Is Made in China all that bad?

[OldTimer]

(05-21-2014 04:59 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  Chinese online sellers are different from Fin-Nor using offshore manufacturing to produce their products.

Hypothetical example...

1) Fin-Nor seek Chinese manufacturer to produce the Lethal reel.

2) Fin-Nor places tight QC standards on material sourced, machining process, assembly quality...etc and makes sure the manufacturer complies...and hopefully...if a bad batch arise...then Fin-Nor does not release the poor batch into market...and if consistency is poor Fin-Nor would seek new manufacturer to comply with standards.

3) Fin-Nor sells these high quality reels to the consumers.

Everything is fine up until here. Perfectly honourable business practices using international economics to increase efficiency (moving offshore decreases labour, material and capital cost to increase profit...it's economics...live with it). I don't see any issue really...until the following...

4) Chinese manufacturer of the Lethal reel takes the design plans from Fin-Nor without permission.

5) Manufacturer source low quality materials and use low quality assembly practices to produce significantly inferior product.

6) Manufacturer slightly modifies several obvious features (eg. areas that were ported out to reduce weight is now not ported), put on different paint scheme or plating scheme and call this a "new" design reel..."original"...Chinese domestic designed and manufactured.

7) Manufacturer sells these reels online such as Amazon, eBay or AliExpress.

See the issue here?

It is perfectly fine if Shimano, Daiwa or Fin-Nor wish to move their production offshore as long as quality of product is maintained...nothing wrong with that (you can argue about losing jobs...etc...but then North Americans are not willing to work for the wages and under the standards of their Asian counterparts...don't blame Asian labourers for being accommodating). I'm even fine if a Chinese manufacturer did design their own products and sell it as it is...nothing wrong with that...even if it is cheaper quality...as long as they are honest in their practices and honourable in it.

The issue I have is the secondary underhanded "black market" products and how they come about. My comments are on the unreputed online sellers that claimed to design and produce their own quality products when all they do is to steal other's design, use poor quality raw material, slab on a new painting scheme and slab on their name, and sell it like it was their own.

For example...

http://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/tebse.html

Which is entirely "based" (copy) from the Stella SW...with a few cost cutting modifications...

http://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/stlsw.html

But if you read the reviews, you see the deficiencies...

My further issue is the consumers of these goods standing by these online manufacturers and supporting their cause like it is something good and holy.

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What's even more atrocious? Companies claiming a US made product when in fact it was ordered from Chinese OEM company...off the shelf with slight modifications on looks...now that's a new low...

http://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/cny65.html

See how all that works?

Problem is....... sorry...... but all that aint workin' for me.......... and lots more.

All of the companies you mention going offshore are not Canadian but from the USA, other Asian locales, or Europe. So "we" really cant do a thing about this "process" going down.

We here in Canada who participate are sadly sending our $ off shore so the funds can be used to buy this country and its resources ........... slowly.......... but surely.

I wont even get into sending our "raw" resources across borders.

I try the best I can to buy local first, or Canadian when I can...... but it's not possible for everything in the shopping time I have available.

Other than produce and meat - Today - it is actually getting difficult to find something "Made in Canada" here in the box stores. supermarkets, and chains.

One old saying is "Screw me once, shame on you........... screw me twice, shame on me"

Problem is our "screwed" counter is on its way to infinity.....and many here are smiling & think it's a great deal........Shame on us.

Regards, (cant say cheers on this one)

OldTimer