剃须心得：有钱不必花在刀刃上A Penny Shaved Is A Penny EarnedFor years, I've felt like a sap whenever I bought razors. 很多年来，每当我买剃须刀时都觉得自己像个傻瓜。

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. 为我的吉列锋速3（Gillette Mach 3）买一个刀片要花2.50美元到3美元，这让我心疼不已。

但有几次我用便宜的一次性剃须刀时，感觉就像在用锉刀刮胡子。

Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I bought a serviceable store-brand razor that costs about half the price of the premier brands.Jon Protas for The Wall Street Journal吉列锋速3是好剃须刀，但刀片的价钱真不便宜最终，几星期前，我买了一把商店自有品牌的剃须刀，这把剃须刀也还好用，而且价格只有名牌剃须刀的一半左右。

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. 事情不应该变成这样。

我已经用了几十年吉列剃须刀了，而且我喜欢用它。

问题出在价格上。

在我看来，刀片的合理价格应该约为1美元。

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? 我是一个信奉市场的人，但剃须刀刀片市场看来并没有给出我想要的结果。

吉列（Gillette）和舒适（Schick）并没有在价格上进行竞争，而更像是投入了一场愚蠢的军备竞赛，以改进一种本来已经很完善的产品。

双刀片、三刀片、四刀片──什么时候才是个头？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. 显然，这种趋势短期内不会停止。

舒适公司很快将推出它的五刀片剃须刀，并称该产品的价格将比其2003年推出的四刀片剃须刀“创4纪”（Quattro）高10%至20%。

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.' TheGillette Web site has a video of a mechanic with a giant razor blade on a car lift. 宝洁公司（Procter & Gamble）旗下的吉列公司是率先推出五刀片剃须刀的生产商。

吉列的Fusion Power MVP──这款剃须刀的早期型号于2006年上市──带有五个弹簧式刀片和电动微脉冲以减少摩擦，“因此您几乎感觉不到刀片”。

吉列公司的网站上有一段视频，视频中，一位拿着巨型剃须刀刀片的机械师站在一架汽车升降机上。

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. 剃须刀生产商，有件事我要告诉你们。

剃须刀不是跑车。

它不会让我们感觉重返青春，也不会引来女性的顾盼。

我们不喜欢刮胡子，不管你们怎么做，我们都不会喜欢。

我们想要的只是一把不会刮伤脸，也不会让荷包挨宰的剃须刀。

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.' 但吉列公司和舒适公司有不同的观点。

吉列公司的发言人迈克•诺顿（Mike Norton）称，吉列公司一直致力于研发能带来完美剃须体验的剃须刀。

“关键不是刀片的数量，而是刀片背后带给您更佳剃须体验的科技。

”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.' 舒适公司的母公司，劲量控股公司（Energizer Holdings）的杰基•布尔维茨（Jackie Burwitz）说：“如果你考察销售数据，就会发现消费者愿意为性能更好的剃须刀多掏钱。

”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. 现在你明白了吧。

研发越来越高档的剃须刀比守着老款式剃须刀打价格战能赚到更多钱。

换句话说，面对五刀片剃须刀，我们美国男人只能怨自己。

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. 这些年来，我应对剃须刀刀片涨价的方法就是少用它们。

我曾经几乎每周都更换刀片，而我现在两至三个星期才更换新刀片。

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 doeschange 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.' 我的一位同事嫁给了一个节俭的法国人，他至少等两个月才换一次剃须刀刀片，最长六个月才换一次刀片。

36岁的让-菲利普•马松（Jean-Philippe Masson）说，当他换完刀片后，刮胡子的感觉“就像热刀子切开黄油一般顺畅”。

“如果你每周都换刀片，就享受不到这种乐趣了。

”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. 这是法国人的处理方式。

当然，我们美国人很少有好东西舍不得用，而是会寻找让它更便宜的方法。

Maybe that's why there's a thriving market out there for after-market razors. 可能这就是剃须刀刀片市场如此兴旺的原因。