Magician wrote:

Having been in the industrial equipment market for 30 odd years, can I
make a few points about 'cheap' power tools and just why our Chinese
friends can make them so cheap.

snip background info

Yup go along with that.

Now look at the Chinese. They only make copies of other peoples
products. No product development, no market development, no huge
investment whilst waiting for the return, no marketing to create a
brand.

To be fair they will also OEM good for big name makers to their spec as
well.

They don't make original items, they make 'me too' products - often
passed on by European manufacturer's who have moved on.

Add to that the huge difference in labour rates; monthly wage that
compares to a European hourly wage and no wonder they can make stuff
cheaply! They don't have to cut material quality to cut costs!

You are right, you don't *have* to, but that does not mean that you won't.

It is also important to remember that for most manufactured products,
the lions share of the price you pay in the shops accounts for the
distribution an marketing costs and not the cost of making it. Hence
even if you far east OEM can slash the production costs by 80%, you may
only see a reduction is purchase price of 15%

Another factor comes in, the rise of the huge retailers and especially
the 'hard discounters' like Aldi, Lidl, Netto. These people have major

This is where you start to make real inroads into the overall cost - the
distribution part of the deal.

market shares in Europe, but struggle in the UK because of our high
brand awareness (read snobbery).

How long have Aldi, Lidl et al been in the UK though? I certainly have
only become aware of them in recent years.

Simple facts are; that cheap Chinese power tool from Aldi was probably
once a top of the range brand manufacturers pride & joy. But due to
overheads you will find the same product at different prices.

Yes you will find variations obviously.

Can't really speak with certainty for the Aldi tool although I suspect
it is the same as a Cosmo version I have used. If that is the case,
then: yes it is serviceable, but there is no way you could mistake it
for anything that ever claimed to be "top end".

I can see your point in some cases... the first router I owned was
bought for a specific "one off" job. It was by today's standard what you
would call a mid range tool (B&D "WoodWorker", about 70 quid IIRC). It
was pants - in many ways. I can well believe that one of the Chinese
knock offs of the Elu MOF97 design would be better in terms of
performance (even if not in support - you can at least get spares for B&D).

In many cases however the low end tool is just that - it is never going
to compete with anything that claimed to be high end in the past.

I have a wide range of tools - a few top quality items, and a few
Chinese imports. Of the low end ones I can only think of one where I
could believe this pattern could fit (a 40 quid Axminster "white"
reciprocating saw), for most it is blindingly obvious the moment you
handle one, followed by anything else mid range or better.

(Bought a NuTool detail sander on a whim once - on the grounds that it
was a tool I did not have, and thought it may come in handy one day. For
a fiver I was not expecting much is has to be said. Having now used it
once I can safely say it was well over priced!)

It is now entirely possible to have power tools that are made cheaply
but not cheaply made. You may be buying old technology, but there is
no reason to suspect inferior quality in every case.

The logic is fine, but I suspect that greed gets in the way sometimes...
i.e. you area retailer and you can can have a decent tool for 20 quid
and retail moderate quantities at 100, or a "cheap as we can make it"
one for 4 quid and knock out 20 times as many for 25 quid.


--
Cheers,

John.

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