Chinese products

[J-Ri]

Why do we keep buying cheap crap from China? Most people know about the lead paint on childrens toys. I got this e-mail today about some chemicals they use to manufacture stuff there.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/flipflop.asp

Even if their products weren't causing serious health problems, they are still poorly made and need to be replaced sooner than a quality made product. My grandma has appliances from the 60s that still work fine. Any guess where they weren't made? I bought a can opener that was made in China and it lasted about a year. My mom has gone through 2 blenders, a toaster, an electric mixer and a corkscrew since I moved out 2 1/2 years ago (I get free spare parts! yeah... I know I'll never use them).

Supposedly they will start selling cars in the U.S. soon... that may prove to be interesting.

['97ventureowner]

Unfortunately, we've grown into a disposable society. We are also part of the blame for the rise of cheap foreign made goods with our demands for less expensive products, easier to purchase, etc. over the years.We vote with our pocketbooks and apparently more people buy these items than we realize. I remember back in the '70s it wasn't China that people made fun of but rather the moniker "Made in Japan". Now products made in Japan are better quality than they were back then.

[freakray]

I think, before you start your rant about products made in China or other Eastern countries, you should pop the hood on your American car and have a look at how much is actually fully foreign content. 'Assembled' in the USA doesn't mean 'Made in the USA'.

[Oz]

Come on guys, the basic economics of globalisation are why Western countries keep buying cheap goods produced in 2nd and 3rd world countries. It's not difficult to work out.

Quality is not going to increase whilst price is still the most important factor in the purchasing decision.

The poll options are skewed/flawed because they don't explore the value proposition at all.

Chinese only has 2 x "e's" in it.

[wafrederick]

Some if it is junk.Any guns made in Japan are junk,the brownings and I seen it at a Friends of the NRA night.

[kublah]

I'm pretty sure almost all of us buy stuff from China on a regular basis. Get anything from Target or Walmart recently? These stores survive because China is to them what the stores are to consumers, meaning they can get everything they need in one place. They don't have to hunt all over the world to find suppliers for the things they sell, or worry about the goods being available because there is an entire factory town in China dedicated to producing an endless supply of each of the individual types of Chinese products that are consumed around the world.

Lots of people like the convenience and comfort of being able to get all the same cheap shit they think they need in one place so much that they don't care how often they have to replace it. In a way, it's almost in China's best interest to continue providing lazy people with inferior products so they have to keep coming back to buy more.

[03cavPA]

Well, open up that computer you just posted from, and see how much non-Chinese componentry you have.

If you want to get away from Chinese goods, turn it off and throw it away.

[drunken monkey]

That's also ignoring that there are good and bad products produced by all countries. It just so happens that many of the western countries want to buy the cheapest thing they can find and China can make them cheaper than most people can.

The age old adage is always true; you get what you pay for.

Are the products you get from China bad?
I don't doubt it but then again, what do you expect when they're selling multiples for cents? This debate could just as easily be turned into an attack on US corporations who, in the interest of making more profit, are purchasing second rate products to sell to their own people.

Who is the more evil, the ones who make the poor product or the ones who knowingly buy them and sell them on?

[YogsVR4]

I believe you get what you pay for. I pay cheap prices for cheap products. No complaints. Its when I pay more expecting better quality and don't get it (Ford comes to mind) that I get upset about.

[J-Ri]

My biggest problem is that a lot of the time there is no good product available. My friend bought a tow strap at walmart once because I had none with me and his truck was stuck. The cheap piece of crap broke the first time we used it, it said it was rated to 25,000 lbs. There's no way my truck could pull that much without exrta weight on the wheels. The only place I could find a good strap was TSC. It was $60 compared to $20, but has lasted several years so far, and has handled much harder pulls.

I don't have a problem with buying from other countries, provided that it is made well. That expensive tow strap I bought was from Canada. I also don't like supporting sweat shops... something about them bothers me, I don't know why

[xeroinfinity]

I dont like lead in my kids toys, or poison in my pets food, nor do I like cheaply made low quality goods.

Which, is what is produced everywhere, not just China.
I buy american electronics , they dont last as long as foriegn electronics.

Made in America-assembled in china

Over half of the american jobs have been outsorced to other countries, so the CEOs and VPs can make $100 million in profit every quarter of the year. While the poor white man barly makes an hounest living and has to pay $3 a gallon of gas, $6 for a pack of smokes and $45 for that fifth of JD.

I think somewhere along the way they figured out if they made everything last forever, no one would make any money, mainly thier selves.

[J-Ri]

Ah, yes... I forgot about the poison dog food.

Those CEOs need all that money, it's hard to get by on just $50 million a year nowdays.

And that expensive liquor? You know why we have E-85 and not E-100 right? That would be some damn cheap everclear.