Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s are supposedly “disrupting” the shaving industry. Honestly, I don’t get it. Buying a razor is like buying shampoo, soap, or toilet paper. In other words, I bought a bulk set at Costco for $1 per 3-blade razor and it lasted me two years. However, after doing some research, I decided to try out Dorco USA and save even more money. (I already tried Harry’s razors and decided it wasn’t for me.)
Did you know that Dollar Shave Club doesn’t even make their own razors? Well, now that they’ve been bought for $1 billion by Unilever, this might change, but for now their 4-blade and 6-blade razors are made by a company named Dorco. Dorco also sells razors directly to US consumers at DorcoUSA.com. Which is the cheaper option?
Dorco USA has regular sales and coupons. There’s always some sort of sale or coupon, so you should never pay full price. You can sign up for their newsletter for updates, although it is a bit annoying to get weekly e-mails when you only buy razors once a year. You can also check the usual coupon sites. In my opinion, I would wait until I see a discount of 40% to 50% off with free shipping.
Use a cashback shopping portal too. You can also stack additional savings via cashback shopping portals. Specifically, both BeFrugal and TopCashBack offer 10% cashback at the time of this writing and I can confirm that I got the cash back credited through TopCashBack.
Example deal with 4-blade razors. Last time, I got $20 off $50 order with free shipping. Here’s an example of what you could put together. I’m doing Men’s razors but they have equivalent Women’s razors as well.
The Pace 4 Starter set includes 1 handle and 2 cartridges for $6. The Pace 4 refill set has 4 cartridges and costs $7.15. Buying 1 starter set + 7 refill sets = $6.50 + $50.05 – $20 coupon = $36.05. That’s 30 cartridges total at $1.20 per Dorco 4-blade razor. If you use a 10% cashback portal, that’s $1.08 per razor.
The Pace 4 looks nearly identical (see top image) to the “4X” blade from Dollar Shave Club, which runs $6 for 4 cartridges per month. This works out to $1.50 per Dollar Shave Club 4-blade razor. If you count the $1 first month promo, over a year you’d pay $1.40 per razor.
Example deal with 6-blade razors. The Pace 6 Plus has 6 blades + beard trimmer blade. The Pace 6 Plus starter set with 1 weighted handle and 2 cartridges cost $6.50. Pace 6 refill sets are $9.65 for 4 cartridges. Buying 1 starter set + 5 refill sets = $6.50 + $48.25 – $20 coupon = $34.75. That’s 22 razor cartridges total at $1.58 per 6-blade Dorco razor. If you use a 10% cashback portal, that’s $1.42 per razor.
The Pace 6 Plus looks nearly identical to the “Executive” blade from Dollar Shave Club, which runs $9 for 4 cartridges per month. This works out to $2.25 per 6-blade Dollar Shave Club razor. If you count the $1 first month promo, over a year you’d pay $2.08 per razor.
The specific numbers may change as the promotions vary, but the Dorco razors usually still come out ahead. You may see $10 off $30, $20 off $40, Buy 1 Get 1 Free, etc.
Bottom line. If you are okay buying in bulk (20+ razors), buying directly from Dorco USA can be cheaper than getting what appears to be the same razor from Dollar Shave Club. In the examples above using frequent sale pricing, the savings were roughly 30% off. You also avoid a recurring subscription (always try to automate savings, not spending).
How are the Pace 4 razors? In my non-fussy opinion, they are fine. They are slightly nicer than my 3-blade razors from Costco, but that’s about it. So far, it appears they will last about the same length of time as well.
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Astra double edge safety razors at $11 for a 100 pack via Amazon Prime. It doesn’t get cheaper than that.
Safety razors are definitely cheaper, but it’s a different experience. If my current method didn’t cost under $1 a month, I’d probably look harder at switching.
Echoing Mikey B. and Jonathon, but on different points …
I have found using a double edge razor and blades to be a different experience – a far superior shave to anything I got with electric razors or double- and triple-blade cartridges or disposables. But it’s not like the method is much different, just using better equipment (you’ll need to spend some money on a razor, but the blades – Astras, Feathers, Personnas – are superior quality and cheap, as Mikey pointed out).
