- 將商品品質變差，使用壽命變短，總之要越來越不耐用！
- 無關乎實用與否，商品或外觀或結構或成份，改變一點點就很了不得，感覺推陳出新就對了！
- 消費是凱子、是傻瓜，嗯！
- by Eve
來源：2010年03月26日《華爾街日報中文網》
作者：Neal Templin
很多年來﹐每當我買剃須刀時都覺得自己像個傻瓜。
為我的吉列鋒速3（Gillette Mach 3）買一個刀片要花2.50美元到3美元﹐這讓我心疼不已。但有幾次我用便宜的一次性剃須刀時﹐感覺就像在用銼刀刮胡子。
最終﹐幾星期前﹐我買了一把商店自有品牌的剃須刀﹐這把剃須刀也還好用﹐而且價格只有名牌剃須刀的一半左右。
事情不應該變成這樣。我已經用了幾十年吉列剃須刀了﹐而且我喜歡用它。問題出在價格上。在我看來﹐刀片的合理價格應該約為1美元。
我是一個信奉市場的人﹐但剃須刀刀片市場看來並沒有給出我想要的結果。吉列（Gillette）和舒適（Schick）並沒有在價格上進行競爭﹐而更像是投入了一場愚蠢的軍備競賽﹐以改進一種本來已經很完善的產品。雙刀片、三刀片、四刀片──什麼時候才是個頭？
顯然﹐ 這種趨勢短期內不會停止。舒適公司很快將推出它的五刀片剃須刀﹐並稱該產品的價格將比其2003年推出的四刀片剃須刀“創4紀”（Quattro）高 10%至20%。
寶潔公司（Procter & Gamble）旗下的吉列公司是率先推出五刀片剃須刀的生產商。吉列的Fusion Power MVP──這款剃須刀的早期型號於2006年上市──帶有五個彈簧式刀片和電動微脈沖以減少摩擦﹐“因此您幾乎感覺不到刀片”。吉列公司的網站上有一段視頻﹐視頻中﹐一位拿著巨型剃須刀刀片的機械師站在一架汽車升降機上。
剃須刀生產商﹐有件事我要告訴你們。剃須刀不是跑車。它不會讓我們感覺重返青春﹐也不會引來女性的顧盼。我們不喜歡刮胡子﹐不管你們怎麼做﹐我們都不會喜歡。我們想要的只是一把不會刮傷臉﹐也不會讓荷包挨宰的剃須刀。
但吉列公司和舒適公司有不同的觀點。吉列公司的發言人邁克•諾頓（Mike Norton）稱﹐吉列公司一直致力於研發能帶來完美剃須體驗的剃須刀。“關鍵不是刀片的數量﹐而是刀片背後帶給您更佳剃須體驗的科技。”
舒適公司的母公司﹐勁量控股公司（Energizer Holdings）的傑基•布爾維茨（Jackie Burwitz）說：“如果你考察銷售數據﹐就會發現消費者願意為性能更好的剃須刀多掏錢。”
現在你明白了吧。研發越來越高檔的剃須刀比守著老款式剃須刀打價格戰能賺到更多錢。換句話說﹐面對五刀片剃須刀﹐我們美國男人只能怨自己。
這些年來﹐我應對剃須刀刀片漲價的方法就是少用它們。我曾經幾乎每周都更換刀片﹐而我現在兩至三個星期才更換新刀片。
我的一位同事嫁給了一個節儉的法國人﹐他至少等兩個月才換一次剃須刀刀片﹐最長六個月才換一次刀片。36歲的讓-菲利普•馬松（Jean-Philippe Masson）說﹐當他換完刀片後﹐刮胡子的感覺“就像熱刀子切開黃油一般順暢”。“如果你每周都換刀片﹐就享受不到這種樂趣了。”
這是法國人的處理方式。當然﹐我們美國人很少有好東西舍不得用﹐而是會尋找讓它更便宜的方法。
可能這就是剃須刀刀片市場如此興旺的原因。
有人仍在賣吉列Trac II的刀片﹐我年輕時用過這種雙刀片剃須刀。一個網站上刊登了一種100片裝Trac II刀片的廣告﹐其售價為49.99美元。唉﹐可惜我已經有許多年沒用過Trac II了。
無奈之下﹐我去了本地的CVS藥店（CVS pharmacy）﹐這家連鎖店正在推銷其“三刀片剃須套裝”。我花12.50美元買了一把剃須刀和10個刀片﹐這樣每個刀片的價格就降到了1.25美元。
過去幾週我一直在試用CVS剃須刀。它用起來和我已經用了幾年的三刀片吉列剃須刀一樣舒適。
吉列剃須刀的剃須感覺可能比CVS剃須刀稍微貼合一些﹐但我真的說不準。我說不出上佳的剃須體驗和良好的剃須體驗有何區別。但我說得出花2.50美元和花1.25美元的區別。
為了對吉列公平﹐我同意試用其最新最好的剃須刀。於是﹐吉列公司寄給我一款Fusion ProGlide Power剃須刀﹐這是一種將於6月上市的五刀片剃須刀。這款剃須刀的建議零售價為12.99美元﹐包括一把剃須刀和兩個備用刀頭。含四個備用刀頭的套裝售價為17.99美元。
週末用過這款新剃須刀後﹐我將它寄回給吉列公司﹐用它剃須的感覺的確更貼合。但當我刮完胡子後﹐我在鏡子裡看到的那張光滑面龐仍然是我的臉﹐而不是喬治•克魯尼的﹐而當我每次為換刀片花4.5美元時﹐仍然感覺自己像個傻瓜。
所以我會繼續使用CVS的剃須刀﹐直到我找到更便宜的剃須刀為止。
**************************************************
A Penny Shaved Is A Penny Earned
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.
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