很
多年来，每当我买剃须刀时都觉得自己像个傻瓜。为我的吉列锋速3（Gillette Mach 3）买一个刀片要花2.50美元到3美元，这让我心疼不已。但有几次我用便宜的一次性剃须刀时，感觉就像在用锉刀刮胡子。
Jon Protas for The Wall Street Journal
吉列锋速3是好剃须刀，但刀片的价钱真不便宜
事情不应该变成这样。我已经用了几十年吉列剃须刀了，而且我喜欢用它。问题出在价格上。在我看来，刀片的合理价格应该约为1美元。
我是一个信奉市场的人，但剃须刀刀片市场看来并没有给出我想要的结果。吉列（Gillette）和舒适（Schick）并没有在价格上进行竞争，而更像是投入了一场愚蠢的军备竞赛，以改进一种本来已经很完善的产品。双刀片、三刀片、四刀片──什么时候才是个头？
显然，这种趋势短期内不会停止。舒适公司很快将推出它的五刀片剃须刀，并称该产品的价格将比其2003年推出的四刀片剃须刀“创4纪”（Quattro）高10%至20%。
宝洁公司（Procter & Gamble）旗下的吉列公司是率先推出五刀片剃须刀的生产商。吉列的Fusion Power MVP──这款剃须刀的早期型号于2006年上市──带有五个弹簧式刀片和电动微脉冲以减少摩擦，“因此您几乎感觉不到刀片”。吉列公司的网站上有一段视频，视频中，一位拿着巨型剃须刀刀片的机械师站在一架汽车升降机上。
剃须刀生产商，有件事我要告诉你们。剃须刀不是跑车。它不会让我们感觉重返青春，也不会引来女性的顾盼。我们不喜欢刮胡子，不管你们怎么做，我们都不会喜欢。我们想要的只是一把不会刮伤脸，也不会让荷包挨宰的剃须刀。
但吉列公司和舒适公司有不同的观点。吉列公司的发言人迈克•诺顿（Mike Norton）称，吉列公司一直致力于研发能带来完美剃须体验的剃须刀。“关键不是刀片的数量，而是刀片背后带给您更佳剃须体验的科技。”
舒适公司的母公司，劲量控股公司（Energizer Holdings）的杰基•布尔维茨（Jackie Burwitz）说：“如果你考察销售数据，就会发现消费者愿意为性能更好的剃须刀多掏钱。”
现在你明白了吧。研发越来越高档的剃须刀比守着老款式剃须刀打价格战能赚到更多钱。换句话说，面对五刀片剃须刀，我们美国男人只能怨自己。
这些年来，我应对剃须刀刀片涨价的方法就是少用它们。我曾经几乎每周都更换刀片，而我现在两至三个星期才更换新刀片。
我的一位同事嫁给了一个节俭的法国人，他至少等两个月才换一次剃须刀刀片，最长六个月才换一次刀片。36岁的让-菲利普•马松（Jean-Philippe Masson）说，当他换完刀片后，刮胡子的感觉“就像热刀子切开黄油一般顺畅”。“如果你每周都换刀片，就享受不到这种乐趣了。”
这是法国人的处理方式。当然，我们美国人很少有好东西舍不得用，而是会寻找让它更便宜的方法。
可能这就是剃须刀刀片市场如此兴旺的原因。
有人仍在卖吉列Trac II的刀片，我年轻时用过这种双刀片剃须刀。一个网站上刊登了一种100片装Trac II刀片的广告，其售价为49.99美元。唉，可惜我已经有许多年没用过Trac II了。
无奈之下，我去了本地的CVS药店（CVS pharmacy），这家连锁店正在推销其“三刀片剃须套装”。我花12.50美元买了一把剃须刀和10个刀片，这样每个刀片的价格就降到了1.25美元。
过去几周我一直在试用CVS剃须刀。它用起来和我已经用了几年的三刀片吉列剃须刀一样舒适。
吉列剃须刀的剃须感觉可能比CVS剃须刀稍微贴合一些，但我真的说不准。我说不出上佳的剃须体验和良好的剃须体验有何区别。但我说得出花2.50美元和花1.25美元的区别。
为了对吉列公平，我同意试用其最新最好的剃须刀。于是，吉列公司寄给我一款Fusion ProGlide Power剃须刀，这是一种将于6月上市的五刀片剃须刀。这款剃须刀的建议零售价为12.99美元，包括一把剃须刀和两个备用刀头。含四个备用刀头的套装售价为17.99美元。
周末用过这款新剃须刀后，我将它寄回给吉列公司，用它剃须的感觉的确更贴合。但当我刮完胡子后，我在镜子里看到的那张光滑面庞仍然是我的脸，而不是乔治•克鲁尼的，而当我每次为换刀片花4.5美元时，仍然感觉自己像个傻瓜。
所以我会继续使用CVS的剃须刀，直到我找到更便宜的剃须刀为止。
Neal Templin
For years, I've felt like a sap whenever I bought razors.
