ARE ALL PRODUCTS MADE IN CHINA, MADE WELL?

[GordonJ]

If you’ve read my story called Cuckoo Clock on the SowPub home page, you know that I’m not a typical do-it-yourselfer. But every once in awhile, I get the itch to fix or paint something. The something I recently needed to paint was an antique table that was very much in need of some love, care and attention.

When it comes to do-it-yourself projects, I need all the help I can get.

Therefore, I went to my local Home Depot and bought an aerosol can filled with Rust-Oleum paint, and I also bought a plastic product that is called a Rust-Oleum Spray-Grip aerosol pistol, and that is a kind of a plastic pistol that gets attached to an aerosol paint can.

The idea behind a Spray-Grip pistol is that when I pull the trigger and aim, it paints. The trigger of the pistol presses down on the aerosol valve "button" on the aerosol can so that my fingers stay clean and, hopefully, I can do a more professional job in spraying the paint.

Several years ago, I had watched a friend use a Spray-Grip pistol that he had also purchased in a Home Depot store, and when I recently purchased my own Spray-Grip pistol in a Home Depot store, I assumed that I was buying the exact same product that my friend had purchased.

However, when I got home and tried to use my Spray-Grip pistol, I quickly found out that it would not properly "grab" an aerosol can, because the aerosol cans that I tried to attach it to kept dropping off.

I then called my friend and asked him what I was doing wrong, and he came over to my home and we both carefully examined his pistol, and we compared it to my pistol, and we found out that his pistol was "made in USA," while my pistol was "made in China"!

I have since found out that Loews carries a "made in USA" pistol, so I went to a Lowes store and purchased a "made in USA" pistol that has a Homax brand name on it, and it worked like a charm for me!


Well, the lesson I’ve now learned is that many desirable products can undoubtedly be manufactured in China these days, but many products still need to be manufactured in a country such as the good old USA, in order for certain products to work right!

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. I’m glad and even somewhat giddy when I find "made in USA" on a product, because they are becoming harder, and even a great deal harder, to find.

NO! Six of the Seven products I've recently purchased were Made In China. All had to be returned for defects. Holes in bed coverings, sheets that didn't fit a standard double bed, grease marks on brand new sheet sets and water cooler that wouldn't heat water after the first week or two and had to be returned and so on. It's getting so I won't buy anything Made In China if I can find better.

It doesn't sound like much but, when you have to drive close to 300 miles round trip to return a hundred dollar (+-) product it becomes an exercise in futility at the price of gas these days.

Sandi Bowman

Gordon,

I'll be in touch soon... I have a feeling something Big is coming...

A little bit of interesting China related reading in between time...

China related info in Google is a "Hot" ongoing topic full of Great ideas for those that can read through the lines...

How much of America is made in China?
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/edge_archive/93521.php

How many of these 22212 Trends are made in China... But can have a North American connection/”twist” too...
http://www.trendhunter.com/

2008 Beijing Olympics Online - How to Watch the Olympics on the Web (Illegally?)
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/20...pics-online-tv

It's all about Finding a need and filling it...

Great little story and some Smart business lessons...

Buying... selling... fixing and Re-conditioning/servicing them is another Smart Trend to get in on...

8,000th Copy Just Sold!
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...just-sold.html

Got me Thinking about all the Unlimited Google keyword business ideas...

Possibilities and Untapped niche Marketplaces & Consumer groups to Creatively go after...

Shhh!
http://labs.getyacg.com/keyword-tool/?keyword=XBOX

Phil

[Ankesh]

No one says Chinese products are good in quality. But they are soooo low in price that even if its not perfect, its worth it.

How expensive was the American pistol compared to the Chinese one?

A friend of a friend got a phone from China. Looked exactly like the iPhone. He paid Rs6000 for it. iPhone will launch in India only on August 22nd. And the price I've heard is Rs31,000!

The price difference is huge. The guy who bought the phone doesn't expect it to work more than 6 months. But even then, its a good buy (especially for people like him who use cellphones as accessories and change it 2-3 times every year.)

Ankesh, they may be low priced in India but they're certainly not in USA. In fact, sometimes they're priced above what we used to pay for US made products that do the same thing only better.

