Gillette blades 4750% mark-up

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Cara

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According to an article in the DailyMail, Gillette Blades cost 5p to make, you pay 2.43 pounds (4,750% mark-up) ... ouch!

Razor heads that cost 5p to make and cost 2.43 pounds

Men are paying over the odds for a clean shave because of a huge mark-up on razor heads.

The products sold by Gillette and other companies cost as little as 5p to make, industry insiders have revealed.

But consumers are charged up to £2.43 a piece - a mark-up of more than 4,750 per cent.

...

A pack of four Fusion Power cartridges costs only 20p to manufacture, plus 8p for packaging. But they are sold for £9.72 - £9.44.

An industry insider said Gillette takes the lion share - £6.28 - to cover its operating costs and make a profit. Some 1.90 pounds goes to the retailer and £1.26 to the Government in VAT.
Click to expand...

Glad to read they are being investigated for collusion. Wonder if the same holds for SA branch, surely our prices are linked?
 
Of course have you seen the price of blades? Bloody crazy.

conversion put a pack of 4 at about 120 bucks, we pay more than that and i know you cannot do the conversion but damn blades are crazy expensive.
 
yup.. I think they and the other company are the best conceived companies in existence. Just think about it.. its a growing market ;) :p :sick:
 
Wahl all the way for me,

Only idiots still choose to be ripped off
 
I havent shaved with blades in years. One day I just said to hell with Gilllette and the Machs and their insane prices. Now I just use the bare blade on my Wahl clippers. Close enough for me.
 
I have switched to disposables. Works just as well for me.
 
Yeah the cost of razors is insane. Telscum and Monochoice would be impressed by that mark up :o
 
disposables... R20 for a pack of 6. Those Gilette ones don't work for me, the blades last for only a few shaves and then I need to throw it away (or pass it on to my wife for her legs!).
 
Electric all the way, used to use Gillette Mach 3, blade prices worked out at roughly R800 a year, bought a top of the range Remington in the US for $60, only needs new heads at $15 every 2 years...
 
I stopped shaving 20 years ago. I should have saved enough to buy a Porsche. Ha Ha
 
They had a thing on CapeTalk I think about this (can't remember which station it was on) and the DJ raised it.

People phoned in and complained that you can get blades on the flea markets for cheaper and that its over R200 for 4 or 8 Gillette blades, and that the Gillettes don't last long. The same applies to Shik.

Lots of people also phoned in to say they use electric razors because its cheaper or they use disposables.

I personally have always used the disposables as its really cheap. It also shaves me close enough, I don't want a pretty shave anyway because it sooner or later it grows out anyway. I have tried a sample of a Mach3 that I got for free on a promotion where I gave in an old school razor.

You just have to be careful with disposables, the yellow ones (Minora I think) are the best those cheapo blue jobs you get at the crazy store cut you to pieces.
 
The only reason I use a non disposable Schick one is because they have these thin wire type things over the blades, and they don't cut you.
 
I bought a pack of 4 Fusion razor blades from Checkers for R99. Pick 'n Pay sells them for R170. I couldn't believe the price difference between thw two! :eek:
 
I still have to confirm with hubbie every now and then that it's worthwhile buying him these Mach 3 blades ... but he insists it's the best. Glad I'm not the only one that thinks these blades are a rip off, just glad SU doesn't know what I pay for my hair cuts :o :D
 
Price elasticity, people are still willing to pay that high price. Just because the price drops to lets say £0.30, and the companies make £0.25 profit per blade, doesn't mean there will be a higher demand for blades. It's all business in the end, people will still buy even if the mark up was 8000%.

No point bitching bout this.
 
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