It killed me to spend $2.50 to $3 a blade for my Gillette Mach 3. Yet the few times when I used cheap disposable razors, it was like shaving with a file.
Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I bought a serviceable store-brand razor that costs about half the price of the premier brands.
It shouldn't have come to this. I've used Gillette razors for decades, and I like them. The rub is the cost. In my book, a fair price for refills would be about a buck.
I'm a believer in markets, but it doesn't seem like the razor-blade market gives me what I want. Instead of competing on price, Gillette and Schick largely seem to be engaged in a silly arms race to improve a product that already works perfectly well. Two blades, three blades, four blades -- when will it stop?
Not anytime soon, apparently. Schick will soon launch its own five-blade razor, and says that prices for it should be 10% to 20% above the Quattro, its four-blade razor that was introduced in 2003.
Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble, got there first. Its Fusion Power MVP -- an early version of which went on sale in 2006 -- has five spring-mounted blades and battery-powered micropulses to reduce friction 'so you barely feel the blades.' The Gillette Web site has a video of a mechanic with a giant razor blade on a car lift.
Razor makers, I have news for you. A razor is not a sports car. It won't make us feel young again or turn women's heads. We don't like shaving, and no matter what you do, we never will. All we want is a razor that will do the job without nicking us, either literally or figuratively.
But Gillette and Schick have a different view. Gillette is constantly doing research and development to create the perfect shave, says Mike Norton, a spokesman. 'It's not the number of blades, it's the science behind the blades that gives you a better shave.'
Jackie Burwitz of Energizer Holdings, which owns Schick, says, 'If you look at the sales data, consumers are willing to pay up for a better-performing razor.'
There you have it. There's more money to be made developing fancier and fancier razors than in keeping the same razors and engaging in a price war. In other words, we American males have only ourselves to blame for the five-blade razor.
Over the years, I've compensated for the rising prices of razor blades by using less of them. Whereas I once might have changed blades every week or so, I now go two or three weeks before popping in a new one.
A colleague of mine is married to a thrifty Frenchman who waits at least two months before changing razor blades. He has gone as long as six months. When he does change blades, it feels 'like a warm knife through butter,' says Jean-Philippe Masson, 36 years old. 'If you changed every week, you would not appreciate that pleasure.'
That's the French way. The American way, of course, rarely involves denying ourselves something. Instead, we look for a way to get it cheaper.
Maybe that's why there's a thriving market out there for after-market razors.
There are people still selling blades for Gillette Trac II, the two-blade razor I used as a young man. A Web site advertised a 100-pack of after-market refills for $49.99. Alas, I haven't owned a Trac II for many years.
Instead, I went to my local CVS pharmacy, where the chain was pitching its 'three-blade shaving system.' I paid $12.50 for a razor and 10 blades, bringing my per-blade cost to $1.25.
I've been trying out the CVS razor for the past couple of weeks. It was just as comfortable as the three-blade Gillette I've used for several years.
The Gillette might have given me a slightly closer shave than the CVS razor. I really can't say for sure. I can't tell the difference between a great shave and good one. But I can tell the difference between paying $2.50 and $1.25.
To be fair to Gillette, I agreed to try out its latest, greatest razor. So Gillette sent me a Fusion ProGlide Power razor, a five-blade razor that hits the market in June. It will have a suggested retail price of $12.99 for a razor and two cartridges. A four-pack of refills will cost $17.99.
