A question for you business types..

[Bigmack]

I fish for salmon in the NW. A lot.

One of the most consistent lures is... well, let's call it Brand X.

The lures are manufactured - of course - in China.

This year, we had a great season, and the lures were in short supply after a few weeks. The stores couldn't get them because the supplier couldn't get them. Apparently there is a 3 month lag between order by the lure company and delivery to the retail stores. The most productive color of Brand X was totally unavailable after the season began.

Ok... here's my question.

Wouldn't it be better for the lure company to make them in the US, and charge more? The lures would be available for people to buy, and that's gotta be good for the bottom line. What with the cost of roughwater boat, fuel, reels, downriggers, etc., anybody who can fish for salmon can afford to pay a lot more for a lure that is a proven producer.

Or... How about buying a shitload of the blank metal lures from China, and painting them in the US? The "hot" lure colors vary sometimes from season to season, so the company could respond quickly and put the new color on the store shelves. Painting isn't rocket science, so your labor costs could be fairly low.

This question applies all across the manufacturing sector. Wouldn't it be better to make stuff in the US and shorten the transit time, as well as allow the company to respond quickly to changes in demand?

[ixion]

1. I worked a couple salmon seasons in AK back in the 80's

it was great.

And yeah, I think they should make the gear here. If the quality is there, I have no problem paying for it.

[mdmc]

2. first we get health care

then we can be entrepreneurs again..

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Depends on who owns the company...

and a few other things.

If it's a US company with some ability to set up shop here, it might be worthwhile. There are clothing manufacturers who moved production back here for just that reason-- if the red dress sells, you can just make more of them in New York or LA instead of witing a month for a delivery that might come when the season's over.

But, some companies don't have the ability to set up a paint shop or other production facility to increase sales or profits by a small amount. There are lots of scenarios...

Let's say the salmon lure wholesales for 5 bucks. Painting them here will add 2 bucks to the price, but will reduce sales from 5,000 to 4,000. Profit is one buck per lure either way, so they lose a thousand bucks this way.

Let's say they tack on the 2 bucks, but sales increase from 5,000 to 7,000 because you guys can get the good colors. They made $2,000 more. Is that enough to go out and hire people and start a seasonal production line? If they sell a lot of other stuff and make a few hundred thousand or more a year, the possioble 2 grand in extra profits may not be worth the risk or capital expense.

These numbers are completely made up and don't take into account things like how many other things the company makes or sells, whether it is just a mail drop somwewhere or actually has a facility, and dozens of other questions, but it's the essentials-- how much does that good idea put on to the bottom line at the end of the year.

Now, if the company is a Chinese company just selling the stuff through an American marketing arm, all bets are off. They have their manufacturing set up, and it would take great gobs of additional profits to entice them to set up a US manufacturing operation.

[marybourg]

4. Very few people shop for value; most shop for price only. nt

[Warpy]

5. That isn't the case for fad items

and the OP is correct that when a fad item like a fishing lure of a certain color is in short supply, people who want it badly enough will pay a premium for it.

Buying blanks from China and painting them the fad color for that particular season sounds like a great cottage industry.

I just wish we could buy "blank" clothing and dye it ourselves over here. Those crayon colors the Chinese use are universally unflattering and I'm getting sick to death of grey, black and brown.

[truedelphi]

6. I think your notion is a good one, but sometimes

A business owner gets advice from some "expert" along the lines of "This is how it is done," etc.

A close friend of mine sold shoes for a while. One company that made this kid's shoe "Roos" got bought out by another bigger firm. And someone told them that it was too much trouble to even market the "Roos." So the kids' shoe was discontinued.

You cannot believe how dsiappointed all the parents were for several seasons that the shoes weren't available.