ShearGenius vs Matsui (Scissor Tech Australia): Who Actually Makes Your Scissors?
Matsui is a brand, not a maker — and that is a matter of public record: the Australian Business Register shows the names “Matsui” and “Matsui Scissors” were registered on 23 February 2020 by TNL Digital Pty Ltd, a Perth company whose ABN began in February 2019, while their own warranty page claims “20 years of manufacturing, design & research”. ShearGenius is the opposite shape: founded in 2007 by Matt Grumley — a working hairdresser since 1990 with 100,000+ scissors sharpened — who names the steel and hardness on every model ($250–$795 bought direct, lifetime manufacturing warranty), and services what he sells at your salon for a flat $70 on routes across Victoria and Tasmania, plus Mount Gambier and Millicent.
Every claim about Matsui on this page was checked on 21 August 2026 against the Australian Business Register (abr.business.gov.au, ABN 28 631 831 055) and their own live website. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it — that is the standard this page holds itself to.
The claim vs the register
Matsui's Aichei Mountain collection page, live as at 21 August 2026, states: “Matsui Scissors was established in 1998, and has since proven to be a staple tool in the belt of every hairdresser.” Their Returns, Exchange & Warranty Policy page adds: “Matsui, is proud to have 20 years of manufacturing, design & research of quality hairdressing scissors.”
Here is what the Australian Business Register shows for the entity behind Matsui and Scissor Tech Australia (ABN 28 631 831 055, record retrieved 21 August 2026):
- Entity name: TNL DIGITAL PTY LTD — an Australian private company, main business location WA 6021.
- ABN active from 22 February 2019.
- Business names “Scissor Tech” and “Scissor Tech Australia” registered 24 April 2019.
- Business names “Matsui” and “Matsui Scissors” registered 23 February 2020 — six and a half years ago.
- The same entity also holds “GlamPalm Australia” (hair styling tools), “Pet Grooming Scissors Direct”, and “Matsui Hair” (registered 19 November 2024).
Whatever the Matsui name did before 2019, it was not being done by the company that sells you the scissors today. A logo can change hands. A bench, a sharpening stone and a career behind the chair since 1990 cannot.
None of that is illegal, and we're not suggesting it is. We're saying you deserve to know it before you spend $699 on a triple set.
What Matsui is, in their own words
Their warranty page states it plainly: “Scissor Tech Australia proudly owns the Matsui Scissors Brand.”
So Matsui is not a Japanese manufacturer with an Australian distributor. It is a house brand owned by a Perth company that also markets hair straighteners and pet grooming scissors. Who designs the scissors is not stated on their site; who owns the brand name is. The store itself is genuinely well run — more on that below, because honesty cuts both ways.
Steel: named and numbered, or named sometimes
Matsui's steel disclosure varies by line. Some models are labelled VG10 or Damascus; others carry no named alloy. On the listings we checked on 21 August 2026, we could find no Rockwell hardness figure for any model. Hardness is the number that tells you how long an edge lasts and how the blade behaves on a sharpener's stone — it's the first thing a scissorsmith asks about a blade.
Every ShearGenius model states both: Japanese Cobalt Alloy at 58 HRC across most of the range, ATS-314 at 58–60 HRC on the Elite, Apex, Vixens, Diamond and Cosmos, and Forged ATS-314 at 60–62 HRC on the Prodigy — 11 of our 50 active products run ATS-314, and we'll tell you exactly which. Whoever you buy from, ask for the steel and the HRC in writing — a maker can answer in one line. (The full five-question test is here: how to tell a scissor maker from a scissor marketer.)
The warranty wording, read properly
Matsui's lifetime warranty against faulty workmanship is real — credit where due. Read the exclusions, quoted from their policy page: warranty “does not include re-sharpening from 3rd parties” and excludes damage from “incorrect tension or incorrect sharpening by a 3rd party”.
In plain English: sharpening isn't covered, and if an outside sharpener gets it wrong, that damage is yours. That's not unusual — but it creates a grey zone every working stylist eventually lives in, because scissors need sharpening the way cars need tyres. The ShearGenius answer is structural: the maker and the sharpener are the same people. Your lifetime manufacturing warranty and your maintenance live in the same hands — Matt and Aaron sharpen at your salon on scheduled routes for a flat $70 (ShearGenius) or $80 (any other brand — including Matsui, which we sharpen regularly on the road). Nobody can blame the other bloke's stone, because there is no other bloke.
