New Website Makes It Easier to Buy American

[BJJ-Blue]

"Finding an American-made product these days is a rarity: From the clothes we wear to the television sets we watch, everything seems to be manufactured overseas.

Inspired by the dearth of domestic goods, one man has started a new website dedicated to American products.

“It’s very difficult,” said Turlock, Calif. resident Debbie Coffman, “Everything’s made in China or Japan.”

Fellow Californian John Lolonis also makes it a point to buy American. “Spend a lot of time looking if it’s an American brand, but it’s hard (to find),” he said.

To help make the search a lot easier, Oakdale resident Jamie Norwood started the website “www.digusout.com," which lists companies that sell “made in the USA” products. It’s free to sign up, and the only requirement is that at least 50% of the product must be made in America.

Norwood came up with the idea when she was brainstorming ways to get the economy back on track. “One common sense solution to bring jobs back to the United States is to buy ‘made in the USA’ products,” she said.

The website has all sorts of items; apparel, furniture, food, and it even lists American getaways."

Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...an/?test=faces

[sanjuro_ronin]

No offense, but if the US made superior products at reasonable prices, people would by American, period.
This whole "buy American" thing strikes me as a huge inferiority complex.

" By american because we need you to" !!

[MasterKiller]

No offense, but if the US made superior products at reasonable prices, people would by American, period.
This whole "buy American" thing strikes me as a huge inferiority complex.

" By american because we need you to" !!

Word to your mother, SR.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I just bought a 65 Ton ironworker for my company.
It was made in Canada ( Edmonton).
Did I buy it because it was made in Canada?
Nope.
It gave me the best value for the buck compared to the other ones ( a couple of American and a couple from Eastern Europe).
I got more options, more tooling and a bigger shearing surface then the other comparable models.
Was it the cheapest one?
Nope, but it was the best value for what I was paying and it was in the limit of the budget.

[BJJ-Blue]

No offense, but if the US made superior products at reasonable prices, people would by American, period.
This whole "buy American" thing strikes me as a huge inferiority complex.

We make superior products, it's just that we can't do it anymore. There are many things we can't manufacture here anymore due to regulations, the new light bulbs are a perfect example. Take my industry, high tech. Look up 'wafer fabrication'. See what chemicals and processes are involved. Those things are so over-regulated that most new fabs are being built overseas because it's just no longer cost effective after all the permits, laws, red tape, and regulations you have to deal with in the US.

A few years ago I had AutoMeter gauges installed in my car. The guy who installed them called me the next day saying I needed to go back where I bought them and get a new oil pressure sending unit because this one was defective. I told him the gauges were brand new, still in the box and I'd never had issues with AutoMeters in the past. He said since AutoMeter started making the parts in Taiwan, about 10% failed out of the box. So I exchanged the sending unit and he finished the job. Two months later the sending unit went out again.

[Drake]

It's an unreasonable assumption to say that just because it was made outside of the US, it has a higher rate of failure. I'll take a German-engineered car before an American one.

I'll also rely more heavily on Japanese electronics than those from elsewhere.

The trust issues come from cheap Chinese work, as well as other developing nations. But, you get what you pay for.

[David Jamieson]

true. "you get what you pay for" is key.
due diligence is required on any big ticket item.

so many people complain about the crappy quality of their 350$ computer 4 months down the line

[SoCo KungFu]

No offense, but if the US made superior products at reasonable prices, people would by American, period.
This whole "buy American" thing strikes me as a huge inferiority complex.

" By american because we need you to" !!

True that. Capitalism at work. Isn't that what all these teabaggers keep railing about? Funny. I don't buy American because its overpriced and crap quality. I had a pair of New Balance, they were trashed in 2 months. Only put about 100 or so miles on them. My Nikes I've had for 4 years now. Only now looking to replace them. My Nissan? Going 10 years strong now. And was cheaper than the craptastic gas guzzling rolling fireballs that the US makers put out. My computer, Asus. Came $200 cheaper than comparable HP and Dell (and Japanese models for that matter) and has a lot of the same parts (since they use Asus made parts in their comps). Just a lesser known name, but in my experience much better customer service.

[BJJ-Blue]

We all have different experiences. I'm a car guy, so I work on my car and frequent car forums. It's common knowledge that Craftsman tools quality nosedived when they started making them in China, just as AutoMeter gauges quality took a huge hit when they moved production to Taiwan. Craftsman tools are so bad many people who bought them for years stopped even though Sears still offers a lifetime guarantee on them. See, even if they honor the guarantee, its stil a pain to have to constantly go up to Sears to replace their crappy made tools. It's easier to buy brands like Snap-On, even if they cost a little more. Working on cars, or anything else for matter, can be a big enough pain without having to worry about your tools reliability constantly.

[Drake]

We all have different experiences. I'm a car guy, so I work on my car and frequent car forums. It's common knowledge that Craftsman tools quality nosedived when they started making them in China, just as AutoMeter gauges quality took a huge hit when they moved production to Taiwan. Craftsman tools are so bad many people who bought them for years stopped even though Sears still offers a lifetime guarantee on them. See, even if they honor the guarantee, its stil a pain to have to constantly go up to Sears to replace their crappy made tools. It's easier to buy brands like Snap-On, even if they cost a little more. Working on cars, or anything else for matter, can be a big enough pain without having to worry about your tools reliability constantly.

German tools and parts are awesome. You'll pay a hefty premium for the quality, though.

[BJJ-Blue]

I'll take a German-engineered car before an American one.

"For the first time in the history of the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, domestic car makers beat their European and Asian rivals in vehicle reliability. Toyota, long the king in reliability for non-luxury brands, dropped 15 places while Ford moved into first place."

Complete article:
http://www.newcars.com/news/jd-power...ability-survey

And the cost to repair German cars is generally much higher than the cost to repair American and Japanese cars.

[BJJ-Blue]

German tools and parts are awesome. You'll pay a hefty premium for the quality, though.

I agree. But I do try and buy American when at all possible.

When I owned a Bug, I never bought Brazilian made parts, only German made parts.

[Drake]

"For the first time in the history of the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, domestic car makers beat their European and Asian rivals in vehicle reliability. Toyota, long the king in reliability for non-luxury brands, dropped 15 places while Ford moved into first place."

Complete article:
http://www.newcars.com/news/jd-power...ability-survey

And the cost to repair German cars is generally much higher than the cost to repair American and Japanese cars.

Whoever wrote that article never got past the first click. OVERALL ratings have European cars as the top 4. http://www.jdpower.com/Autos