For those who have everything: An overly pricey razor

An unnecessarily expensive razor — and more in our collection of bizarrely elite consumer products

An overly pricey razor
(Image credit: Aynsley Floyd/Invision for Gillette/AP Images)

The ProGlide FlexBall ($10) features a ball hinge that helps the head pivot, and Gillette claims that it trims whiskers 23 microns shorter than other razors. But consider the waste: Confronting upstarts like the Dollar Shave Club that exposed the absurdity of the $5 price Gillette puts on each replacement cartridge, the industry leader decided to pour money into "a dumb novelty" of a handle, apparently to keep customers paying $5 for replacement blades. The FlexBall might excel at shaving, said Kevin Roose at New York, but it "represents everything terrible about America's innovation economy."

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