It seems the choice now is between using junk materials to get a competitive price or make a product that's maybe 5% better but charge 10x as much. Or my pet peeve of making it difficult to purchase due to segregating lines and territories.
Some people have their head buried in the sand calling everything made in China junk. A lot of it is, some of it isn't. There's a lot of US junk too. Berating someone for not wanting to choose between cheap US junk and super expensive US quality doesn't help anyone. Neither does buying old, used, worn-out goods and then having the company warranty them. There's something wrong with buying tools with three generations of use, breaking a handle, then using the "lifetime" warranty to get a new one. It hurts the company worse than if you bought it from HF.
If I have to buy a $100 US wrench when a $10 offshore one of equal quality would do, my rates have to go up. Maybe the guy that made the wrench is my customer. Now he has to get for a raise so he can afford my rates. Now the $100 wrench is a $120 wrench and the $10 one is still $10. You can't stop it. Like it or not, it is a global market. You have to be competitive where you can. If you can't, get out.
This is one of my first posts, I have been reading the archives of the tool discussion, and I am on page 450 right now. I wasn’t going to post anything until I have finished reading the archives, don’t want to get the dreaded “do a search” comments that so many people put in to a post when someone asks a question. I purchased a HF box, I did my home work, looked at the Craftsman boxes, can’t afford any of the truck boxes (even on CL the ones in my area are more than 4 times the price of the HF box). Comparing the offerings of HF and sears, the quality is comparable with the HF box being 40% less.
To make a long post short, Americans can buy foreign products and still be an American. I think the American way is to ***** about the competition instead of getting a competitive edge. I heard it from my dad about the POS made in Japan ****, and now look at the Japanese electronics, cars, (don’t say a thing about Toyota recalls, do we forget about the ford pinto, firestone/Bridgestone tires, the corvair, how about American beef with e-coli?) Now it is china, or Taiwan, or where ever imports come from next. So the next time you tell me to pay more to buy American ask yourself if you are willing to pay extra taxes to fund national health care to insure an American. I will get off my soap box now and go back to reading the archives, I have learned a lot from the people here, just getting tired of hearing the same thing about buy from this country and that.
It could be, if the American companies hadn't cheapened their brands to the point where they were no longer worth a premium. I think most stopped buying American when the item with the sticker lasted half as long and cost twice as much as the item next to it on the shelf.
The American companies need to re-examine their business models. They need to accept that they cannot compete on price, and go back to trying to compete on quality.
I do not agree with buying used helping anyone but the two end users. I do not discourage it, however, in fact I have bought many used quality tools myself. I just don't fool myself into believing it is better for the economy than buying new junk.
But, you'll learn something and be able, with confidence, tell all your friends and relatives exactly how corporate greed - sold - us - out.