Wolfman Production Pushed Back.

Let's not hammer on this wait too much. James makes his living by machining items that are NOT razors. Making super fine finished razors is his hobby as you can see in the attention to detail in an item, which let's face the fact that it doesn't need to be to cut stubble well. Once it stops being his hobby and it becomes a way for him to make a living you can bet the cost of these Wolfmans will be costing even more (look at the price of custom straights which don't even take machines as expensive as a safety razor to make).

This is now my full time job.   When I began making razors, I was still working a regular job.   I went from full-time to part-time, and then eventually I quit the other job and now I'm at my shop every day.

And yes... prices have gone up as well after James made this his full time gig. No longer a hobby.

But he says he may be hiring another machinist to help him make razors. This should help.

Boom! I stand corrected. Not the first or last time. I remember reading when he first started that he was doing this as a hobby.
I still see the need to not press him on the lead times. He's ramping up but growing a business doesn't happen immediately either.

As a businessman, I always disliked when someone was telling me how to run my business.  Get over it people, when your name come up, he will contact you.  You are just been miserable for no reason and by choice. Just saying, life is bigger than this.

It occurs to me that 90% of the anxiety over waiting lists can be solved simply by an automated system that periodically notifies buyers of their updated spot in line.

No need to fix something that's not broken.  This is what happens in a society of entitlements.  People think that things are owed to them.  

No, be patient and wait like everybody else.  I remember how long I waited to get my razors and I don't remember complaining about how long it took.

If people don't complain or voice their opinions about things they don't like in a product or business, it will never change, and new businesses won't learn to serve their customers in what they want or expect. Customer complaints are exactly the sort of thing that make businesses better.

Perhaps this is why James is now doing this full time, or is nearly ready to hire a machinist to help him.

Customers telling businesses what they want, and what they don't want is how to make a business better, and make the customers more satisfied. And this is a win for everyone.

Len Nothing wrong with that.  But some statements made in here are borderline demanding.  James is no short of business and that's a fact.  And he is been proactive.  Is his business, so people need to be patient.

Hector, I agree with you that he can run his business how he wants, and that it's not always helpful to make demands, but a more transparent process that keeps people informed is a reasonable suggestion that would only make a positive impact.

It's not asking for a substantive change, either in supply or from the business itself. Minor tweaks can sometimes make a huge difference.

NeoXerxes   Fair enough. I am just a bit tired of people demanding. What you are talking about is sensible and I am sure James is looking at all the suggestions.

I have been James client and friend for several years and as a friend, I feel the need to defend his business practices. I have been there, I have waited patiently and have never been disappointed. James is a honorable and honest man, period!

James knows what's best for his business model, and I am sure he reads threads like this one and puts any meaningful suggestions in his tool box.

I'm waiting patiently myself lol. I like James (from what I hear of him) and can't wait to get ahold of one of his razors. The only reason why I suggested that particular alteration is that it would do wonders to alleviate almost all the anxieties with only a minor effort. Assigning people a numbered spot in line and offering them the ability to see that number get smaller (from the number of people in line towards 1) weekly/monthly would really help. I imagine such a process could be automated without much of a change to the current list system.

NeoXerxes James keeps close communications with people in the queue, trust me :-)