Fox or Greys?

[RUDD]

Its the same with all goods.

 

As I have written so many times before, I work for the biggest independant freight forwarding company in the uk.

 

we import for matalan, asda, 3m, whitmans (estee lauder), toshiba, leeda, Ikea, viyela, perkins engines and so many others there are to many to list.

I myself control 75 accounts.

 

In the far east there are massive buying agents, Leedro and Li and fung being to monster companies.

 

I see invoices from these buying agents every day to the various importers who are in competition with each other.

The buying agents basically have control over the factories. One factory may have a production run for Marks and sparks one day and matalan the next using the same materials for both.

the only differance will be the price in the shops.

 

How many factories in china do you think have the machinery to make carbon blanks or mono line?

Not many.

 

Wei he honty make blanks for loads of tackle manufacturers around the world including leeda.

 

Buying prices are dirt cheap but once here are reflected by our lifestyle, economy and inflation.

 

Once the tackle manufacturers have paid their employees, agents, HMCE duties, freight costs, uk transport prices etc etc they dont make much.

Tackle shops then have to add their bit on to cover their costs and make a living.

 

then again I have seen invoices for fully made top of the range match rods for 25.00 per rod that cost 300.00 in the shops!!!!!!!!!!!

[randal]

[ 11. January 2005, 03:24 PM: Message edited by: randal ]

[yog]

Ruddy,,thats absolutly amazing!!!,,i think the best thing to do as far as tackle buying goes is if you buy a product and like it and happy with it.....stick with it,despite the price!!! cuz we aint gonna beat the system :-}!!

[chevin]

I think that prices also depend on which country you are in. The price of so many things seem to be related to the currency unit of a particular country. For example, there are roughly 2.8 Aussie dollars to the British Pound. Therefore, you would expect an Abu Ambassadeur 7000 which costs about £170.00 in the UK to cost AU$476.00 in Oz. It doesn't, it costs about $170. The same thing applies to so many things it's not funny. Makes holidays abroad very expensive for us, but very cheap for you guys in the UK.

[yog]

Chevin,,i"m on the next plane over mate!!!! :-}

[Severn Wolf]

Rudd, seroiously, can you lay your hands on any? Totally legit of course. I`m not on about ones and twos here by the way!!!

[RJ]

Peter,

Take a Greys Prodigy, a Prologic and a Ron Thompson C14 carp rod.

 

You are holding the same blank!!

 

The Prologic is the upgrade version of the C14, having SIC rings and genuine fuji reel seat and better butt grip. (Both rods being built by Svendsen Sports)

 

If you take all 3 rods and lay them next to each other it becomes obvious. All three have the same braided butts, all three have the same plain tips, all three have the same braided reinforcement on the tip joint. There are a couple of other companies who are using this very blank as well.

 

I have not seen a Fox rod that has the same blank construction, BUT, the cheaper Fox rods do come from abroad.

 

I think you would be supprised at how few blank manufacturers there are and how many companies use the same blanks.

[Peter Waller]

I've had a Shakespeare lure rod with which the sections were interchangeable with an ABU rod. A Shakespeare float rod that was interchangeable with a Shimano rod that cost considerably more. So that was why I posed the question in the first place. Its so easy to pay for a 'name' and get no practical advantage by doing so.

[Andrew Boyd]

Not ashamed to say that many of my rods come from cheap companies, the blanks are great for the purpose and I re-fit with better rings, reel seat etc. Not to expensive and I enjoy working on each project on a cold winter evening. Drives my wife mad !

Though just bought a pair of Diawa Barbel rods and for the money they are excellent. We all have different ideas, it's just that some guys ( and girls ) like to show off the label.

Ron Thompson and the like will assist reduce the competitions prices in the right direction to what you find in the U.S and Aus etc. Which takes us back to the Centrepin thread !!

[chevin]

simon youell:

Chevin,,i"m on the next plane over mate!!!! :-}

More British anglers, particularly sea anglers, snorkelers and scuba divers should take advantage of the exchange rate as it is at the moment. For £1,000 you will get AU$2,800 and that will do - in many cases - what £2,800 pounds would do in the UK.

 

For example, I have taken some English anglers to Exmouth. We use my boat, my 4 x 4 and my camping gear. I can also make some rods available but none of my Abu reels or graphite rods. I don't set out to make any money, I just want a free holiday out of it, so whoever I take pays for everything. Fuel, bait, campsite fees and food. A week for two costs about $1500 which is a fair amount of money for us. However, for British visitors it is about £500! A cheap holiday for fishing as good as it can be there. Anyone interested in such a trip is welcome to contact me by PM or e-mail.

 

One of those I took is Waveney One and he wrote an account of the trip in the sea fishing forum entitled Exmouth Trip.

 

[ 13. January 2005, 04:41 AM: Message edited by: chevin ]