In the USA, based on my recent experiences, they're selling what should be marked as 'seconds' as first quality merchandise (which is technically illegal). Unfortunately, if you're looking for good merchandise, and the 'seconds' label isn't on products with 'slight' defects, you never know until you get it home and then...well, then it's another day off lost to returning merchandise over the mountains instead of enjoying the day with more worthwhile pursuits.

When one considers the TRUE COST of Chinese merchandise it is more expensive, not less. You must include costs of time, wear and tear on the vehicle, gas and oil, and the value of what other uses of the time could've produced in income, leads, and health value. It's not a simple factoring process for some folks. Don't forget one has to go shopping for the item all over again which involves even more expense and time.

Sandi Bowman

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Ankesh

A friend of a friend got a phone from China. Looked exactly like the iPhone. He paid Rs6000 for it. iPhone will launch in India only on August 22nd. And the price I've heard is Rs31,000!

The price difference is huge. The guy who bought the phone doesn't expect it to work more than 6 months. But even then, its a good buy (especially for people like him who use cellphones as accessories and change it 2-3 times every year.)

Hi Ankesh,

I have a similar story...

A few months ago, my fiancee asked me to buy an electric hot water kettle. However, she instructed, don't buy a Chinese made one!

So, I searched... I went through every single electric kettle they were selling in K-Mart. Out of all the models there, only ONE was not made in China!

The Chinese made ones were all kinds of prices... From around $20, I think, all the way up to over $100.

The only non-Chinese one was made in France. As I recall, it cost about $120!

So, I went back to my fiancee with this information... I argued it was worth it to just buy a cheap one. I figured, hot water is pretty much hot water, no matter what kind of kettle it is (as long as it's safe).

I later shopped around elsewhere a little more, and actually got one for $10 (it was on special). It works fine. But at such a cheap price, if it broke down in a year, I wouldn't worry too much....

I think it probably differs from product to product. In some products, "quality" makes little difference, from a practical point of view (as long as safety is not compromised). For example, a ceramic bowl works just like a ceramic bowl, no matter where it's made. You can still use it to eat your cereal. On the other hand, with some other products, "quality" can make a big difference.

Interesting thread...

Cheers, Dien

Gordon J.

Isn't that a certain someone's "Toll" product? Seems like you mentioned it at one time. (Along with the funnel.)

Pete

Gordon,

Thanks for the lesson.

Here's something interesting...

There is a mobile crane in Australia we call a Franna



As you can see, it is Articulated in the middle - like a front end loader or a construction site dump truck.

These cranes are an Awesome piece of gear. The one pictured can pick up 20T. That's 20,000kg or 44,000lbs. So not only do they have good capacity for a little crane, they can carry the load. So if you need that 6T thing taken from one part of your construction site to the other, this baby will do it for you, as ease.

They also come in 25T and 15T and are made in Australia by Terex http://esvc000092.wic028u.server-web.com/

Anyway. There is a Chinese made version. Made by Zoomlion - they also make Slew cranes.

A 20T Franna made by Terex is around $400k and there is a 2 year waiting list - a 25T costs up to $80k more and has a 3 year waiting list.

The Zoomlion is kinda available now. But they aren't making any sales. And for a few reasons...

Their quality is not there. Look at a Terex crane and its a Solid beast. Stable.

The Zoomlion Looks cheap and about to fall apart.

Features. The Terex crane is made a Operator Friendly as possible. Automated as much as possible. Such as the operator not needing to let any wire rope out as the boom telescopes out. The same cannot be said about the Zoomlion. One example of many. But any Extra work the operator needs to do just for a basic function, means another thing to distract them from the more vital parts of lifting the load correctly.

Unknown. People know and Trust Terex. Zoomlion is unproven. And as word spreads quick in the industry... they sold two and both have been returned for a refund... they are unlikely to dent the sales of Terex.

Now. What is additionally interesting is... Terex actually makes a Chinese Made Franna. It is made to Chinese standards in China for the Chinese market - not for export into Australia, nor will there be export into Australia any time soon. Because. the Chinese just don't have the same quality of workmanship as Australian tradesmen.

Even if Terex can somehow get the crane to Pass to Australian Standards, the quality of workmanship is not there. And when someone pays $400k+ for a crane, they want to feel they are getting quality.

