Unilever Buys Dollar Shave Club for $1B

I guess they think they can give P&G a run for their money, and $1B is a pretty cheap price tag to take a stab at it. They've got quite an uphill battle ahead of them, though.

s_m_t• 10 years ago

I don't think that would work out for them. Letting everyone know that someone was willing to pay Dollar Shave Club and then yanking it from the market would lead to a flood of imitators and new competitors.

inthewoods• 10 years ago

Interesting post by David Pakman on the deal - really love his investment thesis.

https://medium.com/@pakman/dollar-shave-club-how-michael-dub...

Curious what it sold for - I guess they were doing close to $200m in revenue. My guess would be in the $400-500m range.

adrr• 10 years ago

Zulily sold for $2 billion with $200mm in revenue(and declining).

Edit: To add more color. P&G bought Gillette for $40 billion on $4 billion in rev.

uhhhhhhhhhhh• 10 years ago

Uhh...Zulily sold to QVC for $2.4 billion with somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.3 billion in yearly revenue.

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/zulily-sold-to-qvc-for-2-4-bill...

gregpilling• 10 years ago

The linked article said that they had 3 million subscribers. Pretty impressive for a 4 year old company. 3 million credit cards on file, 3 million payments.

It sold for $1 billion dollars. Youtube says their channel has 35,002,980 views, so that would make about $28.57 per view the selling price.

MichaelGG• 10 years ago

$330 per user? Is that a good price for customers buying cheap razors?

I'm a guy. I shave a bit. I've been, and continue to be, totally astounded how DSC is a business, let alone a successful one. No matter your preference for DE vs these fancy multi-blade rigs, just uh, go to Amazon and buy? "Subscribe and Save" if you have an issue buying more when you run low?

What's the attraction?

flukus• 10 years ago

So I guess the subscription fad isn't disappearing anytime soon.

shpx2• 10 years ago

Old fashioned safety razors are still very much a thing [0], 30$ for a handle and another 30$ for 100 blades, I switch blades every 2 weeks.

pcunite• 10 years ago

I'm interested in getting this type of razor. Is there a standard? Interchangeable blades?

zachrose• 10 years ago

Yep, you want "double-edged razor blades."

MawNicker• 10 years ago

I have this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011L8WJIA/

I'm very satisfied. Not coming apart is a significant feature. The case is nice too; I've used it several times to look at the back of my head.

I haven't found any blades that don't work. As far as I know they're all the same.

mikestew• 10 years ago

That's the great thing about double-edged razors: you can recognize the correct blade on sight. The box is distinctive as well. Meaning you'd have to try really hard to buy the wrong blade. I mean really hard, given that a blind person could buy the right blades by feel.

shpx2• 10 years ago

Most razors are for double edged blades. All double edge blades are interchangeable.

My understanding is that there are also single edged razors that don't work with double edged blades, but they are way less popular. /r/wicked_edge has a guide here [0] basically, buy a Vintage Gillette Super Speed Razor on ebay (or really anything you want, handles can't be that different, they're just 3 pieces of metal) and a pack of sample blades on tryablade.com

[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/wicked_edge/wiki/de_kit

https://www.reddit.com/r/wicked_edge/comments/4exeep/beginne...

bereasonable• 10 years ago

I bought a handle from eBay for $1.50 shipped from China. The most expensive thing was the brush, which is (or, at least claims to be) badger hair. That was $12 shipped.

My understanding is that different blades suit different complexions. For example, the platinum blades I've tried are too sharp and irritated.

Get a sampler with a few dozen blades for $10-$15. Then get the blade you like for $20 for 100 blades.

tomjen32• 10 years ago

I have one that I purchased some years ago. Basically they all use the exact same type of blade, which looks like this: http://www.techsnippets.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/best-...

Basically the old razor blades that appear in movies when people have to cut themselves :)

The biggest difference from modern razor blades, other than taking up much less space, is that they are manufactured by different companies and so there is real competition, which makes them massively cheaper.

