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How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

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Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#311
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Completely barking mad Well, we'll see that and raise you the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The EU could get rid of this idiocy overnight, except - well - France. (I have nothing against the French, I've visited France dozens of times and have many friends there.) "Once a month the European Parliament moves from Brussels to Strasbourg at a cost of £150m a year as lorries transport paperwork."[0] "Top EU offici…

Pretty sure you could engineer France leaving the EU by just tweaking fishing quotas, farming subsidy, naming on sparkling wine or removing (as you mention) strasbourg. They will start a riot and then when you don't give in, they'll be gone. I'm not saying it's what happened to the UK, but we asked for what we needed, got turned down and then left.

> They will start a riot and then when you don't give in, they'll be gone

If you haven't already done so, read up on TARGET2[0], things could get somewhat spicy if a Eurozone country were to leave the EU.

[0] https://data.ecb.europa.eu/publications/ecbeurosystem-policy...

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy Croc knockoffs at the "Dollar Store" yet Crocs still exists. Why? Is it purely first-mover advantage/brand or is there an engineering edge?

There are _some_ differences in quality, but I think they're pretty minor. I recently visited the Philippines and a friend bought some knockoff Crocs at a market. The little rivet thing holding the strap to the shoe had the logo printed right on the exposed plastic, and after a few days, the logo was mostly scratched off. But my wife's Crocs that she bought a decade ago still look fine because there's some sort of se…

Do Crocs bought today match up to those old ones?

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#314
I've always wondered why the supply chain has exponential price increase at each step. The example given (guessed at) is the factory produces the shoe for $12.5 and sells it to Nike for $25. Nike then sells it to Footlocker for $50 and they then sell to a customer for $100. Everyone expects to mark up their costs by about 100 percent. Why is that the case? Even if we say the markup isn't 100 percent, why is it a percentage of cost at all? If the shoe factory can make $12 then why can't Nike and Footlocker both make $12 and retail the shoe for $50?

I'm not saying things should be different, just wondering why it is the way it is. If Footlocker was also selling some cheapo shoe for $50 presumably they do the same amount of work to bring that to the store. Are they only paying $25 for those? Why does it cost half for them to handle a cheaper shoe?

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

fun fact: sneakers are already $150. went shoe shopping at a "sketchers warehouse" and found a pair that fit well and noped them back on the shelf when I checked the price.

My sneakers have been $200* for the past 5 years but then they're made in the USA. It's time to buy a new pair. * - I have a large foot and believe I'm paying primarily for the materials in my shoes, which easily weigh twice what my friends' shoe do!

Unless you're getting goretex or leather (and even then, shoes are small), there's not really anything in a shoe besides a bit of rubber, some EVA foam, and probably some plastic mesh. The materials cost is very low.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#316

I've always wondered why the supply chain has exponential price increase at each step. The example given (guessed at) is the factory produces the shoe for $12.5 and sells it to Nike for $25. Nike then sells it to Footlocker for $50 and they then sell to a customer for $100. Everyone expects to mark up their costs by about 100 percent. Why is that the case? Even if we say the markup isn't 100 percent, why is it a perc…

Isn’t this simply taking advantage of what the market is willing to pay?

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#317
post #42

Americans need to get over their view of “Asia” as being about making shoes. When I was working in engineering in the early aughts, we mocked the Chinese as being able only to copy American technology. Today, China is competitive with or ahead of America in key technology areas, including nuclear power, AI, EVs, and batteries. We need to anticipate a future where China is equal to America on a per capita basis, but f…

Maybe it will come full circle and the US will commit IP theft to catch up to the dominant Chinese companies.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that that future of a big powerful China doesn't exist. Their birth-rate is 1. Game-over.

The USA is also below replacement levels.

Not with immigration.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#319
post #123

Are comfortable and repairable shoes possible and sensible from an economic point of view? Any recommendations?

I have 4 pairs of Allen Edmonds shoes. The oldest pair is 6 or 7 years old. With some light care (conditioning / polishing) they've held up very well. To address another comment about comfort: They're quite uncomfortable at first. Over time the leather (and cork insoles) mold to your foot. Making them comfortable.

These are leather dress shoes though. As far as I know, this doesn't exist in the athletic shoe world. Considering the materials used in athletic shoes, I don't know how a "repairable" athletic shoe could exist without some serious re-engineering.

Re: How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember to carry your passport at all times, as you'll need it to buy a train ticket. Even a simple metro ticket. You can also smile at the CCTV cameras, which are in groups every 100m or so within cities.

Train tickets sure, for the high speed rail, but metro? Not in Shanghai at least

Metro ticket machines in Beijing won't sell a ticket until you've scanned an identity card.

Tourists must wait at the ticket window. Foreigners aren't usually asked to show the passport unless they look Chinese.

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