Budget Buster: Taking a Razor to the cost of Shaving – What if a Simple Choice Saved you NZ$36,000 Over 50 Years and You Got a Better Shave?
The business model behind the shaving industry is pure genius. Razors are cheap, even from the top brands. The catch is that they only work with specific cartridges. That means you're locked into buying eye-wateringly expensive replacements until the end of time.
The strategy works so well that it's been copied by heaps of other industries over the years. Think dirt-cheap printers which cost less than a single ink cartridge, or loss-leader mobile phones tied to monthly plans.
Taking the average, the cost per shave is about three and a half cents. Even if you shave every day, that's all of $13 a year. Let's compare that to the cartridges with multiple blades. They're about $5 each, and generally last a week or two. That's 50c a shave, or an annual cost of $182.
What do you get for that price? A whole lot of extra blades, obviously. We have a tendency to assume bigger is always better. Your razor only has three blades? Pathetic! You need at least seven if you really want to give your face the treatment it deserves.
Interestingly, dermatologists don't agree. A single blade can do just as good a job – if not better – at a fraction of the price.
Read the thought-provoking article at https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/79714779/Budget-Buster-Taking-a-razor-to-the-cost-of-shaving
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Budget Buster: Taking a razor to the cost of shaving | |