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#1 PulpVictor

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Posted 02 July 2012 - 10:14 AM

I was recently at Superstore, and found that they have a lot of produce imported from China. I need help understanding why. :confused:

#2 Matt R.

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Posted 02 July 2012 - 10:32 AM

Because it's way cheaper.

Much of the fresh dungeness crab meat we see available locally is caught around these parts, and then shipped over to China to be processed/picked and sent back as meat, which kind of illustrates the point of just how much cheaper it is especially on the labour front.

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#3 PulpVictor

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Posted 02 July 2012 - 06:24 PM

Garlic? Ginger? What sense does it make to grow it across the world (in Lord knows what kind of soil or using what chemicals), and ship it all the way here? I won't buy it. I won't buy anything from China, though.

#4 Sparky

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Posted 02 July 2012 - 09:07 PM

^ What about most of the parts in that computer that you just used to type that? :)

I was in Ikea a few weeks back and just about lost my gum when I picked up a package that read "Swedish Quality, made in China."

#5 Bingo

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Posted 02 July 2012 - 10:05 PM

Take a look at "Europe's Best" frozen foods, packaged in China.

#6 sebberry

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Posted 02 July 2012 - 10:48 PM

There's something wrong when fresh food is shipped to China, processed, shipped back, still sold as "fresh" and all done more cheaply than having it processed here.

Either that or I'm getting seriously ripped off on shipping my computer parts from China.

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#7 zinkerled

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 12:32 PM

I was in Ikea a few weeks back and just about lost my gum when I picked up a package that read "Swedish Quality, made in China."


Why would you think Swedish quality can't be produced in China? Chinese factories can produce any level of quality, western retailers just usually order garbage (actually specifying that things be made to not last long) because it's cheaper and it means they can sell the same products repeatedly since they keep breaking. Then we blame China for the crappy products.

#8 sebberry

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 12:39 PM

I think when you farm out your production to an oversees plant there is less opportunity to ensure tight QC. Even if you did have someone over there making sure your product is screwed together and painted properly, it's still tricky to make sure the metal the screws were cast from isn't of poor quality, or that the perfectly applied paint isn't contanimated with lead.

Look at all the melamine that was in Chinese made dog food. Here we just get stuck with listeria :P

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#9 Sparky

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 12:56 PM

Why would you think Swedish quality can't be produced in China?


I'm sure it can, but it wasn't Swedish quality. It was crap. It was a hand soap dispenser that lasted about a week.

#10 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 12:57 PM

Why would you think Swedish quality can't be produced in China? Chinese factories can produce any level of quality, western retailers just usually order garbage (actually specifying that things be made to not last long) because it's cheaper and it means they can sell the same products repeatedly since they keep breaking. Then we blame China for the crappy products.


To expand on this, WE specify poor quality. Or at least we do indirectly, as we prefer price discount over quality, in most cases. And that's OK, that's what we want, that's what the retailer brings in for us. I don't see the problem. We have choice on almost any product, if we want higher quality, we can probably find it with a bit of searching, but be prepared to pay the price.
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#11 sebberry

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 01:24 PM

I'm sure it can, but it wasn't Swedish quality. It was crap. It was a hand soap dispenser that lasted about a week.


Must have been the same one I bought :P

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#12 aastra

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 01:38 PM

In the end it's always going to be China's fault for taking advantage of western corporate heads who naively move operations over there without fully understanding why production in China is cheaper. Suffice it to say, it's not just because Chinese workers are more dedicated and conscientious, as many naive corporate heads assume.

Do they manufacture mirrors in China?

#13 Bingo

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 01:53 PM

Buy iPhone 4 Clone from China for $85

Read more: http://www.callingal.../#ixzz1zbC0o2GV

#14 http

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 05:50 PM

To expand on this, WE specify poor quality. Or at least we do indirectly, as we prefer price discount over quality, in most cases. And that's OK, that's what we want, that's what the retailer brings in for us. I don't see the problem. We have choice on almost any product, if we want higher quality, we can probably find it with a bit of searching, but be prepared to pay the price.


The plural there is the worst part of it. The decisions of other idiots affects my ability to access a free marketplace. I don't demand poor quality, but if everybody else insists on cheap stuff, manufacturers don't maintain production of quality products and then I can't get the worthwhile items that I want.

Try buying an electric drill with a metal housing these days. And no, you may not have mine.
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#15 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 07:00 PM

The plural there is the worst part of it. The decisions of other idiots affects my ability to access a free marketplace. I don't demand poor quality, but if everybody else insists on cheap stuff, manufacturers don't maintain production of quality products and then I can't get the worthwhile items that I want.

Try buying an electric drill with a metal housing these days. And no, you may not have mine.


http://www.amazon.co...e&s=hi&n=228013

But that aside, you have sort of a point. But people want what they want.

I used to sell steel roofing, and let me tell you, it's the best product ever. And no, not sheet steel, but steel tile. There are hundreds of homes in Victoria with them, you just never noticed, assumed they were clay or concrete tile, or wood shakes.

BUT, the stuff was expensive, because, well although hundreds have them in Victoria, tens of thousands have asphalt roofs around here. If it was reversed they might be similar in price.
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#16 LJ

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 07:18 PM

To expand on this, WE specify poor quality. Or at least we do indirectly, as we prefer price discount over quality, in most cases. And that's OK, that's what we want, that's what the retailer brings in for us. I don't see the problem. We have choice on almost any product, if we want higher quality, we can probably find it with a bit of searching, but be prepared to pay the price.


Do you remember when everything made in Japan was junk?

Now we buy Japanese cars because they are built better than the standard NA made autos. We pay a premium for Japanese made TV's. People voted for quality and they got it.

Now almost every electronic device you buy is made in China, Taiwan or Korea and most of them are good quality. Even if you buy a computer from Dell that is made in the US all the components come from the Asian countries.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#17 LJ

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Posted 03 July 2012 - 07:21 PM

Garlic? Ginger? What sense does it make to grow it across the world (in Lord knows what kind of soil or using what chemicals), and ship it all the way here? I won't buy it. I won't buy anything from China, though.


I try to avoid any food products from outside North America with a couple of exceptions for Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#18 sebberry

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Posted 14 July 2012 - 09:27 PM

For those of you who do a lot of grocery shopping, how do the prices at Save On compare to other stores like Safeway?

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#19 cakeman

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Posted 15 July 2012 - 10:24 AM

The plural there is the worst part of it. The decisions of other idiots affects my ability to access a free marketplace. I don't demand poor quality, but if everybody else insists on cheap stuff, manufacturers don't maintain production of quality products and then I can't get the worthwhile items that I want.

Try buying an electric drill with a metal housing these days. And no, you may not have mine.


Late to the game here, and nitpicking, but you can't buy a metal housed drill for good reasons:

Weight and Electrical safety. Broken wire in plastic cased drill = drill doesnt work. Broken wire in metal cased drill, wire touches case, improper grounding in drill, cord or mains = electricity flowing through you to ground.

Still OT, but closer to on topic, we get crap goods from China because we want stuff cheap like borscht. (or, rather, enough people buy the cheap stuff to create a big market). China is perfectly capable of building quality goods, and you'll save some money on labour, but if you spec quality, it'll cost more than $0.03..

cakes..

#20 LJ

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Posted 15 July 2012 - 06:44 PM

^Until recently all drills had metal housings, and three wire plugs.
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