I’ve found that name brand cartridges last for (almost) two shaves. so 2 a week if I shave every other day. At $3 per cartridge ($5 at stores) that is a cost of $312 to $520 per year. $10 per year sounds pretty good.
5 dollars for a disposable razor. I bought a pack of twin blade disposables with 12 in the pack in December 2017 for a dollar. I still have two left. I shave with soap and water and I dry off the razor after with a hair dryer I got at the Goodwill for three dollars.I spend in a year and a half a small fraction of what that one disposable Gillette razor would cost me,
I know i have switched to a competitor. btw, they also have some fat blob in one of their ads selling products to women.
WOW. When I think about how they lost a 35 year customer (me) with just ONE commercial...everyone was right, advertising does work :)
And they DID lose me for lie.
As a side note, I’ve gotten quite a few surveys from them (paid) asking what they can do to win me back.
I told them major donations to brain injured vets and FIVE YEARS of no stupid commercials.
I tell Target NEVER.
I tell Budweiser no STUPID gar marriage or any other left wing sicko commercials for 5 years...and LOTS of commercials and programs supporting the military.
I use the brush, cup and safety razor on weekends. Relaxing.
Heavier though.
The numbers seem to track well with moves by Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s to advertise heavily the cheaper solution. I’ve heard them on radio for at least a year though I’m not part of this as a long user of electric shavers.
Gillette is so over... what were they thinking? I threw all away and switched to their competitor. They lost this customer for life.
I have found the cheapest alternative.
Quit shaving a few years ago. Use a scissors or old shears to trim up once in a while. Do not miss the razors and soaps at all.
I gave up on Gillette a long time ago. I tried Harry’s, didn’t like them.
Bought a “safety” razor. Shredded my face repeatedly. I called the Red Cross every time I shaved; told them to bring a bucket.
Finally succumbed to Dollar Shave Club ads. It’s a good product. Ads are still on the stupid side.
My wife bought me a shaving brush / soap. It’s the only way to shave! I haven’t bought a can of “silly string” in years.
Based on the male actors on tv, no men shave anymore. They all look like female pelvic regions.
That sales haven't dropped by double digits is a sign that men have a along way to go if they want their issues to be taken seriously.
Everyone here knows that if a company had run an ad admonishing women, sales would have tanked and the company would have been forced to apologize. That alone is the reason you don't see ads bashing women.
When are companies going to stop bashing men in their advertising? When men make them pay for it in lost revenue, and by a lot more than a slight 1% dip.
After that debacle, in which I wrote a letter to Gillette, I will not, after a life of using their products for fifty years, ever use anything willingly again.
Several years ago, I bought a 1954 Gillette safety razor on eBay. At the same time, I purchased a package of 100 Wilkinson sword blades. I probably won’t ever need another razor or blade. My total cost was under $40. When traveling, our use the five for a dollar pack of disposables from Walmart.
The laws of supply and demand are working here. Gillette has raised the price of blades beyond the level that most people will pay. They also seem to have raised it high enough to decrease profits.
I use cheap disposable plastic safety razors and I shave in the shower. All the hot water & steam softens up the hair bristles to be shaved. One of those disposable razors will last me a month or so. Once I notice it’s dull, I pitch it out and put a new one in the shower. I probably spend $20 a year on razors and always have a clean shave.
Oh, I will make sure I never buy Gillette again and will consider switching away from other P&G products for their toxic Leftism.
Their problems go a lot deeper than that ad.
Gillette is part of P&G, which has been funding far-left whacko causes for a number of years now.
I bought a decent Sams Club razor and a pack of blades that fit it, almost 3 years ago now.
Still have almost half of the blades. I shave every other day, pretty much just use warm water. I don’t get why so many guys burn thru so many blades.
I’ve used DE razors for 7-8 years. FWIW, regular Ivory soap works fine, lathered with one’s hand. Shaving cream also works fine. There is a reason 75% of men switched to shaving cream in the decade it came out.
Unlike what a lot of websites indicate, a good “I’ve got a job” shave takes 5 minutes. Tops. From when you turn the faucet on. Too many Internet people turn a morning’s shave into a religious ritual.
Of course, one CAN take much longer and get a shave as good as what some of us can remember getting in a barber shop. It is kind of like coffee. Aficionados can spend big bucks on machines, seek out special coffees from all over the world, etc. Mr Coffee + Folgers is good enough to get the job done - while shaving. Depends on what one is after.
Another cheap and effective option is to buy Trac II cartridges off Amazon. The no name ones. They run 10-15 cents each. Combine them with a “Bump Fighter” razor handle and you have a very good and fast twin blade shave. Almost impossible to cut yourself. Great for when you need to be at work by 3 AM.
But I’m no longer in the military and a DE razor + Ivory works fine.
The Mach III was a fundamental game changer to mens grooming. With over $1 Billion invested in it, they hit a home run.... Everything since has been trying to recapture lightning in a bottle, and while their other products are fine, they weren’t revolutionary...
The patent is expired now on the Mach III, and the newer products (fusion) etc are just not that much better to justify the price.
Cheaper alternatives are now available, so Gillette has been forced to cut prices... Gillette several times tried to retire the Mach III and push users to Fusion, but it just couldn’t do it, because as stated above, the Mach III is about as close to perfection as you are going to get, and the Fusion isn’t worth the added price for benefit (and if you are like me, and don’t shave daily, the blades are too close together and clog up, so not only is it not that much better for its price, Its actually less convenient)
In the midst of all this, you decide its your job to lecture your customers on how to be a man, and how they should raise their sons???
You had fundamental issues prior to that stupidity, but that stupidity just added fuel.
I was a Mach III customer for life... Yes I knew cheaper options were out there, but you had earned my brand loyalty through years of delivering a solid product that fit my needs and while a bit expensive, I was willing to reward you for your innovation.
Then you decided you thought it was your job to tell me how to be a man, and how I should raise my kids.... And just like that, you LOST a lifetime customer, FOREVER.
Now I know my individual revenues to your bottom line probably weren’t massive. Probably well under $100 per year... I am not loyal on shave Gel, so whoever is cheapest gets that money, sometimes its your product, sometimes its Edge... from now on, it will never be yours, no matter the price point... and the same with razors.
Yes, the sub $5000 ish you would likely have made off me for the rest of my life, is a drop in your giant bucket, and its not going to majorly affect my personal bottom line much one way or another... but just know that I am not alone. So while your revenues were going to decline with competition in your core market anyway, that your behavior, your STUPID, IDIOTIC BEHAVIOR, cost you more....
Oh and its also important to note, that not only was I brand loyal, but I recommended and sung the praises of your product when it came up in conversation.. which admittedly was not daily, not even close, but I was also a lifetime of free marketing for your product, that will now do nothing but advise people to steer clear of you.
STUPIDITY does not need rewarded.