Country of orgin = waste my time

[WIphone_lady]

In my job of selling things like polos, winter coats, etc to people who call me, one of the biggest complaints I get is country of origin. I don't know what it's like in other countries, but the people here in the States are currently on a "I want things made in America" kick. They usually whine that there are people here out of work, and they would "gladly pay more for American made"....I'll get to that later.

I had a call today, where for 25 minutes, I was given nothing but item numbers of items so they could find out the specific country of origin. She did ask occasionally the length of sleeve, but for the most part it was where was it made. Now in some other countries where we have customers this is important....I once had an online chat with someone in Turkey, and they have very strict rules about Chinese imports. I didn't mind that chat. This lady however was here in the good ol' US of A, where no such restrictions occur. And of course, the ultimate question....did she buy anything? I'm sure you know by now that this is a rhetorical question.

As for my "I'll pay more for American made goods" crew. I have proof that that is the biggest pile of steaming donkey poo known to humankind. At my company, we are slowly bringing back American-made goods. Gentleman called in to look at two different pairs of jeans. Pair A was made in China and sold for $50 and Pair B was made in the USA and cost $94. So while he was complaining about the lack of American made items, just take a guess which pair he bought. He commented that he just cannot justify paying $94 for jeans. These people who scream about wanting American made items just don't want to pay American made prices. They think that "Made in America" label is cheap. The textile mills in this country still tend to be union shops, which means the employees are making more than our minimum wage. There is also American based transportation. Then they call me. I make a good deal more than minimum wage. That all adds up, so your American made jeans really are $94.

Shoot. Me. Now.

End rant.

[Tama]

That's why I know this Made in America stuff won't last.

Things are more expensive here for numerous reasons, like the unions...and the SCs will *never* really latch on. They're all too worried about price.

[WIphone_lady]

Especially when we have enough people (especially those with positions of power) who have no problem with a $7.25 federal minimum wage....

[Bright_Star]

People either want "Made In America" products OR products that are cheaply priced. Can't have both.

[South Texan]

I read somewhere an interview with Sam Walton (years ago) in which he stated that his store did an experiment with brooms. One set was American-made. The other was from China.

The two sets were placed next to each other in several stores. Each set had its respective origin prominently displayed. The American-made set cost more. The American-made set did not sell.

He used that experiment to defend his store from the attacks it was getting from people who demanded he sell only items made in America.

[Chromatix]

Myself, I don't particularly mind which country stuff is made in, but I do prefer countries with a good reputation for quality, and I'll gladly pay more for quality (largely because good-quality goods tend to last longer, so are cheaper in the long run). The quality of goods from China varies a great deal; a company who has bothered to set up manufacturing in a richer country (such as Japan or Germany) will generally care enough to do a good job of it.

If wine made in open fields in southern France tastes better than wine made in greenhouses in Britain, I'll buy the French wine. Which is probably why nobody bothers growing wine grapes in Britain.

[bainsidhe]

I do prefer countries with a good reputation for quality, and I'll gladly pay more for quality

This is the crux right here. If you want something to last a long time or to avoid replacements, you pay a higher price for a premium good. Yet so many things are considered disposable nowadays, so it's harder to convince people of the value. The jeans mentioned in the OP? Also disposable, since fashions change and so do the whims of the public.

[Chromatix]

Interesting example: Nokia's Symbian and Meego phones were typically made in Finland. The same phones that are stereotypically indestructible. Until recently, Nokia was a major employer in several Finnish cities, to the point of dominating some local economies.

Their Windows phones are made in China - despite a great deal of unused factory capacity and design/manufacturing expertise being located in Finland. It's not as if they're cheap to buy, either.

Incidentally, the economic fallout from Nokia's layoffs and factory closures in Finland has been quite serious, especially within the specific locales and professions involved.

[Seshat]

On a more microeconomic scale, several factories recently closed in the suburb I'm in. (Recently being 'within the last ten years'.)

The demographics of the suburb have been forced to change - the families which were being supported by the factory workers have moved out, and now we're a suburb of taxi drivers, tradies*, and retail workers.

* tradies = tradesmen, tradeswomen. Plumbers and carpenters and hairdressers, oh my.

[Pixilated]

The price tag ... that's the point where you really find out who's willing to put their money where their mouth is. I do try to buy as local as possible, knowing that it will cost more. However, as Chromatix pointed out, quality also counts ... if I can't buy local, I want to make sure it's reasonably decent. Stuff from China, for example, has such a wide range of quality that I've tried my best to cross anything "Made in China" off my list, because I have no idea how long it will last (or what gawdawful ingredients/materials it will be found to contain).

[Racket_Man]

I read somewhere an interview with Sam Walton (years ago) in which he stated that his store did an experiment with brooms. One set was American-made. The other was from China.

The two sets were placed next to each other in several stores. Each set had its respective origin prominently displayed. The American-made set cost more. The American-made set did not sell.

He used that experiment to defend his store from the attacks it was getting from people who demanded he sell only items made in America.

and the problem I have with ol Sam was that up until around 20 years ago his motto was "WE ONLY sell American products". ALL of their adverts proudly proclaimed this and they had huge banners all over the store.

[Lachrymose]

When I worked in men's retail oh-so-long ago, we not only had people that demanded workboots they bought be made in the USA, but also made by unionized companies.

[Chainsmith]

At least in the outdoor industry a lot of companies are slowly shifting production back to the USA. Mostly due to the rise in shipping cost from other places. There was a "fact" floating around at my job that between 2015 and 2020 the cost of shipping from China would increase the cost of the item so much that it wouldn't make sense to make it there anymore. I put quotes on it as I never saw where said info came from other than a piece of literature from one of the company reps. I mean it does make a certain amount of sense with how expensive gas is that shipping will one day increase to much.

[workerbee222]

I used to work in a bridal chain store. The goods were or are made in China. Now, these aren't made out of silk or linen, just top grade polyester. But as far as polyester dresses go, they are put together well, hold their shape nicely, and have enough boning to actually stay up if you purchased a strapless style. If a bride to be wanted to have a local seamstress make an identical one, she'd likely pay double or triple the price.

The minimum wage in China was about equivalent to a dollar an hour during those years.

Although the dresses were a bargain, many customers complained about the price of alterations, done in the store by good old USA citizens. I imagine they thought we sat out back on couches, eating bon-bons and watching Oprah and gossiping, and just sewed to keep our hands busy. Or they thought the price they paid went entirely to the seamstress.

[lilo]

What's more important to me is that products are fair-trade - meaning that workers who make them, regardless of which country they're in, are paid a fair living wage and have safe, healthy working conditions. So Australian-made or overseas, that doesn't matter so much.

We get complaints at work about some of our products - for example, USA walnuts vs Tasmanian, or Turkish vs Australian apricots. Customers don't understand economy of scale and local conditions - so although USA walnuts cost more to ship over here, they cost less to produce than the Tasmanian ones because US workers are paid less to produce more walnuts than Tasmanian workers are.