Yesterday I was at the Canadian version of Musicians Friend, it's called Long & McQuade. I was getting a mic cable and generally browsing when I saw an Epiphone acoustic guitar that had a vintage style brass headstock badge that was perfect for my '59 Epiphone Coronet. I had tried to get one on eBay, and they're so rare that if they ever show up they costs hundreds of dollars.
 
The acoustic guitar had what I wanted so I bought it just to get the plate off of the headstock. You may be saying "ya so?" at this point. The things is, this guitar cost $149. When I saw the price I assumed that it was just garbage. After I got it home I tuned it up and gave it a strum. I was amazed at how good this guitar sounds. It's really quite playable and has good tone.
 
So I'm thinking about it and realize that I couldn't even ship this thing to China for $149, yet a store in Canada was selling it for that price and supposedly making a profit. How can anyone compete with that? There must be some sort scam at work for China to build this thing and ship half way round the world to sell at $149. It can't be done, yet it is done. I know they play dirty on steel but I never thought they would do the same for musical instruments.

The way they do it is by having labor laws that offer workers no protection. There is still a quality gap, but not nearly as much as they used to. When I purchased a violin for my daughter years ago I found out the Chinese were having violin experts from Germany and I believe Romania teach them how to make quality products. They took that knowledge and streamlined it into a system that works well when you have a workforce justvslightly a step above slave labor.

Maybe the real problem is that there are people with enough disposable income to consider $149 for a badge to be worth it ? Not a dig at you, just an observation of "worth" in a target marketplace.
 
In that kind of environment, things are never going to be cheap. Why would they need to be ? Perhaps the chinese price is the "real" price ?
 
That and that the fact that it was probably made by someone who got paid $1 a week.

We have also, as Canucker's, sold ourselves out to China by way of ridiculously one sided trade agreements. I'm betting that SOMEHOW someone, somewhere in China and/or the corp that put that axe in your hands turned a decent profit at the expense of the Canadian taxpayers.
 
However L&M's employs quite a few people and treat them reasonably well compared to other companies (at least they used to) so that's something. I have a bit of a grudge against them though and have been boycotting them for quite a few years now (long story) but all in all I think they are decent operation and are good for the music industry in Canada.
 
Their extremely liberal rental/lease policies have allowed MANY artists do stuff they never would have been able to otherwise.
 
I think I will probably lift my boycott soon for the sake of convenience.

It is not just that Chinese labor is cheap. 
 
There is really no hope for America when we are competing with workers who have the uncanny skill to fold a fitted sheet into a perfectly rectangular package.

slartabartfast
It is not just that Chinese labor is cheap. 
 
There is really no hope for America when we are competing with workers who have the uncanny skill to fold a fitted sheet into a perfectly rectangular package.

It's cheap and good...or else!!

I have a friend who lived in China. They build manufacturing cities where there is no city. They build factories and high rise apartments for the workers. At one she told me about the government had to install nets all around apartment buildings because so many people were jumping to their death rather than work as slaves.
It is still hard to not take advantage of the deals, even knowing that we are living a higher standard of living off the backs of oppressed people. I've done it and will likely do it again. It is all so sanitized. Out of sight, out of mind... it's a good deal.
My knowledge is second hand, it could be that it isn't that bad or it could be that it is worse. If it is that bad you can count on the bill coming due one day. Buy now pay later, right?
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying you did anything wrong. I am not accusing you of anything... it is just the way things are in this world.
On the other hand, they likely get free food and housing and without that dollar a week, they would probably have nothing and the Chinese government just might decide that they serve no purpose, contribute nothing, and they might just disappear. Things are always more complex than they seem when you look at one side or the other. There are always two sides to everything and always the "law of unintended consequenses" when we try to make things better. Sometimes I am glad I live in the west, like a king compared to the third world. On the other hand, sometimes I wonder if life wouldn't be better with no electricity in an agrarian or hunter/gatherer tribal society.
FWIW, I'm glad you got the guitar and with all things considered your purchase probably helped some Chinese worker, though they might not see it that way. I wouldn't hesitate t buy Chinese products (except for batteries). I bought a big pack of Utilitech AA and a big pack of Utilitech 9v batteries. Some of them were leaking in the package within a year and a good half of the terminals on the 9vs broke off when I went to change them... their guitars have gotten MUCH better over the past decade.
 
J
 

What really gets me is their complete lack of regard for human life that enables this "cheap/slave" labor. This results in the more serious violation of the "law of intended consequences".

Eventually, the 200 million 8 year-old girls who make these things are going to revolt.

When I made the OP, my mind was more focused on the fact that I don't think a company playing by the rules could possibly build the instrument and ship it half way around the world, for retail sale at $149. I couldn't ship it back to them for $149, so there is a huge issue with regard to dumping. It's illegal for a company to sell into a foreign market at a price below the cost of production. Anyone in the steel or lumber industry has likely had to deal with this issue.
 
The guitar will go to good use. I plan on making it a donation to a local women's shelter so corporate greed will do some good at the end of the day.