Manufacturing country as a selling point

Re: [spiers] Manufacturing country as a selling point

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Which is why we have to do the hard and fast research, and find out what
everyone believes,
as proved through actual trade patterns. Perceptions change, such as "made in
Japan" was
once a warning label, but now means quality. Leica cameras still command a
premium,
although Japanese cameras are better.

There was a car in the '80's... the GM Probe(?)...I forget the name..anyway...
it was made by
the Japanese for GM and for Mitsubishi...well, the details are not important..
the fact was the
Japanese made both cars, same time, same everything, just different name plates
on the
cars... the Japanese nameplate commanded a 15% price premium. The chevy
trailblazer and
the GM Jimmy are the exact same cars, and the Lincoln LS, the Jaguar XLS (?),
and the Ford
Thunderbird are all built on the same engine/chassis/transmission.

Italian olive oil is almost all from Greek and Turkish olive oil, just packed in
Italy, because
people want italian olive oil. (Italians keep the best stuff for themselves).

Dale Chihuly is the most sought-after glass artist on earth. Except with one
eye, he cannot
blow glass. Rich Royal does all of Chihuly's good stuff. Chihuly will admit
this himself. Rich
Royal understands this and accepts it. Want world class glass art dirt cheap?
Buy it from Rich
Royal. Want to sell lots of art glass at premium prices? Get it from Dale
Chihuly.

The world can be a wicked place and that is good to know. You'll end up with a
better art
glass collection at a better price.

John


On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 03:15:51 -0000, "mgranich" wrote :

> I have a friend who is a violin maker in St. Louis, MO. He claims
> that violins made in Italy, no matter how poor the quality, always
> sell at a premium over violins of better quality from France,
> Germany, and the USA. He was at a loss to explain why other than
> Stradavarius and a few other famous makers came from Italy and
> therefore people preceive Italian violins will always be better
> instraments even though the maker an amateur at best.
>
> Can the country where a product is manufactured be used as a selling
> point for the product? And if so, would an importer opt for the
> favorably preceived country to have his product made vs the country
> that is importing the most, or making the better quality product?
>
> For example, if all things are the same in design and quality, would
> a glass paperwieght from Germany sell better than the same glass
> paperweight from China?
>
> Thanks,
> Anthony
>

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