The Seiko Cleancut vs. The Feather Touch Shaver - Our Opinion

Hi,

Thanks for reading ShopInPrivate.com's page about the difference between a Seiko Cleancut and a Feather Touch. We will try to first explain our feelings on the situation and then we will do our best to describe the difference and similarities between the two products.

First, Our bias:
1. We like to sell razors. We aren't getting rich on this product alone, but selling it isn't hurting our bottom line either. So naturally, we want to push the Feather Touch and give it a good review.
2. We survive on our ability to be trusted. People trust us to deliver their package in a timely manner. Trust is most important to us.
3. We have a history of honesty when it comes to product reviews. We sell 1,500 different items. If you don't buy this one from us, there are others. This bias makes us want to be honest.

Here is our review of the two products:

In late 2002, the importer for these products told us that he was going to switch from the Seiko Cleancut which is made in Japan to the Feather Touch which is made in China. After the switch, the Seiko would not be available any longer. He was the only US importer.

We asked why he was switching and he said that the new product will have English packaging (the Seiko's was in Japanese) and that the item will be "made from Seiko parts". We asked if the pricing will be less. He said no, but the promotion to receive a free trimmer will continue indefinitely.

ShopInPrivate.com has been in business for 5 years now and we know a fib when we hear one. It is fairly obvious that a brand-name shaver that is made in Japan should be more expensive than a knock-off that is made in China. But we weren't going to see a price reduction. Unfortunately, this product is hard enough to come by. We have repeatedly sold more of them than we can acquire, so we can't argue the point very far.

We finally received our allotment of Feather Touches (then called the Midas Touch) in late January. Initially, they seemed to be similar to the Seiko Cleancut in many ways. We quickly found out that the quality was much worse. With the Seiko brand product we were seeing approximately a 3% failure rate. This is not uncommon with small electronics. From nose hair trimmers to electric shavers, to massagers we see a similar rate. The Chinese made product was approaching a 10% failure rate. It seemed like the number of people receiving broken product was very high. We decided to stop selling the Feather touch shaver.

We finally were contacted by a representative from Seiko in Hawaii and were able to start buying the Cleancut shavers directly from Seiko. We were very happy about it. We hope you enjoy the shavers.

Sincerely, Tom Nardone of ShopInPrivate.