I too am affected by outsourcing. Yes it hurts me professionally as well as in my wallet.
Is it “fair” to me? No. Was it “fair” to the horse and buggy makers? No.
It is the same story; over and over.
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Well, that is commendable. This is an especially difficult subject for actual craftsmen/laborers who take pride in the hard work and quality of their labor on a local level. It really sucks. I walk into a big box furniture store and see a dining table set with 6 chairs for $600, that is literally impossible for me to replicate for the same price. So, American labor is de-valued and dying because of outsourcing. It’s sad! This is heritage and honor just wasting away, reduced to nothing more than hobby stuff by people who want to keep the history alive.
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Absolutely agree with this. People should and do charge more for quality. This is why cheapest bid culture should die, but unfortunately it seems to be running the world currently.
Most yoyo “companies” aren’t machine shops, and therefore can’t directly make their own yoyo designs. Clearly there just arent many machine companies not based in China that can machine yoyos cheaply enough so that small yoyo companies can offer competitive prices.
A lot of these small yoyo companies basically operate to break even. Chinese manufacturing may just be the only way in which they can do so.
Admittedly this sounds more like a hobby than a lucrative business (Im betting on the former). You have the resources to make wooden yoyos. Most of the small yoyo companies are guys with CAD experience or whatever who send their models out to be manufactured. It is completely different.
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I’m not totally against companies manufacturing in China. I just think that very small ‘companies’ that make like one or two runs of a yoyo, not to support themselves, but because of the love of creating something for people to enjoy, shouldn’t really need to outsource if it’s not about making money. That’s just what I think.
However, it does bother me that basically every yoyo is made there. I think its a problem that keeps making a deeper problem the more it is utilized.
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Yes, that’s the problem!
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For me it’s a big selling point where the product is produced.
I’m also not a fan of the “silent” switch. Making and establishing a company with “made in America” then switching to overseas and the price point we see doesn’t really reflect the switch. Basically same price for us but bigger gain on whoever is behind the company.
Another thing for me, China is shady toward their own people. Not saying the US isn’t, but China’s Censorship of the internet, removing the ban on rhino horns and tiger parts in “medicine” the list goes on and on is pretty not cool in my book.
I also like the fact with certain companies, you can put a face and have a conversation with the person that machined your toy. That’s cool.
One last thing, Yoyofriends… they machine their own stuff (I could be wrong here) yet sell them like someone else did… not right, But people will buy it.
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You act as if larger corporations would be willing to pay employees a decent wage in the US 
The thing about smaller manufacturers making stuff in China is because not only is it cheaper, its way easier and way more accessible. If you go to just a regular machine shop in the US, chances are you’ll have to request a lot more prototypes before the place makes the product correctly. So now, you’ve invested way more money in the project for something that’s probably lower quality than a product you could have had YoyoEmpire machine, just to have a stamp that it is made in the US. If you’re lucky and One Drop likes your idea and has the time to machine it, then that’s an exception. But simply put, US machine shops are not nearly as accessible or do as good of a job as overseas ones.
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If this is the case, then it makes a lot of sense that people would outsource to China.
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Would be cool if the US based yoyo designers / “companies” got together and invested in a US based machine shop of their own.
If 2 dudes in Oregon can do it, others can too.
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Yes! That would be great!
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Ok, so here’s my question for ya, how much money do you think these people make? How much money do you think Jake, owner of G2 makes? Do you have any idea how much CNC machinery costs? One CNC lathe is 10,000 plus. I don’t know many people with tens of thousands of dollars in disposable income. These 2 ‘dudes’ in Oregon were owners of a fully equipped machine shop that specialized in precision machining. They did not suddenly decide to pick up making yoyos and buy all of their machinery. Lets factor in the education as well, machinists actually do take classes to fully learn how to operate machinery, change tooling paths, repair equipment, clean it, etc. It’s not nearly as easy as just inputting the CAD and your product pops out.
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Come on you guys. This is all about price and quality.
Even Jake from G2 said China manufacturing is actually better than his american shops now, and he’s super picky about this stuff! Once you factor in the price difference… it’s no contest.
You cannot tell me that if I said
Here’s this $180 yo-yo PROUDLY made in the USA
versus
Here’s exactly the same yo-yo for $100
you’d pony up an extra $80 just for the privilege of being made in the USA?
Come on. Just… come on, guys. Be realistic.
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Those 2 dudes spent a metric ton to position themselves for that, and they dealt with a lot of slack for the position it put them in within the community (from myself and others). I’m glad they shelled out and glad they weathered it.
As people have said, whether you’re a colossal corporation or someone with an idea doing it for the love, you’re going to go with what’s simplest while giving you the most bang for your buck. Not going to waste an iota of hate on the companies (big or small) who see the best path to a product they can share by producing in China, nor on the Chinese craftsmen who are trying to make ends meet like anyone else. We have seen an explosion in consistency AND in lower cost product since these paths have been established.
I’m with Aaron in that (for a lot of things) I like to know the story, the history, the materials of products I buy, and I don’t mind shelling out for stuff when it’s really clear that it comes from a corporate citizen I respect. But when it comes to aluminum yo-yo’s, there’s no way to extricate all the good the community has taken from the surplus of awesome metals from the availability/quality of Chinese machining.
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Also, why not “designed in America?” I mean your phone wasn’t manufactured in the US, but all the software that matters and powers literally every interaction with the device was built here, pretty much from scratch, from first principles. Both iOS and Android started with UNIX… that’s as American as got-dang apple pie and it is everrrrryyyyywherrrrre.
Really who cares where something was manufactured? Who designed it… now that’s the relevant question.
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I’m not downplaying what OD did. Point is, they started somewhere. Others can too.
Why not help change the game.
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Hi, here is my take on this situations as I have some insights as I work closely with an oem in China. There are alot more machine shops capable of producing yoyos than other places, thus giving people more choices to go there, a yoyo has to go to proto phases and overall China takes much less time for each proto to be produced. China also does not lose against US in manufacturing now and some places the cost are the same or even higher because their quality is there. Yoyofriends for example is definitely helping out US as they are helping retailers making a profit too, not to mention 5/6 players are also from the US. Think of it more of a collaboration that benefits the customer and the players in the end. I get your point but this is something that benefits all of the yoyo lovers out there.
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One thing that doesn’t always bother me about yoyos made in China, is that those shops are good shops. They aren’t slave labor shops. Most of the big companies have been to these shops and chose them because they are small family shops making a really good product.
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There are many good points made here.
It seems to me from reading your responses that China simply offer more and better qualilty services to make yoyos. They have the time and the specialised skills needed, whereas many countries where the companies are situated, don’t.
Its a collaboration that benefits everyone involved.
I won’t look at so one dimensionally anymore.
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We do machine our own stuff, but remember we are also helping out the retailers like yoyoexpert here too. We have insane quality control and our machining cost equal or even more than Onedrop because of it. We also support the players as 5/6 of our players are US and we sponsor contest in US too, like last year we are a gold sponsor of US national yoyo contest even tho we were a really really small company. I run most of the operation of the yoyofriends and learned that in the end it is beneficial for both the manufactures and also the retailers, but most importantly it is most beneficial for the players and the customers.
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You know what…
This thread is awesome.
Good points made by people who have both expertise and opinions on economics and a bit of philosophy. And people willing to view a subject from a different perspective with an open mind to considering another viewpoint.
Well done folks. Well done.
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