Made In China.........
Thanks Maxx.........maybe I could afford high end stuff, if I was chasing form over function, just so I could show off !!! Like most people in the World today, the majority of what I buy was made in China, and I dont just chuck dead money around for fun, so I go with the flow.
OK, so I got a Rolex watch and a BMW motor car, but that is a logical choice about value over time.
Businesses sourcing goods from China take advantage of economy of scale and lower wages and fixed costs...hence lower prices which can be used to crank up profits or sell-out cheaper...or a mixture of both.
For smaller Buyers, the cost of production in China is microscopic when tacked onto the end of a huge production run...known as "Marginal Costing"...the bulk of the production run absorbs all the fixed costs, the real cost of production is therefore only the variable costs....resulting in very cheap outcomes....and dont forget, a large part of the fixed costs imposed on Western manufacturers are the huge Government sponsored taxes, charges, tarriffs etc, etc, etc, etc. The Chinese dont have these, or at least can grease a few palms to side-step them !!!
This is why Australia has virtually no Manufacturing capacity, our Local and potential market is too small to absorb high wages and high fixed costs over the quantity we are likely to sell. But when it comes to exporting dirt, we can think in terms of a Global Market and thus sell dirt by the squillion tons...at a therefore World competitive price.
As you rightly point out, the problem of doing Business with Chinese sources is Quality Control.
If you are a "small" user, you have only little leverage with the Chinese to ensure that your goods are made to the specification you agree. Once your product is in a Container, being shipped to you, you have little recourse if the goods are faulty or off-spec....try to get your money back from a Chinese Company when you have paid CIF BEFORE they are shipped !!!!
If you are a BIG user...like most of the Multi-nationals, you dont get this problem...Big Organisations have critical mass...they are much too important for the Chinese to get cute with off-spec stuff (mind you, it DOES happen and I have been involved in some monuental crunches between Chinese Manufacturers and Local customers over attempts to cheat specs on VERY large orders, over $20 million)
So...in summary, if you are a huge Buyer, Chinese Merchandise is almost certain to be in-line with your local specs and fit-for-purpose. If you are a smaller Buyer, chasing el-cheapos...beware, your merchandise is very likely to be off-spec, substandard and dodgy...you gotta be on your toes and ensure that problems are fixed BEFORE your product ships...an expensive task, and one which most Businesses ignore...hence the pile of crap we see at the lower end that is "Made in China"
The solution is too send someone like me (or my Consultants) to the Chinese Factory to monitor Quality Control and get your spec protected...that is not a cheap excercise
...but that's how we get Rolexes and BMW's..........