Quote:
Originally Posted by Ankh
I beg to disagree. The times are different.
When Japan was paving the way to economic heights, they competed with the quality goods made elsewhere. That quality comes with the price tag, and it seems that most of us are not ready to pay for it these days. We've gotten rich enough to buy cheap things.
The "dollar shop" mentality is our fault, IMHO.
|
Yes and no. Western people are responsible for requesting ever cheaper goods, no doubt. But this cheap manufacturing tradition goes back 100s of years. And having lived in China and been to many factories you find out that the same attitude goes into most high priced goods. A higher price there doesn't mean you get better quality, just that more profit was made, and --- hopefully --- higher quality components have been used. Quite often no, if they think they can get away with it what is inside is not necessarily what is on the label. It cuts both ways, management that only cares about how much money is being made NOW and workers who take no pride in their work. People don't care what they make as long as they can sell it and, due to the great number of fakes, it is difficult to build a local brand with a good reputation. So when it has "Made in China" on it it must be cheap or it won't sell at all no matter how good it is. A vicious cycle.
And on the cheap side, a lot of things are being sold below cost just to keep the factores running when business is slow or because they got some "insider deal" on taxes, raw materials, and inspections (safety, environment, working conditions and hours, etc.). Those you won't get when working for international brands when the factory's being watched closely. But given the high wages and labor shortages in China the days of super cheap Chinese goods are numbered, anway.
As for Japan, they started out being cheap, but moved up very quickly.