$60 For A Golf Shirt Made In Vietnam

[TheMastersNemesis]

I am always amused when I go look at merchandise. I look at the cost versus where an item was made. I play a local PUBLIC golf course. And in the pro shop there are golf shirts priced at $60. I believe that in Vietnam pay is perhaps about $4 to $5 a day.
The discrepancy between the labor and the cost of the final product on so many things is astounding. The golf shirt is just one example of many.

I seriously doubt that there is not much more than $10 laid in cost for that shirt. It is probably a lot less in fact. So the meme that we pay less is really a myth. It is almost insulting to the buyer that there is so much exploitation going on. Even the buyer now is economic cannon fodder for our new "free market" system.

We are systematically being gouged more and more each day. We are now in an era of "free fall wages". I simply do not understand why so many dumb asses do not get it.

[NNN0LHI]

1. Once someone corners the market on any product they can charge whatever they want for it

We are slowly learning that the hard way.

Don

[HeiressofBickworth]

2. It's all about the profit margin

There is a demand by investors for an ever-increasing profit on any item. The producers reduce expenses by out-sourcing labor but the prices remain the same -- viola! increased profit. We are told that out-sourcing to cheaper labor will result in reduced costs to us. DON'T BELIEVE IT. It is only said to mollify you while they pick your pockets and line their own. There is no such thing as a "conscience" in the corporate world -- IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PROFIT. Remember that and all your questions will be answered.

[Hoyt]

3. I agree with your post. Of course, small golf shops do charge a premium.

[Gregorian]

4. You have company.

And you might be shocked to discover the actual price of some of these things. I doubt ten bucks is even close to the real cost, including shipping.

I've been watching this for decades. But only recently have I been conscious of the fact that, (aside from the carbon footprint of shipping this crap all over the globe instead of making it locally), the big problem is that a very small group of people are making almost all of the profit, while those who do the work are essentially working as slave labor.

When Rachel Maddow brought up the fact that $10 million to Adelson is equivalent to $40 for someone making $100k per year, it hit home like a ton of bricks.

My dad and I ran an electronics company. We had in house manufacturing. 15 years after we sold that company, the employees still call my dad for his birthday. These people, many of whom were Vietnamese immigrants, were paid very well. We knew that they were human beings. We knew the power of greed. We knew that by sharing we would have a happy company, and a prosperous one.

Greed is rampant today, like always. But today there are 7 billion people. And things are getting intense.

[Canuckistanian]

5. On American made products

Worker productivity is nearing an all-time high. Yet worker pay lags even the cost of living.

What's wrong with this picture?

[KT2000]

6. I will bet that

the company that made the shirt is owned by a private equity firm or a holding company.

[lonestarnot]

7. For the ones that work for a living, the only excuse I can offer for them is inculcation. For the

richers, nothing needs to be said.

[pinboy3niner]

8. The Vietnamese are pretty good at doing knockoffs

On one visit there, I saw a shirt that had something like 'Osh Kosh B'Gosh' on the front--and 'Reebok' on the neck tag.