That said I still haven't been able to get near as good a shave with them as I do with the Gillette power thing that I have, which annoys me.

nibs• 10 years ago

Strange that no one has mentioned Rockwell [1]. I use the original model in the shower without soap. I use Shark blades and they have been better than the Astra I had. [1]: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rockwell-model-t-razor-bl...

nathancahill2• 10 years ago

2 weeks! I switch every 2 days. Love the sharp blade feel.

j_s• 10 years ago

I've heard that the dullness is caused by corrosion more so than cutting anything... the recommendation was to store the blade in alcohol to prevent corrosion and keep it sharp.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?

limeyx• 10 years ago

Every shave for me or I bleed like a pig

basch3• 10 years ago

$30 for a handle? they are 2-5 on aliexpress

taneq2• 10 years ago

Are those ones as nice? Serious question, it seems silly to compromise on something that you're going to use daily (or close thereto) just to save $10-$20 (once you factor in shipping). Then again if you can't tell the difference, might as well get the cheaper one.

code_chimp• 10 years ago

I've shaved with those sub-$10 razors and a $30 Merkur razor - the difference is not negligible. The Merkur's body is more solid, heavier, and generally feels better in my hand. I can get a decent shave with either, but I stick the the more expensive one at home and take the other when I travel.

pbreit4• 10 years ago

A handle lasts a lifetime. No reason to skimp on it. Or shop on Aliexpress.

wtbob3• 10 years ago

I bought an even-older-fashioned straight razor for $75 very nearly fifteen years ago, and it's still working just fine. I've spent more on strops since then.

JshWright2• 10 years ago

Even prior to this, it was cheaper to just buy from Dorco (DSC's supplier).

whamlastxmas• 10 years ago

I have DSC to thank for looking into Dorco. I never bought DSC but heard they used Dorco. I've hated shaving my entire life because I always used an electric or shitty Target brand razors. I also tried safety razors and they were worse for me than Target despite trying everything to make it better. A nice Dorco makes so much of a difference. Shaving is now just sort of neutral to me rather than negative.

Stocked up on a year supply of Dorco in December I think when they have 25% off. I use a new razor every few shaves guilt free because they're cheap enough.

chiph• 10 years ago

A few years ago Unilever partnered with Shick to launch Axe razors to compete with P&G. That may not have worked as well as they'd hoped, thus the purchase of DSC.

http://adage.com/article/news/unilever-sharpens-axe-razor-la...

gotrecruit• 10 years ago

i wonder what his ownership is... $1b cash acquisition is serious.

dannylandau• 10 years ago

How does Dorco (or DSC) compare with Harry's shavers? I use the latter and just curious.

sithadmin3• 10 years ago

Dorco's top of the line blade (Pace 6) is almost identical to Harry's blades, but are around 50 US cents cheaper per blade.

pbreit4• 10 years ago

Dorco 6s at Amazon are $1.67 when you buy 24. Harry's (which I prefer) are $1.75 when you buy 16 (shipped free).

pbreit4• 10 years ago

I did not like the Dorco 4 blade but the 6 blades are OK. But I have a slight preference for Harry's both because the blades seem solid and sharp and I like how the head pivots on the face. The one thing that is a slight problem is that when I just use shave oil (like the Honest brand) the residue is sometimes hard to fully rinse out. Harry's finally came out with a grippier handle so that's better now, too. I like the shave cream/lotion but the gel smells like Axe (disgusting).

sverige4• 10 years ago

A billion dollars for a razor company. What a marketing job they've done over the decades. I've never understood the shaving fetish. It irritates your skin, causes infections, and hides your beard.

Yes, I'm both a graybeard and a "neckbeard." (Never understood why the latter is pejorative, either. If you let your beard grow like it should, it will cover your neck.)

A question for all you young men who have grown your beards as part of the recent fashion trend and have gone back to shaving as the trend has faded, which was better? Lower maintenance? Less expensive? Yes, bearded, I'm sure. Stop following trends and do what you like.

