I see a lot of ads these days for “shaving clubs” touting big savings and superior shaves. The Gillette Fusion manual razor I use works well enough but the cartridges are quite expensive.
What are doper’s experiences using any of these shave clubs?
Hell yes join a club! I subscribe to Harry’s myself. Customizable to your needs, hella cheap and pretty quality stuff. The handle fits my hand better than the Fusion does, and Harry’s shave gel is light years ahead of Gillette’s. There is a bit of a learning curve with the cartridges, as they flex in different ways than Fusion and don’t last quite as long. But for half the price you still make out like a bandit.
I’d say no, I tried one and despised the razors and blades. They reminded me of disposable razors. Now I buy fusion cartridges from either Amazon or occasionally Groupon goods.
Here’s a hint: Some of the “shave clubs” actually buy their razors from Dorco.
You can buy directly from Dorco without signing up for any clubs or making any commitments. Try one of their “frugal” packs or “combo” packs and see if you like them. If you don’t, there’s nothing to cancel and they won’t send you any more razors unless you order them.
From Amazon get a quality double edge safety razor, I have a Merkur. then get their assortment pack of blades. You will like one blade more than the others, I find the Astra Superior Stainless give me the smoothest shave, for about a dime a piece. No clubs involved, get a brush and soap if you want to go completely old style.
How often are you changing the blade? I use Fusion and change it out the first of every month. I buy them at Costco. I have enough on hand now to last until November 2016.
mmm
This. For a high quality shave at reasonable blade prices go with DE.
I want to second buying Fusion cartridges from Amazon. I bought an 8 pack of what were described as “generic” Fusion cartridges from Amazon for $20. Don’t let the word “generic” throw you, these were genuine Gillette cartridges packaged for the overseas market. The shave is every bit as excellent as the Fusion blades you get from the store. Even with the extra cost for shipping, it’s worth it.
Razor - $70
Blades - $12
Brush - $12
Soap - $6
Stand - $15
That is $115 for high-end products. Congratulations, you are done buying anything for shaving for a year. Next year buy the blades and soap again for $18. You will get a better shave than you have, you will need to buy things about once a year, and you will spend about $18 a year on shaving.
Edit: Whoops, forgot aftershave.
I probably get 4 or 5 shaves from a blade, even if I changed to a new blade every day I would probably be paying less than what you do for your single Fusion blade for a month.
That’s an expensive razor. A Gillette Fusion manual razor is only about twelve bucks and a twelve-pack of blades is about $36. So you’re spending much less the first year and each subsequent year you’re spending only eighteen bucks more.
If you prefer the double-edged safety razor, whatever. But it’s not like you’re saving a huge amount of money.
I shave my entire head, so single edge blades are right out. I’ve found that Harry’s meets my needs quite nicely. In fact, because I didn’t read the fine print, I have cartridges through the end of the year.
Still spent less than 2 months worth of Fusion cartridges would have cost me. And I got shave gel, too!
He intentionally gave an example with an expensive razor. You don’t have to go that high. Either an expensive one or a cheap one will last you a lifetime. In fact, DE razors last longer than a lifetime. You can bequeath them to your heirs.
When you go for a cartridge razor remember to take into account the market realities. Gillette and it’s comparable competitors come out with a new blade every few years and the blade cartridges are not retroactively compatible with previous generation handles.
Gillette is only going to keep a couple of models in production at a time so eventually you’re going to have to junk that Fusion and switch to a different razor with newer, pricier blade cartridges. It doesn’t take very many new razors to add up to one nice DE razor. Keep that in mind.
For those who use the Fusion Power, you can buy the manual blades and they still work just fine. So far, the only difference I’ve been able to discern is the Power ones cost more.
I just checked on Amazon, and the Gillette Mach3, Sensor, Atra and Trac II razors and blades are all still available (either from Gillette or other companies as compatible products). That’s all of their models since 1971. So I think you can safely use the same razor for a good long time.
And as I said, the competitors aren’t that cheap. Someone upthread recommended Harry’s. I checked their website. If you shave every day as I do, they want you to subscribe to the $7.50 per month plan. That’s roughly the cost of two Gillette Fusion cartridges, which would also last you about a month.
I’m a Harry’s convert, you can’t really go wrong giving them a try for yourself - a starter set with handle, 3 blades, and a small can of gel is 10 bucks with a readily available coupon code, and if you really don’t like them they have a money-back guarantee…you don’t have to sign up for any regular “club” deliveries, you can just order blades when you need them ($2 or less each depending on quantity)…shipping is free.
And I just check the website for Dollar Shave Club. Their plan that offer six-blade cartridges (basically the equivalent of the Gillette Fusion) costs nine bucks a month. How are these clubs a good deal?
If saving money is paramount, buy a straight razor and be done with it. Personally, I’m not nearly wide awake enough in the morning to use one of those things.
I have discovered the perfect plan for saving on razors. I last shaved in 91, and have spent approximately $0.00 on razors since then 
How long a cartridge blade lasts is highly variable from person-to-person. I know people who don’t want to use it for more than one shave. More commonly, it seems that people I know want to change blades weekly or so.
But they send you 8 blades for that $7.50, not 2, and I guess are assuming you will enjoy the luxury of changing them for a fresh one more often…8 would easily last me 2 months if I shaved every day; I generally shave every other day so they would last me at least 4 (and of course I don’t have to worry about cutting the crap out of myself like in the old DE days…)