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This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: Hardy Greys News Update
Hardy Greys News Update
- Thread starter FishingMagic
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Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
Another GB company on its way out to cheap **** from China!
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
Well I have a number of Greys rods plus Chub clothing and other accessories.
They have an excellent reputation for good customer service. In my experience I can't fault them.
Maybe they just overpriced the Hardy gear when there ate rods and reals on the Market at a fraction of the price.
They have an excellent reputation for good customer service. In my experience I can't fault them.
Maybe they just overpriced the Hardy gear when there ate rods and reals on the Market at a fraction of the price.
dezza
Well-known member
As a person who in the past was involved with Chinese manufactured products, I can assure everyone that not everything that China, or other countries in the far east make is ****. China can make some superb products, notably in the high tech side of manufacturing which includes computer equipment.
A number of the top fly rods as well as the vast majority of coarse and salt water rods, reels and other gear is made there. China can make to a price, as well as make to the highest quality you want.
Fact!
The only thing worse than cheap #### from China is very expensive #### from China!
My EWS wading jacket with very poor quality stitching which after about 4 months is starting to come apart,guiding trousers not as old covered in pilling fabric on the seat from sitting on rocks,EWS fleece zip won't go more than halfway all Made In China despite total cost of about £350.
My EWS wading jacket with very poor quality stitching which after about 4 months is starting to come apart,guiding trousers not as old covered in pilling fabric on the seat from sitting on rocks,EWS fleece zip won't go more than halfway all Made In China despite total cost of about £350.
sam vimes
Well-known member
Always makes me giggle a little when folks slag off Chinese manufacturing on the internet. Where do you think pretty much all of the kit you are using to post is made?
I really don't mind where anything is made as long as the importer has a robust incoming QC which weeds out the non compliant goods so we don't have to have the hassle of returning or replacing them.
If somebody is selling a jacket costing £250 they should be making certain that the fabric and the construction is to original specification which is much easier with UK manufacturing and leave the Chinese to churn out the lower end where you would expect it to fall apart after 6 months.
Contrast this with my Musto shooting coat made in Essex now in its 15th year and although it has a certain patina is still waterproof and all the seams intact .
If somebody is selling a jacket costing £250 they should be making certain that the fabric and the construction is to original specification which is much easier with UK manufacturing and leave the Chinese to churn out the lower end where you would expect it to fall apart after 6 months.
Contrast this with my Musto shooting coat made in Essex now in its 15th year and although it has a certain patina is still waterproof and all the seams intact .
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sam vimes
Well-known member
I quite agree, but all that is the fault of the brand name importer and not the Chinese manufacturer, who will do whatever they are paid to do.
If QC, materials and workmanship is rubbish it's because the importer has paid too little in an effort to maximize profits.
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
Perhaps my opening comment was a bit quick off the mark and unfair.
To clarify: perhaps Hardy is the latest company to be effected by the more competitive priced products offered by far eastern manufacturers.
Why pay £350 for a rod when you can buy one that is equally as good but only costs £150?
Often a product is sold at a relatively high price, not because it is any better than its lower priced competitor, but because it cost more to produce in the first place (antiquated, inefficient manufacturing methods, high material costs, high labour costs). Also, some manufacturers aim for an 'up market' customer base and do this by pricing aimed at the wealthier customer - some times this can back fire!
To clarify: perhaps Hardy is the latest company to be effected by the more competitive priced products offered by far eastern manufacturers.
Why pay £350 for a rod when you can buy one that is equally as good but only costs £150?
Often a product is sold at a relatively high price, not because it is any better than its lower priced competitor, but because it cost more to produce in the first place (antiquated, inefficient manufacturing methods, high material costs, high labour costs). Also, some manufacturers aim for an 'up market' customer base and do this by pricing aimed at the wealthier customer - some times this can back fire!
Jeff Woodhouse
Moaning Marlow Meldrew
Korum too. I met one of their sales chaps at the trade stand recently and was salivating over new range of rods. Asked the RRP and was told £49.99
WHAT?
He said that they had researched the market and found a lot of anglers fishing commercials and that £50 was about the price they wanted to pay and previously Korum had been ignoring that market. I'd have like to have had more of a look and even a test of them, but they did look superb rods for the money.
When I worked in Manchester I knew a few Jewish tailors and for one suit chose the Cohen brothers on Corporation Street. I got a suit (being in the materials trade I provided the cloth) fully made up for £25 and asked if that was typical of their pricing. "Oh no." he said "Had you driven up to the front door in a Rolls Royce, you would have paid £160 for that suit and if we didn't charge that you would probably have walked away, oy vey."
(I threw that last 'oy vey' in to give it credibility.
True story though.)'A market is never saturated with a good product but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one'
Henry Ford
There are lots of products which are aimed at a particular segment of the market and sold at a high premium specifically to make them exclusive but normally the quality is such that the price is often quickly forgotten given the pleasure of ownership,clearly if the quality is poor the reverse is true.
You've only got to look at something like a Chris Lythe centrepin at £500 a pop with a 2 year waiting list and Barder cane rods at up to £2K to understand that there is definately still a market for high end tackle so it's not strictly true to say the market is completely flat there are people who will still pay a premium for high quality you just need to keep the balance between margin and quality this is where I think Hardy have fallen down recently as the gap has been narrowed by other companies now offering high quality and lower prices.
Henry Ford
There are lots of products which are aimed at a particular segment of the market and sold at a high premium specifically to make them exclusive but normally the quality is such that the price is often quickly forgotten given the pleasure of ownership,clearly if the quality is poor the reverse is true.
You've only got to look at something like a Chris Lythe centrepin at £500 a pop with a 2 year waiting list and Barder cane rods at up to £2K to understand that there is definately still a market for high end tackle so it's not strictly true to say the market is completely flat there are people who will still pay a premium for high quality you just need to keep the balance between margin and quality this is where I think Hardy have fallen down recently as the gap has been narrowed by other companies now offering high quality and lower prices.