Of course I want to buy American

[bassfiend72]

Let me start by admitting to purchasing Chinese made lures. Accessories. Well everything that has to do with my fishing passion. I am in the market some new rods. I was thinking I don’t really have a choice do I? Rod accessories still will most likely come from a company that uses chinese factories. I believe even Fuji uses chinese factories. Of course these times gets me thinking about trying to support the USA. Really I am at fault for not trying to do this more in the past. 

[waynem]

Its going to be interesting to see what happens to sales from China to the USA (and the world in general).  The virus was definitely not a made-in-the-lab creation.  However there is increasing information that the Wuhan biolab was investigating bat coronaviruses.  The media has recovered since-deleted job openings postings there for scientists to work on such viruses.  If it did come from there I believe it was an accidental leak, much like the 2 earlier SARS leaks from Chinese labs.  It is crystal clear that the Chinese government covered up the outbreak until it got too big to conceal.  There is no way China will ever tell the world exactly what happened.

A year from now will it be business as usual with buying from China?  Unfortunately lots of folks are still going to buy from the cheapest source.  I think the only way we significantly move away from China is if the US government puts something like a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods.  That would drive people to buy from other cheap labor countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico, etc. and would also give the USA a better shot at selling our own manufactured goods to our citizens.  It will be interesting to see if Trump or Biden along with Congress has the balls to do this.

[tHeINFamoUS]

I think it’ll be tough to find any complete product that’s manufactured 100% in the USA. You can check in with the following, if not 100% they’re probably pretty close.  

Edge Rods, rods made in USA, blanks from nfc.  

North Fork Composites, blanks made in USA, I think the drt rods are built on nfc blanks, how’s that for irony.

I built a few 8 and 9’ United Composites  blanks for swimbaiting, blanks made in USA.  I like these a lot. 

Thrasher Rods, Blanks made in USA, Pretty sure they used to have a swimbait blank, can’t find on website now.  They can also custom wrap the rod for you, worth an email to get info.

Batson Mfg/Rainshadow, US company, they have a diverse catalog with blanks and components in multiple price points, some products are US made and others outsourced.  Worth an email to the company to get info.

Seeker rods are made in USA, I’ve used a couple of their inshore rods for swimbaits and I have a Seeker Tac 79 model rod sitting in my lathe right now getting built.  It’s gonna be used for inshore saltwater but during static testing I got to pull on the blank a bit and think it has potential for swimbaits.  
 

Edited April 19, 2020 by tHeINFamoUS

[bigpoppabass]

I am fortunate living in Nashua NH to support a local dealer (a retired vet) who also repairs reels and rods. He has a huge selection of stuff. This is another route to help local folks. 

P.S.  I have read discussions on net that tw on the side allows the "excluded" Shimano discounts to apply to their specials. They screw the tiny local dealers whose contracts say no price reductions.

Edited April 19, 2020 by bigpoppabass

[waynem]

15 hours ago, bigpoppabass said:

I am fortunate living in Nashua NH to support a local dealer (a retired vet) who also repairs reels and rods. He has a huge selection of stuff. This is another route to help local folks. 

P.S.  I have read discussions on net that tw on the side allows the "excluded" Shimano discounts to apply to their specials. They screw the tiny local dealers whose contracts say no price reductions.

My understanding is that Shimano (and some other brands) does not allow sellers to advertise below retail prices, but the sellers can still sell at the lower price if not advertised.  On the big TW sales you don't need to call about the "excluded" items - just put them in your cart and the discounted price appears.  Thats how it works for me.  Other places like American Legacy have you send an email requesting the lower pricing, again because they can sell at those prices but are prohibited from advertising them.

[bigpoppabass]

1 hour ago, waynem said:

My understanding is that Shimano (and some other brands) does not allow sellers to advertise below retail prices, but the sellers can still sell at the lower price if not advertised.  On the big TW sales you don't need to call about the "excluded" items - just put them in your cart and the discounted price appears.  Thats how it works for me.  Other places like American Legacy have you send an email requesting the lower pricing, again because they can sell at those prices but are prohibited from advertising them.

That's not how Roy L explained it to me when he was a shimano rep. Same was told to me by Joe Catalano who owns the shop I am talking about. Also BPS never discounts Shimano, and I was told same thing in the store.  But maybe there is a loophole in the contract the dealers never read. 

[waynem]

3 hours ago, bigpoppabass said:

That's not how Roy L explained it to me when he was a Shimano rep. Same was told to me by Joe Catalano who owns the shop I am talking about. Also BPS never discounts Shimano, and I was told same thing in the store.  But maybe there is a loophole in the contract the dealers never read. 

You may be correct as applies to smaller shops.  The online places I order from seem to discount the "excluded" items during sales in one way or another.  It sucks if they allow the big shops to do this but not the smaller guys..

[bigpoppabass]

1 hour ago, waynem said:

You may be correct as applies to smaller shops.  The online places I order from seem to discount the "excluded" items during sales in one way or another.  It sucks if they allow the big shops to do this but not the smaller guys..

I am a hypocrite I admit. There is no way I would have acquired my 301 and Calcutta D collection from other su members.  I am fairly certain many used discounted gift cards and the 20% tw discount offer to get em. 

Edited April 20, 2020 by bigpoppabass

[chefchris]

6 hours ago, bigpoppabass said:

That's not how Roy L explained it to me when he was a Shimano rep. Same was told to me by Joe Catalano who owns the shop I am talking about. Also BPS never discounts Shimano, and I was told same thing in the store.  But maybe there is a loophole in the contract the dealers never read. 

The shops do it here in RI and Mass but you have to be in store or call for the discount, the retailer can do whatever they want, they want to sell it a loss or a penny they can, they just can’t publish or publicly advertise it. 
 

I know when I worked for a rod company and outdoor wear company, we had msrp rules, but if the shops want to run discounts or promos that’s on them as long as it wasn’t advertised 

[MA Frog Man]

There are 2 price protecting measures that are being confused here but both apply. MAP pricing (Minimum Advertised Pricing) is the lowest price a store can advertise to the public. This is why TW can't advertise shimano/daiwa/megabass etc sales. 

MSRP is Manufacturer Suggested Retail Pricing. Basically what the manufacturer says you can sell your product for. Technically if you enter in a contract with shimano and break msrp without their consent you can lose your dealer status. This is why its a little tougher to find shimano at a discount than any other reel. The problem is tackle shops are disappearing and brick and mortar is being condensed so you can really do whatever you want. They aren't going to pull dealer status from big box retailers that make up 60% of the market.

Also a point if you buy a shimano from a non authorized dealer like an ebay store or something like that, those reels DO NOT come with warranties. But thats of course only of they ask you for proof of purchase.