Onward.

There Was a construction boot maker in Australia called Blundstone http://www.blundstone.com and they Used to make their boots in the state of Tasmania. But recently they decided to have their boots made in an Asian country. And while only 600 workers were suddenly on the prowl for another job, the reaction from within the Market was ferocious.

There were calls across the market to boycott the brand. A brand which uses the Australian Owned moniker to generate sales, while being made overseas. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...43-462,00.html

I will say that Blundstone probably did lose some sales over it. But how much I couldn't say, and I don't think they are too worried as their move to offshore manufacturing was so they could compete globally.

As for China's quality. I think back a decade or two to Japan. When Made In Japan was synonymous with Cheap 7 Nasty. But things change. And I am sure things will change with China too. As they improve - and - focus is moved away from the sloppy things they make.

Besides. The Made in USA and Made in Aust idea, has been a bit of a mine field in itself.

Aust Owned Co (but made completely overseas). Made in Aust (from imported materials). Aust Owned and Made (but still made from imported materials).

If what I am buying is the Same Quality, I don't care where it is made. Either way local jobs are still utilized to make the sale, transport the items, etc. After all, not all locally made items are the bees knees. They can be just as shoddy as any product made overseas.

First it was migrants taking the jobs. Then it was robots. Then it was computers. Then cheap imported labor. Now it's China. And yet through it all, the unemployment rate doesn't escalate out of the norms of economic factors within the country. Meaning, those so-called lost jobs are compensated by newly created jobs elsewhere, in the same and different industries.

After all this, the answer to your question is this... no, not all products made in China are made well. Not all products in the USA or Australia are made well. Not everything that comes out of Germany is made well. And some products from all those nations mentioned are of excellent quality. Horses for courses really.

Michael Ross

P.S. Like Pete, I too thought Harvey Brody sold pistol grips for spray cans.

I think I heard on the radio and saw on tv and read in the papers that we had to return items for kids that had lead in them. This was from China.

Originally Posted by GordonJ

If you’ve read my story called Cuckoo Clock on the SowPub home page, you know that I’m not a typical do-it-yourselfer. But every once in awhile, I get the itch to fix or paint something. The something I recently needed to paint was an antique table that was very much in need of some love, care and attention.

When it comes to do-it-yourself projects, I need all the help I can get.

Therefore, I went to my local Home Depot and bought an aerosol can filled with Rust-Oleum paint, and I also bought a plastic product that is called a Rust-Oleum Spray-Grip aerosol pistol, and that is a kind of a plastic pistol that gets attached to an aerosol paint can.

The idea behind a Spray-Grip pistol is that when I pull the trigger and aim, it paints. The trigger of the pistol presses down on the aerosol valve "button" on the aerosol can so that my fingers stay clean and, hopefully, I can do a more professional job in spraying the paint.

Several years ago, I had watched a friend use a Spray-Grip pistol that he had also purchased in a Home Depot store, and when I recently purchased my own Spray-Grip pistol in a Home Depot store, I assumed that I was buying the exact same product that my friend had purchased.

However, when I got home and tried to use my Spray-Grip pistol, I quickly found out that it would not properly "grab" an aerosol can, because the aerosol cans that I tried to attach it to kept dropping off.

I then called my friend and asked him what I was doing wrong, and he came over to my home and we both carefully examined his pistol, and we compared it to my pistol, and we found out that his pistol was "made in USA," while my pistol was "made in China"!

I have since found out that Loews carries a "made in USA" pistol, so I went to a Lowes store and purchased a "made in USA" pistol that has a Homax brand name on it, and it worked like a charm for me!


Well, the lesson I’ve now learned is that many desirable products can undoubtedly be manufactured in China these days, but many products still need to be manufactured in a country such as the good old USA, in order for certain products to work right!

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. I’m glad and even somewhat giddy when I find "made in USA" on a product, because they are becoming harder, and even a great deal harder, to find.

sir i agree with ankesh
i got an iphone some time ago made in china and it was very cheap but full of all sort of gargets my friends couldnt believe the price as it was below $120 there has been other products from china that are durable while others are not examples are electrical cables, sockets, plugs, these products fir the time been hasnt proved its durability.
from workaholicvictor.