I'll stick my 2 cents worth in. I think the Chinese are taking advantage of us.
For instance, I can buy a darn nice Chinese made pen for less than 5 bucks. I cannot buy a kit and blank for that kind of money. I have disassembled these pens and the parts are the same quality as some of our kits and appear to be identical. When I say Chinese, I include Taiwan. Would some one with more business sense than me please explain.
Ben
Ben,
You are probably partially correct.
But, bear in mind the finished pens you see that come out of China are made in the hundreds of thousands.
WE (penmakers) cringe at MOQ 500!!
Wanna get your unit cost down, tell them you will take 100,000 at $5 each--be prepared to wire transfer $500,000 in advance and wait several months, but I suspect they will make them!!! PLUS SHIPPING AND CUSTOMS!
OH---if you do this, I'll buy 200, cause I see on this thread there are probably 10 people who MAY take as many as FIVE!!!!!
It's a long way to "economical production"!!