Chinas Hobby Exports.

[49dimes]

Recently caught some flak about another ABC engine and in honesty I was negative with my rhetorical comedic way. All BS aside.... How do you hardcore hobbyist's feel about the abundance of goods that China masses out to the public? I know it has a huge plus by making otherwise "unreachable" merchandise reachable for many.
The quality is stepping up to standards otherwise felt to be shoddy but not so much the case anymore. I have always felt quality was top notch when it came from Taiwan but Mainland efforts have certainly improved.
The main point I am driving at is that I believe it actually drives the cost of established quality goods up and makes these goods even more "unreachable". Give this some thought.

 

[3Dchief]

Not sure that I agree with you on this. I think competition brings the price down, regardless of the comparative quality of the products. Why would I buy one established quality engine for $500 when I can buy an equivalent size engine for $250 and outfit the rest of the plane with servos and receiver with the other $250? The quality might not be the same, the cheaper engine may not provide the peak performance, but is this enough to justify the price difference? Most of our engines never survive long enough to wear out and if the cheaper engine provides 2:1 power to weight ratio, will most of us even be able to tell the difference in performance? I own both types of engines in the 50 cc size and I know I can't tell a difference in performance in the air. I also have a Futaba and Frsky Taranis radio, I prefer the Taranis. It may drive up the price of Futaba or JR, but it won't be long before they are out of business with that business model.

There will always be those who will spend more money to have the perceived best product, but for a lot of guys, the cheaper equipment allows them to get into a 100 cc plane for what they would spend on a 50 cc plane with top of the line products. This won't make the established quality goods more expensive, it will make them extinct!

Tim

 

[SleepyC]

Personally I prefer to buy service.
I have one Da-50 that has been serviced around 5 times, is 8+ years old and has cost me $0 more since I first purchased it.

 

[49dimes]

Good input. And I am not looking for justification to buy something I do not need or to have the "best".
What I am finding is that the hobby industry support as a whole by American standards has slowly gone the way side.
I would like to see China at least start production of products on US soil and promote mutually acceptable commerce.
Create some jobs here and not just service and distributorships.

 

[Bunky.F.Knuckle]

Way I see it is.... Buy what you like. If you don't like X item.... Don't buy it. I don't care who buys what, as long as I can rib on them for buying it!

 

[3Dchief]

Agreed, society has changed in that we want service and support, but we are not willing to pay for it. I see it as more of the "disposable" society we have become. Which leads to the mindset that I can buy two cheap whatevers for the price of one expensive one, so I'll roll the dice on the lifespan of the cheap products. Sometimes you get burned, but sometimes you win.

 

[Taildraggerrc]

China has no implication any of how to innovate only copy.. The marketplace for RC is small.. Globally the market is now saturated with copy's of clones and clones of copies..
All this does is further bloat the market place with the same old and gives us so much junk to sift through..
If a reseller or vendor is going to stand by the product they sell even per say a china engine it's simply gonna cost more than it does at hobby king or other 3rd party china vendors.. Supporting a product with a 2 year warranty cost profit and a business cannot function without it.

Buy what you want I say but know the risk your taking if you buy unknown non supported junk and please save the bandwidth of forums from flame threads stating you got junk.. We all know what is proven and what isn't..
9 times out of 10 if you have to start a thread asking if so and so engine is decent since their is no talk about them then more than likely they are junk

 

[Decal Dennis]

That's one good reason the forums are here....to figure out what the good and bad products are

 

[Mikeq]

That's one good reason the forums are here....to figure out what the good and bad products are

+1..hence Mintor....and they're worse than Chinese junk..

 

[Decal Dennis]

+1..hence Mintor....and they're worse than Chinese junk..

+1