(This post was last modified: 03-26-2016, 04:49 PM by grim.)
(03-26-2016, 03:42 PM)Len Wrote: As for the most popular forum stats dropping, could that not be because people are leaving to come to forums like this one instead, where they won't be banned for trivial reasons, treated like crap, or have to tow the line with those forum owners that have a conflict of interest in promoting their own products? There have been a lot of bans recently on other forums, and a lot of dissatisfaction with how some of those forums have run recently. You said yourself in another thread, that you are much happier here than in another, more popular forum because of how you were treated there.
As for the growth in wet shaving products recently, this cannot be because wet shavers buy more than they need. If wet shavers buy more than they need, they would have bought more than they needed 5, 10, or 15 years ago as well... which would mean that products sold and offered would have been stable. The only explanation for product growth and diversity is that there are more people entering the market than there was years ago. And a lot of credit for this can be given to things like the Dollar Shave Club, where people hear about it online, start researching and discover safety razors. Or, they see the Bevel or MicroTouch in there local grocery stores all of a sudden. Or, they see AoS in their malls. In checking these things out, they stumble into forums like this one where they see thousands of people praising traditional wet shaving, and give it a shot.
I'm willing to also wager that the majority of people here only discovered wet shaving within the past 5, 10, or 15 years. I myself only started with it within the last year. If my thesis is correct about the membership here, this proves that traditional wet shaving is growing.
1. Forums are like balloons. They have a core group. 99% of posts are done by 1% of the membership. That core group can stay, a few leave, and a few more come in. Google placement in a search matters. New people who seek it, find it. And guess which forum they find? Yes, people might leave for a variety of reasons but usually its disinterest (this is for any forum). A new, more high priority interest pops up and they go make pottery, or whatever interests them. You would have to look at the alexa stats for ALL forums for you statement to be true. Are you sure you want to know that? Of course this is ranked against all web site.
DFS ranked down ~99,000 slots in the last 3 months
shavenook ranked down ~58,000 slots in the last 3 months
smf ranked down ~191,000
The big one down ~3346
2.
"If wet shavers buy more than they need, they would have bought more than they needed 5, 10, or 15 years ago as well." That would be a false assumption. You have two sets of users, the hobbyists. Yes, the hobbyists do. The second set are those trying to save money. They don't. For them the cheapest blades and soap are fine. You buy Williams or whatever and get a new one when you need it.
The hobbyists can grow, just like there might be more gardeners or stamp collectors or coin collectors. But to do what you want, you need to convert the masses, those for who shaving is mundane. They will only buy what they need. So those serving this business should hope for more hobbyist because I know of NO OTHER HOBBY where people buy consumable goods to have it rot in closets. Do you?
3. I would agree many there are recent converts, and I would believe the ratio of hobbyists to those truly trying to save money is 90:10. There are surveys or polls on this on other forums. Of those that respond, the vast majority sink far more money into it than necessary stockpiling stuff. Who needs a case of Arko or a two year supply of blades for the end of the world. If the end of the world is coming, you will have far more important things to worry about.
