I was looking at this website
www.globalsources.com
as I was thinking about importing things and selling them for a little money. What I didnt realise was quite the range of stuff that appears to be the stuff that is re-branded and sold at prices I can't afford!
Ive been looking at the things i know, look under the cycling gear and you have all of the road riders team gear. Is this genuine or just a ripped off copy? I guess it would be manufactured there but surely there are legal issues with them selling it direct to people who arent dealers?
The other thing i spotted were chainsaws. They look remarkably similar to Stihl and Husky models (along with some other randoms).
I feel like ive just found out that Santa Claus doesnt exist!
Will be copies.
'Made in' is a pretty vague term. The 'made in' badge relates to the country where a certain proportion of a products value is added (40% from hazy memory).
So if you get some chinese mined, chinese processed steel, made into nuts, bolts, sheets and tubes in china then you bolt something together with them, then in the uk then your product is 'Made in the UK'
With a bike for instance if you have every single one of the components manufactured in the far east, but have the wheels laced together in the uk (from tiwanese hubs, spokes, rims and nipples), then at a certain price point, that adds sufficient value to slap a 'made in the uk' on the whole bike.
To the consumer it doesn't matter where something is made, the brand's job is to match the product to the consumer's expectations, so that what we get matches out tastes and requirement, thats all buying to a brand is. That brand also needs to have sufficient oversight to make sure that what arrives in the container is what they asked for.
Some people make money out of it, or it wouldn't be happening.
You just need to find your niche.