This is the first time I've seen one. $87? Crazy. It really is frustrating though, the amount of stuff made in China. We got one of those 'pre-lit' Christmas trees this year and it was quite the thing to put together. I said to my husband "This is a communist plot to drive ordinary Americans crazy! They must be laughing their asses off!"
I just bought a new Sony VAIO laptop and noticed on the bottom "Made in China"... My heart sank as my brain calculated the added expense of replacement with a lifetime of 1/2 what I expected... I can see building simple things in China... but computers? Sony computers? Good grief. Disappointing.
angel: We're still the idea people, but we don't make much stuff anymore.
jen: Yes, the service industry is big here.
nanc: Our girls weren't into dolls either.
shover: I couldn't believe how much people paid for those ugly Cabbage Patch dolls. At least the American Girl dolls are cute and custom-made to look like your child.
The US is the biggest consumer of all things Chinese made, and especially for occasions such as Xmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine's Day - it all comes from China.
There's a Chinese factory somewhere that probably makes a profit of a couple of dollars on those dolls. Their margins are awful and Walmart, I gather, screws Chinese factories into the ground for ever lower prices (they can do that easily, since they can always pull their business out and give it to another - cheaper - factory). They're making tiny profits, compared with what would be tolerated by Western companies.
caz: Yes, Walmart and other stores are guilty of selling low-priced merchandise, but at least they're passing along the bargain prices to the consumers.
This American Girl company is charging $87 dollars per doll, not to mention how much they're asking for the oodles of over-priced, well-marketed accessories that one must have for the doll.
That they have ties with the Chinese makes me think they're profiting much more than a typical WalMart retailer would, while at the same time, posing as an American-made product.
I can't do much about the standard of living in China, but I do know that if they dropped their communist ways, their lives would improve exponentially.
And the Chinese are laughing all the way to the bank.
ReplyDeleteNot just the ChiComs. That American Girl company is making money hand over fist.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine paying $87 for one of those dolls?
This is the first time I've seen one. $87? Crazy. It really is frustrating though, the amount of stuff made in China. We got one of those 'pre-lit' Christmas trees this year and it was quite the thing to put together. I said to my husband "This is a communist plot to drive ordinary Americans crazy! They must be laughing their asses off!"
ReplyDeleteeyes: They are custom ordered to look like your child. You choose the hair color, outfit, etc.
ReplyDeleteI've only seen them in catalogs, but I just assumed they were made in the US.
BTW the easiest way to decorate a Christmas tree is to get your children to do it ;-)
wow Cube!..what a joke..Is anything made in the USA anymore!
ReplyDeleteGood grief! What is it we actually do over here any more? Beside fast food, that is.
ReplyDeletei'm glad our girls were never into dolls.
ReplyDeleteand, what jen said!
I can believe it! Its a cute doll and they used to pay that much back in the Cabbage Patch Dolls day.
ReplyDeleteI just bought a new Sony VAIO laptop and noticed on the bottom "Made in China"... My heart sank as my brain calculated the added expense of replacement with a lifetime of 1/2 what I expected... I can see building simple things in China... but computers? Sony computers? Good grief. Disappointing.
ReplyDeleteangel: We're still the idea people, but we don't make much stuff anymore.
ReplyDeletejen: Yes, the service industry is big here.
nanc: Our girls weren't into
dolls either.
shover: I couldn't believe how much people paid for those ugly Cabbage Patch dolls. At least the American Girl dolls are cute and custom-made to look like your child.
eyes: I bought a Sony Vaio 2 years ago. I've never even noticed where it was made :-(
ReplyDeleteHardly anything is made in the US anymore.
ReplyDeleteWe're a nation of consumers.
The books and the movies are good.
ReplyDeleteAre we sure those stories aren't just re-written Chinese tales?
Were those movies produced in China???
I would have thought the dolls would be American made.
That's a very cute doll.
ReplyDeleteThe US is the biggest consumer of all things Chinese made, and especially for occasions such as Xmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine's Day - it all comes from China.
There's a Chinese factory somewhere that probably makes a profit of a couple of dollars on those dolls. Their margins are awful and Walmart, I gather, screws Chinese factories into the ground for ever lower prices (they can do that easily, since they can always pull their business out and give it to another - cheaper - factory). They're making tiny profits, compared with what would be tolerated by Western companies.
caz: Yes, Walmart and other stores are guilty of selling low-priced merchandise, but at least they're passing along the bargain prices to the consumers.
ReplyDeleteThis American Girl company is charging $87 dollars per doll, not to mention how much they're asking for the oodles of over-priced, well-marketed accessories that one must have for the doll.
That they have ties with the Chinese makes me think they're profiting much more than a typical WalMart retailer would, while at the same time, posing as an American-made product.
I can't do much about the standard of living in China, but I do know that if they dropped their communist ways, their lives would improve exponentially.