I tried many cartridges and disposables, at a bunch of price ranges and none came close to the shave I get daily with a DE razor in terms of closeness or smoothness or nicks/cuts/rash. Have not had an ingrown hair (neck) since switching to DE blades, either (the reason I stumbled across DEs was looking for a solution for recurring ingrown hairs on my neck).
The only shaves I have gotten superior to those with a DE razor were barber-administered shaves with hot towel and straight edge (actually a DE snapped in half to fit in a straight edge-like holder).
I would never go back to multi-blade cartridges or disposables.
Agree with Ron, from another Ron. I paid like $11 for 100 DE blades 3 years ago and i still haven’t run out. With 4 shaving edges to each blade you can get a lot of mileage out of these, and a better shave. I do nick up my neck from time to time but the cheeks are as smooth as silk if you shave in 4 directions with the DE blade. And its fun to use the old italian shaving brush/cream. All in all a better experience.
These Dorco blades are horrible!!!! Tear up my skin and you cannot tell when the lubrication strip is done because it is white. Gillette is definitely the best out there and worth the money. My Gillette mach 3 blades last forever and don’t tear up my face.
TIP: Keep your blades soaked in a small container of mineral oil (drug store, also acts as a laxative) between shavings and the blades will last for weeks. If you want to get fancy, add a couple drops of peppermint or other essential oil to the mineral oil to make it smell extra nice.
The talk about double-edged razors is often about a “smoother/better” or “more luxurious” shave. I think that’s great for people who can appreciate that. But as I don’t care about “silkier hair” or “more hydrated skin”, I also don’t want to pay more money for shaving soap or spend more time shaving. As long as my face is smooth without a bunch of bloody nicks, I’m out the door and happy. (I have tried those super-cheap single blade disposables and they were too low-quality for me, but anything above that works fine for my face.)
That said, if someone wants to do a guest post explaining the financial and experiential benefits of double-edged razors, I would be quite happy to share that on the site. 🙂
The multi-blade razors are designed to be easy to use. They are not as sharp and spread pressure out over multiple blades. To get a decent shave you have to press harder and make more passes. A DE safety razor gives you more control but is harder to use. There is a decent learning curve, but I’ve found that once you get the technique right, you can make less passes and get more precise lines around sideburns or facial hair. This results in less irritation, less cuts, less razor burn, cleaner looking lines, and a faster shave. Even if multi-blade razors were cheaper, I wouldn’t go back.
Many people associate DE safety razors with time consuming wet shaves. While a wet shave is nicer, a DE safety razor works perfectly fine with common shaving cream/gels.
With my heavy (think steel wool) beard, I get a closer, more comfortable shave by changing my DE blade almost every time. They are so cheap that I still save money.
Thanks for this posting. It would be great to learn more about Dorco sales. I’ve not found more than 10-20% off yet. 40% off – that would be sweet 🙂 Please post when you see such a great deal! Thanks again.
From now until Saturday 3/25/17, you can get $20 off $50 with free shipping with code MMadness20. That’s up to 40% off. There is also $10 off $30 with MARDUSA17. Smaller order requirement but only up to 33% off.
Amex Offer has $10 back on $10 spend for DSC. Get a lifetime supplies of blades now!
I’m a sucker for the vibrating handle and Dorco was the only non-Gillette brand to offer that (at the time at least). I hated my shave experience with Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club and have had nothing but good experiences with Dorco. *As for making the blade last, Clark Howard had a great tip from way back: blow dry the blade after each use. That and don’t share my razor with my wife and daughter 🙂
We bought a sampler pack of Dorco razors years ago and have been very satisfied with them. That one pack will likely last us another year or two.
If don’t mind waiting a few weeks for a shipment from China, check out wish.com for razors. You can get bulk razors that fit most brands for a few bucks.
single edge razor is the Standard.
But you need more time and a steady hand.
DSC has no Phone # to order products.
I just might renew if I could only order handles.
The CO location is just a few miles from my home, but I can’t a hold of them
Just sell me some product and I will drive down and pick up.
Stop just acting like an online company and get someone to answer the phone.
Just a phone call WORKS
Steve
i
How does one actually buy directly from Dorco? on their site i don’t see any way to do this..
Thanks for the help