I love this quote by John Ruskin:

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

I feel like I learn this lesson time and time again with cheap barbershops.  My usual shop is pricey, and I mean really pricey.  $60 for a haircut and a shave, not including tip.  Pretty high, right? So every now and again I’ll try a new place.  Usually I end up paying $25-40.  I save some money, but often my hair or face regrets the experience.

I went through this experience again this weekend.  A friend took me to his favorite barbershop.  $29 for a haircut and shave.  The haircut was okay, maybe even a little sloppy near the end.  (I also loathe barbers and bar tenders that argue with their customer’s wishes.)  The shave left some facial hair behind and actually ending up cutting me a couple times.  If I wanted to be cut, I’d go at my beard with the straight razor myself (something I’m terrible at).

My main shop may charge $30 for the shave, but they take their time.  If I do get nicked, it’s pretty rare.  I also feel like they take their time with the actual haircut and aren’t trying to rush me out the door.  Worth the extra $20? I think so.  I just wish they weren’t always booked up all the time!

The banes of success, right?