I meant simple economics, all things considered equal. I didn't want to get into the advertising costs, promotional costs, etc etc, I just wanted to cover the distribution costs. If a product is made in a particular country, it will almost always sell for cheaper there than someone else on the other side of the globe. I was also referring to products and goods in general, with shoes in particular. It is true that the NIKE brand carries a premium compared to the other manufacturers, that much is well understood. I was responding to the "expert" that claims the chinese market is full of poor "peasants" that could not afford to buy the Air Yaos. And you also cannot adequately compare the cost of tangible goods to the price of the standard extra value meal. There isn't a good correlation between the change in prices of durable goods and food. One is essential, the other is non-essential. Simple Economics. =P
Did you not read my message to you? Have you actually been to china and bought Nikes? NO. Have I? YES. Are we talking about Africa? NO. Well gee, I guess since China is so close to taiwan, korea, and Japan, that cell phones should be really cheap over there too right? And japanese cars should be even cheaper according to your theory. Sorry bud, wrong on both accounts. Sure location/distribution/importing expenses factor into the pricing of certain goods (beer, for one), but the discussion was about shoes. And I can verify with my eye and my wallet (I bought my cousin a pair of jordans in a store not unlike a footlocker) that they cost just the same in the motherland as they do here... Louis Vuitton and Gucci cost too much at the 'wrong places' too man... hahaha
This thread has gone... I believe the original poster asked for opinions on the name of a Yao Ming brand shoe.
I've been to China and it's not like everyone is poor and can't afford stuff... The same thing has always been said about Mexico...and I'm Mexican... Hell, not everyone in the states can afford Air Jordans, etc. Let's focus on the shoes...Yeah, I'd buy them whatever there called...
Not a fair comparision because Japanese products and imports in general are levied with huge taxes in asia if it wasn't made in that country. That's why its expensive to buy Japanese products if you live in South Korea. Do you see people in China buying Dell's off Dell.com? Or do you see them buying computers from Legend. Do you think South Koreans buy Daewoo and LG because they think its better than Sony and Toyota? I don't think so. It's all about the price. If you've got a factory in your backyard that makes a large percentage of the worldwide product of something, it's going to be cheaper than it will be on the other side of the globe. I didn't say it was gonna be HALF PRICE or anything, but its cheaper. Combine that with the tax situation, and you can save $15-20 dollars on the same item in the states. Since you're obviously the ONLY ASIAN PERSON ON THESE BOARDS I'll leave you be. After all, if we haven't just been to the mainland to buy some jordans last week, we can't possibly know anything.
I and my wife bought a pair of Nike each back in 1997 at about US $75 each pair. Though I have never thought of buying any shoes over $100 here in the States since I came in 1998. I think the chances are very high for the kids China to spend $130 on a pair of Brandname shoes now. The reason is simple, they are not that poor and most families have only one kid.
Sorry if I offended you, but considering that there was a discussion on the cost of Nikes in China (and seeing as how I just bought a pair of Nikes in china at a major retailer a couple of months ago) I figured I had a pretty legitimate argument... Regarding your so-called 'Chinese discount'. You can save the same $15 and tax in the US buying them from outlet stores, online, etc... Your original post was to imply that $130 shoes will not sell in china: your quote: "Sneakers sell for $130 over here because they CAN sell. Do you honestly think prices will be that high in China for the latest and greatest Nikes?" So now that they're $115 after the $15 discount, suddenly they're affordable to chinese people? Nice try.
Let's back up. My ORIGINAL post said myself and 1 billion people would buy the Air Yaos. Other people said the people in China were too poor to afford them. I said the shoes would not cost as high as they do here. That was the point of my whole post. There will always be people who will pay full price for products. That will happen no matter where you live. All i'm saying is the shoe companies can afford to lower prices to sell them to the most number of people and they WILL. Then you started the whole argument of "shoes cost the same over there as here." Maybe a little objective reasoning would be good for you because your anecdotes aren't necessarily the gospel.
I'm sure they CAN, but they DON'T. Sure there may be other gray market venues in China for getting Nikes alot cheaper, but the fact of the matter is: A pair of the baddest and newest Nikes in your typical footlocker USA, costs just as much in your typical footlocker-ish type store in China. There's no point in using economic theory to try to convince me that what I saw and paid for wasn't true. Just take my word for it, and lets move on...
trickdaddy, you said you and 1 billion people will buy those shoes. i'm assuming that 1 billion isn't going to be chinese. cause i actually asked my brother who is in china whether people actually think yao is amazing in china and most of the chinese people are criticizing yao's poor play. they're not that impressed by yao. unless yao does something amazing, very few will actually buy his shoes in china. i was cracking up watching tnt special before the shaq-yao game where that guy was saying yao was such a phenomenon in china, cause in reality, very few people even talk about him. they talk more about the brazilian soccer team and how amazing their players are than yao ming. in sports pages, he's not even as popular as the brazilian soccer team. only shanghai maybe, he's actually popular.
Given enough time Yao will be bigger worldwide than Michael Jordan. Even the brightest stars don't shine overnight.
I'm sure there're million yao fans in china. Beacuse of the region difference, YAO haters are everywhere, but YAO is becoming bigger and bigger in china, even CFA(china football[soccer] ass.) worries about their pieces of market. But unfortunally, most of YAO hater don't know a damn about basketball, they used to be soccer fans, and turned into Bball pro in just one night. Anyway, soccer is getting fewer viewer everyday in china.
Don't forget there are 1.3 billion population there. If 1% people buy it, it's 13 million and I seriously think it would be the best sold shoes ever.
Guys..just get the first Yao shoe...keep them in mint condition for sayyyyy 20 years.......$$$$$ GURANTEED
yep, that's about the only reason to buy yao ming shoes. it's a collector's item. you might be able to auction it off to some sucker for a fortune on ebay. already you see people selling fake yao ming olympic chinese national team jerseys. i can't believe people are actually dumb enough to buy that. i was thinking of starting a bootleg business like that too since it seemed so profitable. but you know the bootleg lebron james st vincent jerseys are much more profitable.