Axsuul2• 10 years ago

There are those of us who can't grow beards in the first place, with any sad attempt at it looking like a miserable display of masculinity. And I'm sure there are millions of us out there. So we prefer to shave it to save us from our friends and girlfriends having to remind us to.

sverige4• 10 years ago

Well, yes, then shave. But if you can grow one at all, remember it grows in better as you age. I had holes in mine in my early 20s, but they were gone when I tried again in my early 30s.

xapata• 10 years ago

What if I like following trends?

sverige4• 10 years ago

Then do it! With gusto!

donarb2• 10 years ago

Beards itch, I prefer clean shaven.

wtbob3• 10 years ago

Beards itch

With curly hair, I find that my beard only itches when the hairs are long enough to curl in. For me, there's a stage about two weeks in and a stage about two months in where it itches terribly, but after that it's fine.

corysama• 10 years ago

The neckbeard pejorative comes from the trend where young men who are not just nerdy, but obnoxiously so, and who happen to also be overweight, are frequently seen growing a thin, scruffy beards only on their necks for the purpose of making their neck fat less obvious. It's a common enough correlation that a scruffy neck-only beard has become synonymous with being obnoxious. http://m.imgur.com/9xHMHMX?r

sverige4• 10 years ago

Thanks for the explanation. I am a graybeard only then.

nasalgoat• 10 years ago

Also because they tend to have low testosterone, so the beard itself won't grow any higher than the jawline.

With time it improves - I had a similar beard in my 20s but now in my 40s it's all the way up.

wtbob3• 10 years ago

I think that shaving is a symptom of a weird mental illness: why would I want to remove the marks of adulthood & maturity from my body and look like a little boy instead of what I am, a man?

It's weird to me that shaving isn't seen by society as something restricted to a few deviants; rather, it's almost universal among adult males.

unfathomable• 10 years ago

Remove any signs of masculinity, cut your hair short, and wear a symbolic noose around your neck every day for your hourly commute. These are the marks of a real free man.

Axsuul2• 10 years ago

Another win for the Los Angeles startup scene!

vit052• 10 years ago

It is funny how every time someone talks about Dollar Shave Club as a brand/business model, most of the comments are about Dorco. Lifestyle brand focuses on a man, that is something really hard to archive.

Gillette spends 600 million years on marketing to try to archive this. BTW, PG has bought Gillette for 57 billion 10 years ago.

HelloImDumb• 10 years ago

Well, Gillette has their own product that they have spent billions on R&D and manufacturing. DSC is not even white label, there's not the slightest alteration to the Dorco product. They're just repackaging and selling individual units, identical to drugstore Dorcos.

Sure, DSC is a phenomenon, but their product is Dorco blades, U.S. mail, and some brown packaging.

vit052• 10 years ago

They have their own product because they are an industry. DSC isn't.

a_small_island• 10 years ago

What a disgusting website (fortune.com).

Autoplays a video in the article below the one I'm reading, makes me think I'm crazy to hear Paul Ryan discussing politics from my speakers.

Try to hit my mouse button to go back to HN and it won't release me from my captivitiy.

All while running uBlock Origin. Just disgusting. Congrats to Dollar Shave Club.

ams6110• 10 years ago

If you use firefox, you can stop autoplay videos by going to about:config and setting media.autoplay.enabled to false.

bhaile• 10 years ago

With FF and UO, I set all videos to be click to play. Including HTML5 video. It took one website for me and now no more random audio like Fortune's site.

yoha• 10 years ago

I am running both uBlock Origin and NoScript and the website still found a way to annoy me: it gets Firefox Reader stuck, so that I am supposed to read the article in their terrible layout.

electic• 10 years ago

For those visiting, let's give our traffic to someone who values their raeders, doesn't serve them malware, and doesn't auto-play videos...someone other than Fortune: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-20/unilever-b...

alexmingoia• 10 years ago

I heard they aren't profitable? Is that true?

e15ctr0n• 10 years ago

Mods, can we please change the URL to http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/business/dealbook/unilever... since it is much more informative?

dang• 10 years ago

Sure. Thanks!

Url changed from http://fortune.com/2016/07/19/unilever-buys-dollar-shave-clu....

Unilever Buys Dollar Shave Club for $1B

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