Around 1904 King Gillette introduced the safety razor. Prior to this a razor was a fairly thick piece of sharpened steel. Gillette teamed up with William Nickerson to invent a very thin disposable steel blade that could hold an edge. This blade was held in in a handle assembly so that only the bare minimum of the blade was exposed. You could still cut yourself, but the head of the handle limited any cuts to a very superficial level.

All of this is brilliance, and when World War 1 broke out and the US Army began issuing Gillette safety razors to the troops, a fourtune was built. But the REAL genious, in our minds, is the OTHER legacy that Gillete left mankind: Marketing.

You see, it is not well known, but Gillette's company made a decision early on to practically give away (and in many promotions actually gave away) the safety razor holders, and they made their money selling the blades themselves! While the concept of the safety razor was a major step forward in and of itself, the real money was in selling the supplies for the product line.

We bring this up today because a customer contacted us concerning a competitor's product. While virtually all hook and loop sanding systems on the market have the softer loop part on the sanding disks, and the hook on the sander pad, their line was the opposite. Now we do not want to jump to conclusions or talk bad about competitors, but what possible justification is there for this? The claim was that the hook was cheaper to make as the disposable part, but one cannot help noticing that the company sold the sanders pretty much at cost, and once a company was using the special sanders, only one brand of disk would work with it.

Our point is that it seems to always be better to keep one's options open. We all groan when we find out that a part needed is a "dealer only" item since we know that it is going to cost us. If you are dissapointed with the quality of your sanding supplies, or don't believe that your supplier is a partner in your success, then you should have options to change your vendor. Free markets keep us (vendors) honest and on our toes. When you (customers) have options, vendors only prosper by helping you rather than only helping ourselves.

We invite you to add your thoughts or send along questions that you may have. Please feel free to add your comments here on the blog, on our Facebookpage, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think! -2Sand.com