Essence by Tedalus

I can justify the cost of the razor I purchased but why in the world is the holder so expensive?  When you compare what goes into producing the razor compared to what goes into producing the holder, it doesn't make sense.

I suggest not using this razor if you are wearing braces!

I can justify the cost of the razor I purchased but why in the world is the holder so expensive?  When you compare what goes into producing the razor compared to what goes into producing the holder, it doesn't make sense.

Not a fan of the term “holder” as the tone is dismissive and implies that they are all the same. Whether DE razor, SE razor or shavette, each “holder” is designed differently as to provide a different shaving experience.

That said, I agree that a lot of things in this hobby are inconsistently and / or wildly overpriced. I think we’d all go crazy with regret if we put too much though into it. Chalk it up to being a luxury item whereby the value doesn’t align with pricing and walk away while maintaining your mental health.

I will say that I am fortunate that the Essence by Tedalus is, for me, a case of buy once, cry once. I do have another couple of purchases where I spent a lot and don’t love the product … those bug me to no end.

Some people might find the price high but the pleasure that I have found in this razor is immense. I have been using it a lot and it's become second nature, for me shaves as good as any DE or straight razor. This one will never leave the den (other shavettes have).

I echo this opinion. 

While there are a good few design tweaks that I feel could be made, it shaves extremely well.

I can justify the cost of the razor I purchased but why in the world is the holder so expensive?  When you compare what goes into producing the razor compared to what goes into producing the holder, it doesn't make sense.

I'm just going to use common sense, and a little bit of knowledge I have regarding the machining industry to answer this question.

For anyone else reading this, he was talking about the price of the razor, vs. the cost of the razor stand, which is about 1/3 of the cost of the razor.

Let's assume that the basic machining cost for the stand is about $20. Material cost, $5. Finishing cost is probably another $5-10. Packaging is probably another $1, unless he went with a nice box for the stand, too, in which case it could be another $5-10. Figure another $2,000 for setup fees. Those fees won't change regardless if he makes 5 things or 5,000, and those fees have to be spread out over however many were made. Again, all these numbers and figures are imaginary, though I wouldn't be surprised if they were pretty spot on, or at least in the general ballpark.

He probably made about 100 of the stands, as I cannot see every razor purchaser wanting one. He is out of pocket between $50-70 per stand (probably), maybe even more. That's a razor-thin (pardon the pun) profit margin for re-investing back into designing new razors and getting them made.

I think he expected to make the razors the absolute highest quality items possible, and figured that people would look at it and see how awesomely superior the razor was, and immediately buy them. Finally being able to sell them, two months after everyone already blew their stimulus checks and right smack dab in the middle of a pandemic, that affected the ability of barbers in particular to make a livelihood, was just the icing on a shit cake of a year.

This is one of those situations that really drives home how much it costs to have a few things made. If I had the CAD files, I could probably get the Essence Razor manufactured to current specs for about $25 a razor.

The catch? Yes, there is always a catch. I would have to order a million razors at a time, or more.

For a real world example, the Gillette adjustables were $1.95. Adjusted for inflation, that's probably around $18 today. The Janus, a modern day homage to the toggle, was $500 (I think?). Gillette was probably making a thousand adjustables a day at the height of their popularity, and Gillette also counted on blade revenue to subsidize the cost of manufacturing the razors.

Modern cartridges cost about 10 cents a cartridge to manufacture. A pair of Nike tennis shoes cost about 15 cents to manufacture.

I'll be getting a stand, very happy with the razor so it deserves a nice place (this razor for me is in the same category as the Raw Shaving RS-10 or Rocnel Sailor 2020, fantastic shaves)

I can justify the cost of the razor I purchased but why in the world is the holder so expensive?  When you compare what goes into producing the razor compared to what goes into producing the holder, it doesn't make sense.

My bad. I realized after seeing PLANofMAN's comment that I completely misread your post. In another forum, there's a guy who keeps trying to be edgy and calling DE and SE razors as "blade holders". Anyway, my fault.

I think I may have said a while back that it's a shame these weren't packaged together. I could justify the cost as a package, and with the early bird discount. To buy just a stand with shipping from Switzerland ... that's a bit harder. The stand is a work of art, and it looks gorgeous with the razor. But do I need it? I'm likely to pass, but I've also been known to speak big on discipline and fold the next second. I'm so weak-willed.

received the stand today

received the stand today

I received mine a few days ago. Loving it. 
Nice heft and quality finish. 
Super fast shipping to Canada, as well.