Bought a new electric kettle at ASDA - only £3.
It made me think - how much would a 13 amp plug cost if we still had to buy one when we bought an appliance? I recall they used to be about £1:50 in the good old days (for a white one)
Bought a new electric kettle at ASDA - only £3.
It made me think - how much would a 13 amp plug cost if we still had to buy one when we bought an appliance? I recall they used to be about £1:50 in the good old days (for a white one)
CPC do them for 33p each, or 26p each if you buy 20...!
Do you not wonder what kind of exploitation is going on to provide you with a £3 kettle?
Possibly the same that provides a £20 kettle which has had an 'acceptable / known' transfer stuck on it to give the retailer a bigger profit. The far eastern factory probably sells them for £1 to whoever will take them - and will stick a name on to suit.
Re: Plugs - I seem to recall in the 60's / 70's that they cost over £1. I wasn't reflecting on the current price of a plug - which has been subjected to the same shift in manufacturing origins and methods.
Possibly more expensive devices do simply represent a bigger mark-up, with equal exploitation at the actual manufacturing stage. I don't know.
And how can a far eastern factory produce something like that for £1 ? Once agin, the question is: what kind of exploitation is going on to provide you with a kettle at that price?
I have no doubt that a huge amount of exploitation goes on, but looking at prices or pay rates can be very misleading without looking at the relative buying power, cost of living, etc.
SteveW
If it's anything like the 3 pound kettle that I have, it won't automatically turn off when boiling, it'll just have an "empty" (one time use) cut out.
So there is a difference, but your general point is accepted.
tim
And once again, the counter question is: why do you think an expensive one will involve less exploitation?
Andy
Switches off fine when boiling - seems to be the same internals as my old ' branded' kettle which is still working after about 12 years - but the base contacts got dodgy.
Probably made at "Honourable Kettle Factory - suppliers of kettles to the whole world" - on same site as "Grand Chinese Toaster Factory - any label you like"
ITYM "Lucky Golden Hedgehog"
Owain
Possibly its the choice between starve to death or work in a kettle factory & earn enough to eat.
Nothing new here. Happened in England during the industrial revolution. Question is, does the average Chinese consider himself better off? Probably yes.
there have been plenty of tv programs showing what exploitation goes on. If you dont buy, the workers get nothing.
It makes me wonder what exploitation was going on when they cost =C2=A312 a go. One of the good sides of this credit crunch is prices start getting real.
NT
Absolutely - it's totally simplistic just to make assumptions.
Example: about 5 years ago I visited Thailand with my family and took the chance to get off the tourist trail a bit. I remember in particular visiting a restaurant in a small town where we had a fantastic slap-up meal for five: total cost (including beers) was 3 GBP.
This wasn't some wooden hut in the middle of a jungle but a very clean and respectable 'proper' restaurant and clearly we paid the going rate to make the place viable - we'd have paid 20 or 30 times that much for an equivalent meal back home.
We were still pretty surprised at how little it cost, and I think we gave a tip of two quid; which we realised afterwards was actually the wrong thing to do. The owner was mortified by the 'huge' amount we left, and with hindsight it probably seemed really patronising: bit like a wealthy American tourist dropping a bundle of fifties as a tip in a UK restaurant (though I doubt that would cause much embarrassment here!)
David
Although the
One of the good sides of this credit crunch is prices start getting real.
Not when prices are based on US dollars, and the UK pound is low against that.
The expensive one involves *more* exploitation - of the customer.
Do you know for a fact the factory isn't totally automated?
Steering slightly off topic.... I've recently realised what an obscene rip off the prices of kitchen cabinets are. I mean in terms of comparing them as a collection of self assembly slabs of laminated chip board. Just choosing at random fromthe B&Q web site.
2 Drawer Chest Beech Effect - £25 and IT Kitchen 30cm wide wall cabinet £35 (claiming 'Half Price' uhuh!)The 2 drawer chest has some 'decorative' or even 'lifestyle' quality
The kitchen cabinets appearance is entirely nominal.
Am I missing something?
Arthur
He he, LG was "Lucky Goldstar" but they are trying to drop that link these days and be know only as LG.
On the other hand, some IKEA stuff is so cheap you couldn't buy the timber for the price of the complete item.
Coffee tables & wooden shelving are good examples.
As they usually earn enough to send some home to the rest of the family, I would agree.
ISTM that the main problem with the sweatshop factories is the conditions that workers are expected to endure, not the wages
tim
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