Side by side, checked 21 August 2026
| ShearGenius | Matsui (Scissor Tech Australia) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | Founder-owned since 2007 — Matt Grumley, hairdresser since 1990; 75+ years combined with Aaron Davis | TNL Digital Pty Ltd, WA — ABN active Feb 2019 |
| Brand name registered to current owner | 2007 | 23 Feb 2020 (ABN Lookup) |
| Heritage claim | 19 years, verifiable | “20 years of manufacturing, design & research” — the register shows the names registered 2019–2020 |
| Steel disclosure | Named steel + HRC on every model | VG10/Damascus named on some lines; no HRC found on listings checked |
| Price range seen | $250–$795 direct from the maker | $199–$699 on their Matsui collection page |
| Warranty | Lifetime manufacturing warranty, honoured by the maker who inspected your scissor | Lifetime against faulty workmanship; third-party re-sharpening not included, damage from incorrect third-party sharpening excluded |
| Sharpening | At your salon: $70 flat ($80 other brands), routes across VIC and TAS plus Mount Gambier and Millicent | Not part of the warranty; arranged separately |
| Fitting before you buy | Free — the ShearGenius Fitting | Not offered on the pages we checked |
| Reviews | 3,400+ verified across channels at 4.9★ (2,918 in our registered product-review schema — we publish the mechanics) | See below |
| Payment | SlicePay zero-interest from $15/week | BNPL options at checkout |
The review counts — just the numbers
Check them yourself. As at 21 August 2026, the first page of the Matsui collection displayed twelve products: four showed an identical 515-review count, four showed 306, two showed 365 and two showed 146. Identical counts on different products usually means reviews are pooled across a product family or the store rather than collected on the specific scissor you're buying — which can be a legitimate review-app configuration. We simply publish our mechanics: 3,400+ verified reviews across our site, Google and socials, with 2,918 carried in our registered product-review schema, per-product counts on every product page, and the count for the exact scissor you're looking at.
Where Matsui genuinely wins
Honesty is the whole point of this page, so, plainly:
- Entry price. From $199 on their collection page (a left-handed offset; the VG10 Slider starts at $249) — which beats our $380 professional entry (our $250 Young Genius apprentice range is the exception).
- Colour and finish range. Rose gold, matte black, rainbow, Swarovski editions — they out-style us, easily.
- Checkout and marketing. Familiar BNPL options, fast shipping, a slick store, and today they rank above us on Google for several head terms. That is genuinely well executed, and it's why this page exists.
What none of that changes: who made the scissor, what steel is in it, how hard it was tempered, and who stands behind it when it needs work. Those are the questions this page answered from the public record.
Who should buy ShearGenius
Buy ShearGenius if you want to know the name of the steel in your hand, the name of the person who inspected it, and the name of the person who'll answer the phone when something goes wrong — because here, all three are Matt Grumley. 40,000+ scissors sold since 2007, 100,000+ sharpened, 3,400+ verified reviews at 4.9★, a lifetime manufacturing warranty honoured by the maker, and sharpening at your salon door. Browse the range, book a free fitting, or call the workshop on 0487 391 647 and talk it through before you spend a dollar — with us or with them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Matsui really a twenty-year-old scissor company?
The Australian Business Register shows the business names “Matsui” and “Matsui Scissors” were registered on 23 February 2020 by TNL Digital Pty Ltd (ABN 28 631 831 055), a Western Australian private company whose ABN has been active since 22 February 2019. Their own warranty page, live as at 21 August 2026, says the brand is “proud to have 20 years of manufacturing, design & research”. Whatever the name may have meant before 2019, the company selling you the scissors today registered it in 2020.
Who actually owns Matsui?
Their own policy page states it plainly: “Scissor Tech Australia proudly owns the Matsui Scissors Brand.” The register shows Scissor Tech Australia is a business name of TNL Digital Pty Ltd, which also holds the business names GlamPalm Australia (hair styling tools), Pet Grooming Scissors Direct, and Matsui Hair (registered 19 November 2024). Matsui is a house brand of a Perth digital company, not a Japanese manufacturer with an Australian distributor.
What steel are Matsui scissors made from?
It varies by line, and that's the point: some Matsui models are labelled VG10 or Damascus, while others carry no named alloy at all, and we could find no Rockwell hardness figure on any of the listings we checked on 21 August 2026. Every ShearGenius model names its steel and states its hardness: Japanese Cobalt Alloy at 58 HRC on most of the range, ATS-314 at 58–60 HRC on the top-end models, and Forged ATS-314 at 60–62 HRC on the Prodigy. If a seller can't put the steel and the HRC in writing, you're buying a logo.
Does sharpening a Matsui scissor somewhere else void its warranty?
Their published policy says the warranty “does not include re-sharpening from 3rd parties” and excludes damage from “incorrect tension or incorrect sharpening by a 3rd party” — so third-party sharpening isn't covered, and anything that goes wrong during it is on you. It does not say an unrelated defect loses coverage. The practical difference: with ShearGenius, the maker and the sharpener are the same people, so there is no grey zone — maintenance and warranty live in the same hands, and sharpening is a flat $70 for ShearGenius scissors, $80 for any other brand, done at your salon on routes across Victoria and Tasmania, plus Mount Gambier and Millicent.
Which is better value, ShearGenius or Matsui?
Matsui is cheaper at entry — from $199 on their collection page as at 21 August 2026 against $380 for a ShearGenius professional model ($250 for the Young Genius apprentice range). What the extra buys you: a named steel with a stated hardness, a scissor hand-finished, tensioned and inspected by the scissorsmith who designed it, a lifetime manufacturing warranty honoured by that same maker, and flat-rate sharpening at your salon door. For a tool you'll cut with for a decade, that's the cheaper scissor.