Support for Specialists Shaving Retailers

[Vacumatic]

2019 has been tough for retail businesses and 2020 doesnt look like its going to be any better.

Can I just wave a flag for our specialist shaving retailers, both on line and bricks and mortar shops. Amazon doesnt need your few pounds and dollars on shaving supplies but these guys do.

If you feel that you can list your favourite supplier then maybe they will have some more business and still be around at the end of 2020.

Happy New Year.

 

[Wayne]

All retailers are going through it at the moment but it isn't difficult to see why. Amazon is just killing it at the moment. Prime next day delivery with free TV and Books, plus other add on's, Man that is hard to say no to. I understand niche retail is difficult. The one obstacle I see, and I have just bought from Agent Shave so I do support our retailers when I can, is the expensive cost of post in this country. Sometimes a bargain stops being a bargain when the £5.00+ P&P is added. I know it is wkward for retailers, they don't get post much cheaper than you and I pay but it is a large pill to swollow when a £15 soap turns into a £20 soap when the delivery is added. I don't know the answer, I don't think retailers do either. It's a problem.
Trouble is you never miss something until it is gone and our shaving retailers and Artisans are literally holding on by their fingernails.

 

[Seamus1981]

I personally love agent shave, and i'll use them for mostly anything i'll buy in the UK, their customer service is exceptional.

 

[Stonec0ld]

Yeah that postage is a killer, I don't know why I expect free postage but it really puts me off when you have to pay it.

I use Amazon for pretty much everything except shaving goods. Just can't beat a good shaving shop, and Agent Shave do a particularly good job.

 

[Northam Saint]

Yeah that postage is a killer, I don't know why I expect free postage but it really puts me off when you have to pay it.

I use Amazon for pretty much everything except shaving goods. Just can't beat a good shaving shop, and Agent Shave do a particularly good job.

Pretty much the same here. Postage is expensive now, at £3 and £4 recorded for a small parcel making Amazon Prime a good alternative. Even selling on eBay now isn’t great, by the time you pay their cut and then money taken by PayPal. I always factor that in especially on postage, people tend to mark you down on that even if you put the exact amount in so upping the price and giving free postage is the better option.

 

[Wayne]

Very true that. I think psychologically it is always better to offer a soap for instance at £19 with free postage rather than £15 with £4 added, you just feel like you are paying the correct price, well at least that's how my brain works.
It just happened to me at Penhaligons, I went onto their site, found 50ml of Sartorial for £39.99, great price, on the way through check out it got to the postage section where my £39.99 bargain turned into £44.99. Not so great then in my eyes. Honestly I would have bought at £44 with free postage, I just have a mental block paying postage but when you realise the hands it goes through, the Deisel costs and the hand delivery to the door it isn't really costly, it just seems wrong.

 

[Northam Saint]

Very true that. I think pshycologically it is always better to offer a soap for instance at £19 with free postage rather than £15 with £4 added, you just feel like you are paying the correct price, well at least that's how my brain works.
It just happened to me at Penhaligons, I went onto their site, found 50ml of Sartorial for £39.99, great price, on the way through check out it got to the postage section where my £39.99 bargain turned into £44.99. Not so great then in my eyes. Honestly I would have bought at £44 with free postage, I just have a mental block paying postage but when you realise the hands it goes through, the Deisel costs and the hand delivery to the door it isn't really costly, it just seems wrong.

Not forgetting that these days City Centre parking can cost, again making Amazon a good alternative again. It’s no real wonder that the high street is suffering and so many big names have closed up. Here in Bideford there aren’t many shops, loads of Coffee shops and small boutique style places for the tourists. Next stop would be Barnstaple, few big names. For a decent shop though it’s Exeter and that’s a few miles away, so petrol and parking come into it. Hardly surprising I’d rather order today and receive tomorro, heck I can even get it delivered on a Sunday.

 

[Chris]

Not forgetting that these days City Centre parking can cost, again making Amazon a good alternative again. It’s no real wonder that the high street is suffering and so many big names have closed up. Here in Bideford there aren’t many shops, loads of Coffee shops and small boutique style places for the tourists. Next stop would be Barnstaple, few big names. For a decent shop though it’s Exeter and that’s a few miles away, so petrol and parking come into it. Hardly surprising I’d rather order today and receive tomorro, heck I can even get it delivered on a Sunday.

What’s really killing the high street is the cost and availability of parking, no public toilets that you’d want to enter without a hazmat suit, assuming they’re there at all, indifferent shop staff and then having to lug your purchases (assuming they were in stock) back to the car where you’ll struggle to get into it because the spaces are too small for anything bigger than a Smart.

I’d rather shop online, even if it was more expensive, to avoid all that.

 

[MPH]

I own a small (non shaving related) business and yes I will happily use amazon if I can't find the required items locally.

