Have you ever purchased something expensive, only to find a "made in china" sticker/stamp/label somewhere on it later? Did you get really pissed, feel ripped off, want to throw said item through the window of the merchant who sold it to you? I recently bought a pair of designer prescription sunglasses that were expensive as hell, and after I inspected them a little closer, I found a nice microscopic sized "made in china" label on the frame... which was the most expensive part of the entire damn thing. I imagine the lenses, which were supposedly treated with all this other crap to make it cost even more, might even be made there. Is it possible that something can be made in China and not be crap? I have purchased expensive glasses before that were well worth it, extremely high quality, excellent warranty and customer service, good performance, but this... I feel like I got taken for a ride, by my freaking optometrist no less. Has this ever happened to you? What did you do? How did you handle it?
A family friend of ours own a business in New York City that designs and makes handbags. Some of their brands are pretty high end and are sold in department stores such as Lord & Taylor. All of these handbags are manufactured in China. Like many things are nowadays. So, not surprised relatively expensive goods are made in China. Back in the 50s, Japan used to make cheap crap, then it moved to Taiwan, Korea, etc., then China. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc. move "upstream" in terms of the technology level and quality (and price) of the stuff they do make. China, particularly the coastal parts, is actually getting more sophisticated and expensive-- due to the supply and demand of skilled labor-- and the manufacturers are considering moving some fo their operations to less expensive countries. [Edit] Apparently basketball fans in Beijing just had a similar reaction to yours about their American import: http://sports.sina.com.cn/cba/2010-12-23/11425378982.shtml
Years ago, I remember seeing souvenirs at the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii stamped "made in japan" I wish I'd bought one.
* Did the frame suffer a micro fracture? I used to buy Lacoste at retail. Then I visited El Salvador and a cousin took me to a guy in one of the factories where they are made, authentic dress shirts for $15. The experience was thrilling, it almost felt like I was purchasing narcotics or something. So now I don't buy Lacoste at Macy's. Damn, I can't believe I made a yao joke considering, he is one of my favorites.
China *can* produce quality. I think the fact that you did not know it until you saw should attest to that. I try not to immediately dismiss it because I see the label but It would give me a bit of pause. Let us know if it ends up . . meeting expectations Rocket River
Who cares if the product is made in China or wherever? I've bought Chinese products that have been superior to American or European products and I've also bought inferior products made in China. It should go by a case by case basis. Don't discount everything made in China as automatically cheap.
I agree. When I went to South Asia a few years ago I stumbled upon a factory store selling authentic Banana Republic, YSL and Polo clothes for like $10 a piece. They also had other stuff like Abercrombie and Hollister as well for similar prices.
I think the majority of the iPhone is manufactured in China. Apple sure as heck can't manufacture efficiently enough here. Being in the manufacturing industry, I agree with the above comment that things must be taken on a case to case basis. Don't blame your optometrist. Blame the designer brand that decided that they could squeeze out an extra buck by manufacturing in Asia. But them again, everyone does it so how could you blame them?
Comparing electronics to sunglasses isn't exactly apples to apples (pardon the mac pun) With electronics, especially something like an iPhone, the majority of what you're paying for is the operating system/functionality, and to a lesser extent the support/service. With sunglasses, there is no other value to it. It is almost exclusively about the craftsmanship. In both cases the materials do play a part in the quality, but I would argue that in the case of sunglasses, the materials make up FAR more of the quality of the product than in the case of the iPhone. Hate the game, not the player. I get it. But for the price I paid and amount of time I waited on them to be "crafted", I expected better. I feel duped because the model explicitly did not have these markings on it.
How did you make your title like that? (with words that don't include "rookie", "contributing" or "member")
You might find this feature story from NY Times from a few weeks ago interesting. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/business/28borker.html?pagewanted=all
well, i am using a Lenovo netbook MIC. it's been great running Ubuntu. i have a few guitars MIC that plays and feels great. not that expensive or anything, but certainly not cheap crap either. i guess it depends on what type of products you are buying. i'm probably biased though.
I can't tell if you're serious or not... Most time when people find themselves cursing at crappy quality Made in China stuff, it's because you're getting the price you paid for. You went for a better deal, so it's only reasonable to assume that you can't expect the same quality as something that costs more. There's a saying of "一分钱一分货", which pretty much means one penny buys you one penny worth of product. I'd say 10-15 years ago, that generalization would've been true for the most part. Time's have changed, however, and I think it's no longer fair to paint all Chinese products with a broad brush. But this isn't the case you portrayed in your post. You paid good money for something and you should expect the quality to be on par with the price tag. With regards to your glasses, give it some time and you can be the judge of the quality of the product, as oppose to giving it a preemptive verdict based on the country of origin. /biased
