Kronos is known as one of the Titans in Greek mythology, often associated with time or with the scythe he wields. Kronos captures the essence of durability and precision embodied in our safety razors.

Hello, I'm Rory

You might wonder why I spend so much time adding citations and references to this website.

It all started out of frustration with the status quo of shaving. Like many, I bought into the cycle of buying a cheap razor handle, only to find myself unconsciously spending on replacement blades.

My first experience with a safety razor was eye-opening. It gave such a smooth shave, and I couldn’t help but wonder why more people didn’t use them. I quickly learned the answer: many safety razors are poorly designed. The one I bought didn’t shield the corner of the blade, leading to frequent nicks, and the wooden stand started to mould after just a week.

The problem wasn’t with safety razors themselves - it was the design.

So, I founded Kronos with a simple goal: to make safety razors more accessible and to be as transparent as possible in the process. That’s why I cite my sources. You deserve to be informed, and I want you to feel empowered when making your decisions.

A Back of the Envelope Calculation: How Lucrative is the Razor & Blade Revenue Model?

The razor and blade business model generates recurring revenue by selling inexpensive handles and high-margin replacement blades. (1)

Finding how often people change razor blades

Both Dollar shave club (2) and Gillette (3) recommend changing razor blades every 1-2 weeks. Lets go with 10 days as the average.

 

Calculating the average cost of a razor blade

Taking pricing information from Boots for disposable cartridge razor blades (4), the average cost of each blade is £2.89.

 

Changing a blade every 10 days means you spend on average £104.04 per year on replacements.

 

Calculating the average cost of razor handles

Using Boots as a reference, the average cost of a razor handle that fits proprietary cartridges is £10.74 (4).

 

How lucrative is the razor & Blade revenue model?

£104.04 (average spend on blades per year) / £10.74 (average cost of razor handle)

= 9.7

Buying a multi-blade razor means you will spend 9.7x on replacement blades per year than the amount you spent on the handle.

 

 

References

1) Dhebar, A. (2016). Razor-and-Blades pricing revisited. Business Horizons.

2) Dollar Shave Club (2024). How often should you change your razor blades?

3) Gillette (2024). How often should I change razor blades?

4) Boots (2024). Razors and Razor Blades