The Mall reminder me of a Chinese Bazaar

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Please feel free to seek that entrepreneurial spirit and begin an Made In USA clothing company. Draw up a business plan, factor in all the manufacturing costs and reach a retail pricing structure and then seek out places that will sell your product. Another idea, open a chain of stores where all products are Made In The USA.

 

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I bet the Chinese get a big laugh out of stupid Americans who pay $300 for $3 jeans.

 

I bet those Jeans cost less that $3. to make.

I worked for an importer of Chinese made vehicles. We had units come in at $1600.00 Landed per unit. we in turn sold them to our dealers for $12000.00 and the MSRP was $15995.00.

When it came to parts we were getting pistons, cranks etc. for less than $10 each.

The Chinese may be making a few $ making the product but the importer is the one laughing all the way to the bank.

 

Since you mentioned trendy $200 jeans,

Check out Adriano Goldschmied (www.agjeans.com), which are made in California. They have many styles (cut) to choose from, and an exhaustive selection of sizes and colors. I bought two pairs at $160 a few years ago, and so far have found them to be my favorite jeans ever. They are comfortable (far more than Levis), they look good, fit well, and have been through the wash many times and are holding together admirably.

Despite being comparatively expensive, I have more than gotten my money's worth; I have worn them about 4X as many times as I typically get out of a pair of Levis, and have been more comfortable and looked better while doing so.


For pants (khakis, etc.), try Theory (www.theory.com). Priced similarly to AG above, mine say "made in U.S.A." on the tag. Best fitting pants I own, and again, a better value for the dollar.

For affordable shirts, try Benetton. Many of them are made all around the world, particularly Italy and other countries in Europe. The stuff available in the stores usually allows for better taste than the wacky color combinations displayed on their web site.

If you can't fit into Benetton or if its not your style, try looking around at Brooks Brothers. They tend to have a reasonable amount of stuff that's not made in China.

Not sure what to say about women's stuff; it seems, from shopping with my wife, that non-Chinese made products are much fewer and far-between for women's clothing and accessories than for men.

 

Pretty typical of us to want everything under the sun and not want to pay much for it, then wave the flag in protest over the fact that everything is made abroad and with cheap, sometimes dangerous ingredients/components.

 

It's a little more than that for luxury denim, but still is about 10% of MSRP, or less. The magic number in garment is to have 100% markup at every level of the chain.

 

Yesterday I was at a place that had US flags with the embroidered stars for $9.99, made in China. The same thing at WallyMart, made in the US and A is $20 or so. I'd opt for the 50% discount next time

 

By Diesel Jeans, they are made in Italy.

 

Um... it wasn't this car, was it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5SRyG6UR2A

///Michael

 

the world will stop working if China were to disappear

 

And THAT'S why his user name is "Innovativethinker" folks.

 

touche

 

I hate to say that, but you can't trust labels too. I was shocked. Upscale, very well known store, expensive "Made in France" cosmetic product; I was really disappointed after I investigated where it was made (China of course). I put no names here, but it's a shame...

 

And the markup thru the chain on Ferrari parts is??

Example:

F1 hydraulic pump "aeroquip" line:

1.) OEM mfg-Goodridge MFG. Cost to make-$34.50
2.) Price at dealer:$1078.36

% mark up: 3125%!!

TR clutch;

1.) OEM mfg: AP Racing Cost: $200.00
2.) Price at dealer; $1600.00

% mark up only 800%!!

 

There is irony in my reading this thread while I sit in a hotel room in China with a meeting with my Chinese factory tomorrow

Personally I think paying $1300 for an italian purse is more ridiculous. But thats just my opinion.

EDIT:

On a more serious note: people who arent in manufacturing like to use cost per unit vs SRP and they conveniently forget everything else involved from development costs to tooling costs to insurance and hundreds of other costs.

Yes there are some products with absurd markups but they are usually luxury items like jeans , purses and Ferraris where the buyer has more money than common sense to begin with. I cant fault anyone for taking advantage of Sheeple who think its cool to pay $200 for a pair of jeans...

 

I agree,

I think the current meltdown in the economy is pretty much the fault of giving "Most Favored Nation" status to China.

A country's wealth is based on it's ability to manufacture goods.
We have traded that ability for quick profits in the importing sector.

Now that we have done that, the people that buy make stuff and buy stuff are now out of work.

 

Im all for bringing manufacturing back to the states...

Anyone want to pay 400% more for everything than they currently do ?

If not then we have two choices...either keep it in China or get rid of the unions, OSHA, minimum wage, etc.

What we have here is a natural outcome of Capitalism. Blame Ayn Rand.

 

More like Big Government Intervention...

 

Tru dat... of course some would argue those things were done to improve quality of life. Quality of life isnt cheap...

but ultimately manufacturing went to China because its cheaper there...and even if you got rid of OSHA, Unions and Minimum Wage it would STILL be cheaper there...

So any good Capitalist would thus manufacture there as to create a larger profit...right ?

 

The business owner here is concerned primarily with return, but on a macro level, for the most benefit worldwide, countries should allow the most efficient manufacturer to produce each good that it does best. Can't force Vietnam to make [good] dairy and wools, let NZ do that. Why have expensive UK labor to make things that could be manufactured in China? UK people should be focusing on what they have a competitive advantage in (probably not dentistry, more like automotive journalism). Same goes for the US.

The exceptions are based on military, isolation, and geo-political power issues. Otherwise, if distribution and transport is cost effective, then it makes sense to let everyone do what they do best.

Maybe I'm in the first generation that really faced up to this, but I have always considered myself, even from a pretty young age, a part of a global marketplace. I remember pondering why my Transformers were all made in China, Taiwan and Japan. The Canadian steel factory where my stepdad worked was bought by Koreans when I was young. Once Korea, China and India changed the steel market then US mfrs had to go to specialty steels. I realized Asian or Indian kids are going to work harder they're going to get the jobs that North Americans had, and that Westerners had to move up the value chain and provide more cutting-edge services and higher end goods.