However, its difficult, but at the end of the day if Amazon (and other huge online businesses) destroys all other businesses and all the little guys in the high streets have gone, who's going to adjust the links/fit a battery in the watch you just bought from Amazon, or be there when you need something NOW, etc etc etc. Once they are gone they won't be coming back any time soon.

I guess we are all so busy nowadays the convenience is very tempting, but its true that you need to "use it, or lose it". If the specialist shaving shops disappear, then likely a fair few artisans will too. If this bothers you then I guess its worth paying that postage, or a little extra now and again.

I buy all my shaving items from small specialist shops, but admit I do shop around to get the best price which includes the postage.

 

[Seamus1981]

I also think that all the retail parks popping up everywhere these days, are killing off city/town centre retailers to a degree, but again, the ease of parking, which is free, and access to big brand shops that you'd otherwise have to venture in to town for, with all the traffic, and parking charges, makes it too good to resist, i used to love going in to Glasgow city centre and making a day of it, but these days i can't be bothered with the hassle of it.

 

[SweeneyTodd]

I use UK suppliers as much as I can, and especially when I'm able to buy direct; Agentshave, Connaught (because they're in East Anglia, apart from anything else), Nanny's, P&B, Shaving Station, Gentleman's Groom Room to name a few. Wherever possible, I buy UK made things; mainly soaps.

If I can, I stay away from Amazon, and certainly for shaving requisites, but my once-independent-shop-filled High Street is now jammed with chain clothes, charity and coffee shops. This in a town which had about 2,200 inhabitants when I was a boy, now has about 750, and nil supplies of any sort of DE blades. Even the nearest city of Norwich has lost a lot of specialist shaving shops, though a couple hang on.

As noted, the cost of postage is a real off-putter. I can pretty much wind myself up to swallow the costs of buying special things from Russia, Canada and the USA, but the percentage on-cost of even modest-sized UK purchases is dire. I never thought I'd do so (not being a BOGOF-style shopper), but I do rack up my purchases if I get "free" postage; even if "free" does wangle its way into the end cost.

 

[Vacumatic]

I use UK suppliers as much as I can, and especially when I'm able to buy direct; Agentshave, Connaught (because they're in East Anglia, apart from anything else), Nanny's, P&B, Shaving Station, Gentleman's Groom Room to name a few. Wherever possible, I buy UK made things; mainly soaps.

If I can, I stay away from Amazon, and certainly for shaving requisites, but my once-independent-shop-filled High Street is now jammed with chain clothes, charity and coffee shops. This in a town which had about 2,200 inhabitants when I was a boy, now has about 750, and nil supplies of any sort of DE blades. Even the nearest city of Norwich has lost a lot of specialist shaving shops, though a couple hang on.

As noted, the cost of postage is a real off-putter. I can pretty much wind myself up to swallow the costs of buying special things from Russia, Canada and the USA, but the percentage on-cost of even modest-sized UK purchases is dire. I never thought I'd do so (not being a BOGOF-style shopper), but I do rack up my purchases if I get "free" postage; even if "free" does wangle its way into the end cost.

I couldnt agree more, this is good for the economy and our specialist shaving suppliers, an example to us all.

 

[MPH]

I use UK suppliers as much as I can, and especially when I'm able to buy direct; Agentshave, Connaught (because they're in East Anglia, apart from anything else), Nanny's, P&B, Shaving Station, Gentleman's Groom Room to name a few. Wherever possible, I buy UK made things; mainly soaps.

If I can, I stay away from Amazon, and certainly for shaving requisites, but my once-independent-shop-filled High Street is now jammed with chain clothes, charity and coffee shops. This in a town which had about 2,200 inhabitants when I was a boy, now has about 750, and nil supplies of any sort of DE blades. Even the nearest city of Norwich has lost a lot of specialist shaving shops, though a couple hang on.

As noted, the cost of postage is a real off-putter. I can pretty much wind myself up to swallow the costs of buying special things from Russia, Canada and the USA, but the percentage on-cost of even modest-sized UK purchases is dire. I never thought I'd do so (not being a BOGOF-style shopper), but I do rack up my purchases if I get "free" postage; even if "free" does wangle its way into the end cost.

There was a section in Jarrolds (Norwich) that had a fair range of wet shaving products, but I haven't been in there for a long time as I prefer artisan bits if I can get them. Norwich is my nearest city too!

 

[Batch300]

For me, Amazon reduces my shopping at "big box stores."

I still shop at clothing stores, independent book sellers, record stores, family owned or municipal liquor stores, local shops, etc. Shaving items are purchased directly from the artisan or shaving online stores.

 

[DamianJ]

I've always been happy with my orders from Shaving Station and Wickham.

I agree that the postage seems to be an area that businesses seem to compete on. As @Wayne has said, I'd feel happier with a couple of quid added onto an item and offering free postage rather than then being hit with a postage charge for small orders. However a smaller postage charge or free postage for larger orders would be more effective.

It certainly is a tricky thing for businesses to sort out the best options.