I used the new razor over the weekend before sending it back to Gillette. It was a closer shave. But when I finished, the smooth face I saw peering back in the mirror was still my own, not George Clooney's. And I'd still feel like a sap spending $4.50 each time I changed blades.
So I'm sticking with the CVS razor. Until I find something cheaper.
Neal Templin
It killed me to spend $2.50 to $3 a blade for my Gillette Mach 3. Yet the few times when I used cheap disposable razors, it was like shaving with a file.
Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I bought a serviceable store-brand razor that costs about half the price of the premier brands.
It shouldn't have come to this. I've used Gillette razors for decades, and I like them. The rub is the cost. In my book, a fair price for refills would be about a buck.
I'm a believer in markets, but it doesn't seem like the razor-blade market gives me what I want. Instead of competing on price, Gillette and Schick largely seem to be engaged in a silly arms race to improve a product that already works perfectly well. Two blades, three blades, four blades -- when will it stop?
Not anytime soon, apparently. Schick will soon launch its own five-blade razor, and says that prices for it should be 10% to 20% above the Quattro, its four-blade razor that was introduced in 2003.
Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble, got there first. Its Fusion Power MVP -- an early version of which went on sale in 2006 -- has five spring-mounted blades and battery-powered micropulses to reduce friction 'so you barely feel the blades.' The Gillette Web site has a video of a mechanic with a giant razor blade on a car lift.
Razor makers, I have news for you. A razor is not a sports car. It won't make us feel young again or turn women's heads. We don't like shaving, and no matter what you do, we never will. All we want is a razor that will do the job without nicking us, either literally or figuratively.
But Gillette and Schick have a different view. Gillette is constantly doing research and development to create the perfect shave, says Mike Norton, a spokesman. 'It's not the number of blades, it's the science behind the blades that gives you a better shave.'
Jackie Burwitz of Energizer Holdings, which owns Schick, says, 'If you look at the sales data, consumers are willing to pay up for a better-performing razor.'
There you have it. There's more money to be made developing fancier and fancier razors than in keeping the same razors and engaging in a price war. In other words, we American males have only ourselves to blame for the five-blade razor.
Over the years, I've compensated for the rising prices of razor blades by using less of them. Whereas I once might have changed blades every week or so, I now go two or three weeks before popping in a new one.
A colleague of mine is married to a thrifty Frenchman who waits at least two months before changing razor blades. He has gone as long as six months. When he does change blades, it feels 'like a warm knife through butter,' says Jean-Philippe Masson, 36 years old. 'If you changed every week, you would not appreciate that pleasure.'
That's the French way. The American way, of course, rarely involves denying ourselves something. Instead, we look for a way to get it cheaper.
Maybe that's why there's a thriving market out there for after-market razors.
There are people still selling blades for Gillette Trac II, the two-blade razor I used as a young man. A Web site advertised a 100-pack of after-market refills for $49.99. Alas, I haven't owned a Trac II for many years.
Instead, I went to my local CVS pharmacy, where the chain was pitching its 'three-blade shaving system.' I paid $12.50 for a razor and 10 blades, bringing my per-blade cost to $1.25.
I've been trying out the CVS razor for the past couple of weeks. It was just as comfortable as the three-blade Gillette I've used for several years.
The Gillette might have given me a slightly closer shave than the CVS razor. I really can't say for sure. I can't tell the difference between a great shave and good one. But I can tell the difference between paying $2.50 and $1.25.
To be fair to Gillette, I agreed to try out its latest, greatest razor. So Gillette sent me a Fusion ProGlide Power razor, a five-blade razor that hits the market in June. It will have a suggested retail price of $12.99 for a razor and two cartridges. A four-pack of refills will cost $17.99.
I used the new razor over the weekend before sending it back to Gillette. It was a closer shave. But when I finished, the smooth face I saw peering back in the mirror was still my own, not George Clooney's. And I'd still feel like a sap spending $4.50 each time I changed blades.
So I'm sticking with the CVS razor. Until I find something cheaper.
Neal Templin
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