Harry’s vs Wet Shaving Club
Harry’s vs The Wet Shaving Club
Full Disclosure: We want you to buy our product. While we believe our review of The Harry’s is fair and honest, it is also our review. A review from a competitor trying to sell you their product. We are not affiliated in any way with The Harry’s. While we think they have a good deal (if you like cartridge razors), we think our deal is better, and we think you will like our product better.
With every day that goes by, the Internet continues to be a place where the options for shaving seem endless. Shopping with confidence can be challenging, because it’s difficult to be sure if you’ve made the right choice in razor or blade. That was, of course, until The Wet Shaving Club came along. We’re so confident in what we offer that we’re going toe-to-toe with our competition in this ongoing series of articles.
This time around we’re looking at Harry’s, the razor subscription service that started in 2013. Besides razors, they sell a wide variety of grooming products and even own their own razor factory. However, does making your own blades mean that you’re giving your customers the best shaving experience? Let’s take a look
Getting Started
Given our perception (perhaps false?) of the similarity between Harry’s and the Dollar Shave Club, we fully expected to have a similarly difficult experience trying to sign up for Harry’s ( See The Dollar Shave Club vs. The Wet Shaving Club). Luckily, it wasn’t as confusing and laborious to us, but in our opinion it wasn’t that straightforward either.
If you click “Get Started” on the Harry’s homepage, you’re put through a survey to determine your initial starter set and product subscription (as of 8/15/2020). You choose your handle, followed by your refills. This can include blades and shaving gel. You then are given several options for how often you receive a refill box based off of how often you shave. Once you select your frequency you’re asked if you’d like to join their core membership program for an additional fee (more on this in a moment).
Harry’s does have the option to buy a starter kit à la Carte without a subscription, but we had to spend a little time looking for it.
The Wet Shaving Club, as is our style, continues to make getting the shave you crave incredibly simple. We started this business to break the razor subscription cycle.
Speaking Of Subscriptions
If you follow the “Get Started” option at Harry’s the standard subscription for a daily shaver is a set of eight blades every two months. You can adjust the frequency of your refills, as well as the products in them, but this requires keeping an eye on your subscription.
Then there’s the Core membership that Harry’s touts. For an additional $15 a year, you get discounts on their products, free engraving on their premium Winston razor handle and the ability to buy new products before they launch. Essentially, you give Harry’s money in order to give them even more of your money. Like all the other subscription shave clubs, they also seem to be trying to mentally keep you in their grooming ecosystem (for a fee).
We Must Have Subscription Envy...
You’ve probably noticed that we’ve spent a lot of time talking about our competitors in these comparison articles. That’s on purpose. We want to highlight how, in our opinion, it is unnecessarily complicated to buy razors and blades from our competitors. Here at The Wet Shaving Club, we’re all about simplicity and convenience. Get one of our one-year safety razor deals, and we have met your blade needs for the year. We simply don’t see the value in a razor blade subscription. The way we see it, the only two parties that make it out in that kind of deal is the business, and the shipping carrier.
Another Cartridge Razor Shave Club
As with many shaving clubs, Harry’s has opted to go with selling a cartridge razor. We have many articles about why we did not go the cartridge razor route, but we’re more than happy to go over the main reasons for the folks in the back. We believe that intuitively cartridge razors are more likely to cause irritation, since they scrape (or as they would say “glide}) multiple blades across your skin. Additionally, in our opinion they are harder to keep sanitary, because stubble and other impurities are easily trapped in cartridges. Furthermore, as we show below cartridge razors also tend to cost more than safety razors on a per shave basis.
As with pretty much every cartridge razor company, Harry’s blades only fit on their handles. At least they let you choose between a plastic and metal handle. There’s also the environmental toll to consider with cartridge razors. Cartridge blades are difficult to recycle, and Harry’s even admits as much in their FAQ.
The safety razors The Wet Shaving Club sells, on the other hand, are pretty much the opposite. All-metal safety razor blades can be easily recycled. Also, since only one blade is making contact with your skin, it’s less likely to become irritated. Safety razors are easily cleaned and therefore more likely to keep sanitary and hygienic than their cartridge counterparts. Our safety razors don’t lock you into proprietary blades, allowing you to shop around for the brand that suits your needs. And, as stated above and shown below, they’re far easier on your wallet.
That Is Quite A Cost Difference!
Pricing is one of our favorite things to compare with our competitors. We have such an edge over them it almost feels like cheating. However, our prices are completely legitimate, as is our advantage.
The chart above shows the cost difference between shaving with The Wet Shaving Club and Harry’s.
Year 1
The Wet Shaving Club = $24
Harry’s = $95.48
Year 2
The Wet Shaving Club = $10
Harry’s = $86.48
Get the details on how we determined these costs by visiting our full cost comparison breakdown here. Is A Safety Razor Cheaper To Use?
The Cherry On Top
As if we did not save you enough money, The Wet Shaving Club gives you free shipping on everything. Harry’s offers free shipping on orders $15 and above. Any questions?
The End
And so we come to the end of another comparison. While we give ourselves a pat on the back, be sure to check out our selection of shaving products and upgrade your shave today!
Nick Rosholt
Nick Rosholt is a Los Angeles-based writer, specializing in podcasts and online content. He spends his free time pursuing screenwriting and perfecting his guacamole recipe. Follow him on Instagram @allegedly_nick.
