Hobbyist I honestly do because of the low price per shave (for me), which as I explained earlier is the logic that I follow when I consider what is "budget" and what is not. I recognize that my opinion on the matter is unpopular, and that I am in the minority on this one. That said, I think it is a valid opinion that has actually been helpful to a few people.
For instance, just as one example (I have a couple of these), I have a friend who I introduced to wet shaving quite some time ago. When choosing to switch from cartridges, his chief concern (like with many of us) was cost. Like me he had irritation with both Arko and Cella, and soon purchased a wide variety of wet shaving gear, mostly in the sub $15 range. He was saving money overall (I joke that one could buy a lineup of solid gold razors and save money compared to cartridge shaving), and apparently those items worked decently for him, but he was always wondering how I got such significant mileage out of my soaps. I pointed out that he was using very soft soaps, which in my experience don't last as long as the harder stuff. We ran the numbers and found that he might actually be spending more than I would with products that are traditionally considered to be in the "luxury" category. I recommended that he purchase a specific product from our very own
GiftsAndCare.com, which incidentally is a fantastic vendor with great prices and even better customer service.
Anyway, my recommendation was the Antica Barbieria Colla hard soap (though if I had thought about it I might have also been able to recommend Valobra - I'll keep that in mind for next time). The ABC puck is listed at ~4.4 oz (I actually think that this is an underestimate) for ~$30. From what he tells me (and he's still using that same puck), it has already lasted just as long as three ~$10 soft soaps, and he expects it to equate to about 4-5 refills by the time that it is finished. In other words, for him, buying the budget soaps in a higher volume was actually more expensive than purchasing a hard soap, largely because he gets more mileage out of the more dense product. And the bonus is that he gets better and more comfortable shaves. He may have been able to get a better value out of a few other budget products, but in this case the switch to a more expensive hard soap saved him a bit of money in the long run.
Now obviously I'm not suggesting that the price per use logic only applies to soaps with a high initial cost - any harder soap with an economical price per use will do just fine. I suspect Haslinger and Valobra (though I've only used Czech & Speake for any length of time) would also suffice. Ultimately, my point is that the initial cost aspect is only one aspect of the financial expenditure, and in my view price per use should also be considered if one wishes to save money over a period of time (however I understand that some might not be able to save up to afford the higher initial cost despite a better mileage in the long run). If you can use the more traditional budget soaps without irritation, by all means, that's what I would recommend and there is a reason that they have that reputation. But some folks (like me) get irritation from those for whatever reason, and thus cannot consider those "the very best" of the budget category. Since I suffer from extremely sensitive skin, my options are limited, and I haven't had the best luck with stuff like Arko and Cella. So whether or not you or anyone else consider the pricier hard soaps to be in the "budget" category, for me they are since they don't irritate my allergies and offer a reasonable price per use relative to other alternatives.
My opinion isn't intended to offend anyone, and I will completely understand if you find it useless in this context (since it is after all based entirely on my own experience and allergy issues). Some, however, might find it helpful.
I see the price continue to rise and unfortunately making it a no rebuy for me given the competition that performs just as good at a lower price.
