It’s kind of interesting that when I bought a non-stick fry pan on Amazon, it came with a full-size screwdriver to assemble the handle to the pan. It goes to show just how absurd the profit margins are on these products when they can afford to throw in a screwdriver for free. IKEA furniture at least expects you to have some tools at home. Or you can buy the tool set from them.
Avid watchers of Shark Tank understand how much margin are in the products we buy. It’s fine: that’s just how capitalism works. I needed a fry pan for eggs, another person is smart enough commission a factory in China to make them. I can certainly do it myself, but then I’d have thousands of fry pans that I’ve got to sell. I have a need, someone can fulfill that need, therefore that someone can reap the profits. (There’s a joke about hookers in there somewhere.)
The fact the seller can afford throw in a screwdriver for free with every pan shows how cheaply things can be made in my motherland of China. The country truly is the factory of the world. And with that means a whole spectrum of price and quality. I think it’s way past time to associate “Made in China” with horrible quality. Yes, many things coming out of China are crap (looking at you, Temu), but my brothers and sisters over there are equally capable of making world-class products.
Lest we forget, the Apple iPhone has been made in China for the longest time. The ever popular Fujifilm X100VI camera - a precision photographic device - is manufactured there. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a Hisense branded TV (if LG weren’t so damn fantastic with OLED).
The equation is simple: same (high) quality, lower labor cost. What corporation beholden to shareholders wouldn’t shift manufacturing to China - or any other country offering the same incentives. Made in U.S.A might only mean you’re overpaying for an American worker’s wage.