach 3 blade in the book "Good to Great". From what I remember, the spent considerable money in developing the tooling required to manufacture those blades. I think that razor has been around for quite some time now and maybe some of that tooling is easier duplicated now, but it seems like a market that would be very hard to enter because manufacturing a razor that could compete on quality and convenience would be very expensive to do.

From reading some of the comments here, it sounds like DSC's razors are not nearly as good as Gillette's and they are able to sell razors mostly because of their marketing, which confirms what I had thought about new players coming in. I was less skeptical of Harry's because they specifically including messages in their marketing about how they took over an existing manufacture.

I'm pretty sure DSC doesn't make the blades. They're just a middleman.

IRRC they use Dorco blades, which can be purchased significantly cheaper elsewhere (e.g. Amazon)

Even if they were selling perfect blades, is this company really worth $615M?

At Beluga Shave Co. we make single edge shaving like a Professional Barber easy for the first time with our Beluga Razor, and it looks like for many of you we have the perfect solution. Why pay a few bucks when you can pay a few cents right? Happy to answer any questions regarding shaving, especially for those who might be having some issues.

Quick highlights on our Beluga Razor: 1. We don't even sell blades, but they cost as little as 10 cents each and available in over 75+ different varieties. 2. A single edge cuts easier and closer than multiple blades, while eliminating irritation because a single edge generates far less friction than multiple blades. 3. No clogging issues because our Beluga Razor is designed to eliminate this issue.

I shave with a razor about once a week and I think I've been using the same blade for 2 or 3 years now.

so? do you think you represent the average Western adult male?

I could. If they'd use a Wahl trimmer on their face a few times a week and be fine with stubble. What's with society's obsession with clean shaven men? Still? In 2015?

People can mutilate their ears with gauges and tattoo their faces and it would now be considered discriminatory to allow that to hamper a man's career goals. But some stubble? Whoah hold up.

It's good for the environment to shave less, right? Isn't that all you have to say to justify something now?

I use a Wahl also. Haven't shaved clean in 10 years - just don't like the feeling so I avoid it.

I wonder as to the reasons people shave clean?

  - tradition, expectations
  - partner's preference
  - prefer it personally (feel or way it looks)

- it makes you look younger

My biggest reasons for avoiding being clean shaven most of the time.

As a man who's balding a bit on the center of my head, I prefer to go all the way. Therefore I need to shave my head at least twice a week (I do have a beard though).

I agree disposable razors seems to be wasteful to the environment. I will look into safety razors in the near future, which might also turn out to be cheaper in the long run.

I like it. It feels nice and the process itself is relaxing. I don't know why you would ask "Still?" as if that would change over time.

If you really like their blades, you can buy them direct or on Amazon for less. http://zorbadgreek.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-dollar-shave-clu...

Expensive Gillette razors can be resharpened with just a leather belt. Look it up!

One of the few subsciption services that made it big, congrats to them.

Subscribed for a while.

There's not a single word of the name that's accurate.

Who uses this? neo hipsters use safety razors. real hipsters use straight razors. Neckbeards ... I think that speaks for itself.

How about normal people.

I think they get their blades from Dorco. I can buy that much cheaper in bulk on Amazon.

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