Is “Made in China” Making It Impossible to Sell Small Line Products?

These days, with so many imports coming from China and flooding the market with imitation art and cheap knock offs, it’s becoming harder and harder for contemporary designers to sell small line products anymore. We simply can’t compete with the prices they are offering, and with the state of the economy, it’s hard to push quality over price to the general public. That’s not to say it can’t be done, however.

The consumer market knows that “Made in China” translates into cheap, inferior products that probably won’t last very long in the average household. When given the choice, consumers would rather have a product that was of higher quality and would endure over the years because of the superior craftsmanship and quality materials. It’s simply a matter of appealing to that sense of preservation. Ask yourself, would you rather buy a cheaper item now, knowing that you’ll just have to replace it in a couple of months, or would you rather pay a little more for something that will endure for years?

Ultimately, having to purchase a product over and over again will amount to more than the original purchase price of a quality product and most consumers realize this. Also, when it comes to functional art, like lighting fixtures, “Made in China” is not an investment that will bring any value to the consumer in the long run. But having a quality, genuine piece of functional art from a real lighting designer will.

You also need to take into consideration the very justified fear that China is not only producing inferior products, but dangerous products as well. The lead in children’s toys and the dangerous ingredients in pet food a few years ago have cut import sales drastically and have created an almost panicked search for alternative products that are made outside of China.

Here’s where contemporary designers can come in and offer small line products, like the wall lamps we have at Iris Design Studio, that are made of safe, quality materials. By offering smaller line products, you can also increase the sales of some of your bigger items. People tend to not want to bite off a big purchase in this economy unless they are sure they are getting a good product. If you offer smaller, less expensive products for them to “test” the quality of your products and help create a sense of brand loyalty, they may be more inclined to purchase something a bit more expensive next time.

If nothing else, as long as the “Made in China” label continues to be identified with cheap, inferior products, consumers will soon come to realize that, in the end, quality beats cheap every time.