crazy steel prices - should I import from China?

[Sberry]

Look at one of the most faulty tools ever made. Cman ratchet has probably been exhanged more than any other tool in the world and I finally gave up, not worth the trip. USA, made that junk for decades. Aint no wonder HF found an easy replacement and even that guy changed models when better came along.
I am really impressed with some of the cheap stuff. Tell me 25 yrs ago I would use a drill cost 50$ and I would have said ********. Bought metric hex bits on a Sunday at Wally with the intention of buying good ones and still use them on tuff work 20 yrs later. cost 13$. Have used dozens of China wrenches from 2 or 3 makers, super good, some featured where I look for certain ones.
The tools are different than the old 40 pc 5$ socket sets, cant even find those anymore.

 

[Sportsman762]

When quality matters, like in bearings, I want USA quality bearings which are made in China nowadays

My favorite comment on last years customer survey was " You need to stop buying S#!&&^ Chinese Timken Bearings, I only want USA ones". It had me rolling on the ground laughing. Like heck if I have any say in where Timken makes their bearings! I wish they were still made in Canton, OH. However a small to them distributor has no say in what a bohemouth like Timken does.

 

[Sberry]

As far as the original topic, this is a brain fart to think a guy can order some stock for a 1 off project and compete with people do this every day. Worry about some paint and electro plate, 200$ worth of crap could be done with 5$ in paint and a sponge brush.

 

[strantor]

So much of the worlds stuff comes in a white box anymore (some factory pak labeled) but a sticker put on it in the back room, different price, different warranty, kind of like the water heater. It simply cost too much to make some of it cheaper and the real money is putting a brand on it, 50X more juice than could be squeezed putting a cheaper bearing in or even trying to make a cheaper bearing.
Not to say they cant or wont but the extra inventory alone woukld be greater than the cost savings.
There are some slight differences in features between Hobart and Miller but the steel, the wire come off the same line, different paint, little different features but the same basic materials with a higher price sold in different stores.

I marvel at this, not only in putting different brands on the same product off the same assembly line, but also in putting different model numbers on the same product within the same brand.

My Flir E4 thermal imager carries a $1,000 price tag and has an "80x60" pixel resolution while the E8 model has a price tag of $3,000 and a resolution of 320x240 pixels. These are actually identical cameras, identical hardware. They differ only in the model number silkscreen and the firmware, with the E4 shipping with a software handicap to limit it to 80x60 pixels. I put E8 firmware in my E4 and now I have an E8, save $2k. And they offer several models between E4 and E8, all identical save for the incremental levels of software handicap and corresponding price tag.

Same with my tractor. LS XR4140 (40HP), physically identical to XR4145 (45HP), XR4150 (50HP), and XR4155 (55HP). Only difference is in the ECU. And I plan to put that 55HP firmware in my tractor at some point.

I find it baffling that manufacturers actually find it profitable to do this. I do believe that it IS profitable (otherwise they wouldn't do it) but it's just so silly... I understand the high price/low volume sales model and the low price/high volume sales model, but to get both out of the same product by selling intentionally hobbled product is as clever as it is stupid. We as consumers drove the paradigm I suppose, getting used to and eventually demanding a "lineup" of models of any given widget to choose from, selecting one that we feel best meets our needs. We need to be more discerning? Or? What does this say about us? What could we have done differently that would have precluded manufacturers going to such ridiculous lengths?

 

[Sberry]

Save 5$to tr6y to cheapen it or make 500 putting a different label on it. I get that. . Not as much is actually made cheaper as we might think. I looked for osc saws. One for 28$ and can tell from weight feel and looks its not the same, obvious. Next one at 40 or 45 came with case and blades and is identical to the 3 other 100$ ones, looks, feels, works like it came off the same line, different color plastic and different cord. People buy the other one cause it has a rubber cord,,,, truth be known the cheaper vinyl lasts way longer but doesnt sell as well.

 

[Sberry]

Farmer fixing and building is all about salvage. . I have a welding and paint shop and buy implements on occasion. Like a log splitter. If you have to buy a beam, buy every oiece, a pump, engine valve your already in to it for more than it cost before paint and welding rods. . Trailers are about the same.

 

[rScotty]

I can remember when high quality toys, tools, and machinery came from the USA, junky quality for all the same came from Japan, and nothing at all came from China.
Things sure have changed.

 

[Jstpssng]

I can remember when high quality toys, tools, and machinery came from the USA, junky quality for all the same came from Japan, and nothing at all came from China.
Things sure have changed.

Now Japanese imports are generally good quality, Chinese depend on where you get it and what you're buying; while USA made is hit or miss, and too often a label used as a gimmick.