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Visiting Factories in China as an Entrepreneur
- slackstation 11y agoThey make $350 sheets. Think about that for a second. $350 for cut and sewn planes of linen. I was all about it until I saw the price. Elevated for no reason. They sell it a premium price point to just give the illusion of extreme quality. It's made just like any other linen bed sheets you can buy with a few buttons to connect the top sheet to the duvet. Someone could make a duvet with some buttons and sell it at 1/10th the price.
- 1274749637 11y agoOK, why not you? If this is so easy? You remind me of the people that laugh at modern art, in the MOMA, and say, "I could do this myself." Think beyond the first derivative.
- Houshalter 11y agoWell for the art example, just because someone could make a piece of art doesn't mean they have any interest in doing so. I could squirt paint randomly on a canvas, but it would be a huge waste of time.
- beachstartup 11y ago> 1/10th the price. they always said talk was cheap, but you've handily put an exact figure on it - 90% off!
- j0ncc 11y agoActually, if you price us up against other _linen_ bedding you’ll see that we’re incredibly competitive. Something comparable would cost upwards of $600. Once you factor in the fact that linen lasts up to 10x as long as cotton the price becomes much more stomachable.
- bitewhite 11y agoWhat does your margin end up being? I can imagine that cutting out typical retailer margins, stocking fees, insurance, etc... can cut a $600 bed set to $350 pretty quickly.
- Gustomaximus 11y agoJust because comparable goods are more expensive, doesn't mean you cant cut the price to 1/10th. You're including margin with cost. These are separate variables in pricing. Maybe slackstation has an incorrect view on achievable base material costs but your retort doesn't answer this.
- culturestate 11y agoThis is something I'd genuinely like to know more about. Ikea sells an (ostensibly) 100% linen duvet + pillowcase set for $80; aside from the two sheets, what else makes up the delta?
- walrus01 11y ago" All we had to do was download an app and click on some mysterious Chinese advertisements to top up our data. " This is the sort of shit that keeps network security people awake at night. I bet they enabled third-party app downloads on their Android phones and uninstalled some unknown .apk The future business leaders of America... fuck...
- DanBC 11y ago> The future business leaders of America "All we had to do was download a program and we got free Internet" seems similar, and the dialer-scam was used widely throughout the US.
- Scoundreller 11y agoThe previous sentence about SIM cards: "We tried to buy 3, and we were told they were free." Welcome to not-America. I think the free data reloads are a sign of how cheap mobile bandwidth could be. Maybe they can bring back that practice.
- dheera 11y ago> "All we had to do was download an app and click on some mysterious Chinese advertisements" I'm sure the app was tracking everything about you and selling your personal data. Apps do this in the US too, but just saying -- there are no free lunches. For frequent international travellers, Google Fi and T-mobile both give free international data roaming at 2G/3G speeds, by the way.
- chvid 11y agoWhy does this have to be a scam? Financing a public wifi hotspot by running advertisement is common thru-out the world. Hong Kong has some of the cheapest and fastest internet/mobile network on the planet. Using the same business model with mobile data is a logical evolution.
- beachstartup 11y agowell, it doesn't have to be a scam, but when chinese people do it, it just makes it so much more obvious than when white people do it. they should probably hire some[0] to run these kiosks. [0] http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/china.rent.white.people/ http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/china.rent.white.peop...
- lazzlazzlazz 11y agoWhy is the author seemingly afraid of every new experience? Is this normal?
- ethbro 11y agoI thought authors' account was fairly genuine, instead of trying to pretend that Americans on average consider heads, feet, and cartilage desirable portions of an animal. That said, from a food perspective I could have done with a bit more detail on interesting things they ate and a bit less on the differences between American and foreign McDonald's.
- Michelada 11y agoNice post, but I am disappointed that you did not post the names of the hotels you stayed at. I would have enjoyed details of where you spent your money.
- nakodari 11y agoI am interested in this too. $100/night and $70/night sounds affordable and looking at the picture, the hotel room looked pretty good.
- nakodari 11y agoI am interested in this too. $100/night and $70/night sounds affordable and looking at the picture, the hotel room looked pretty good.
- b0ner_t0ner 11y agoThe Hong Kong one is most definitely Ovolo Southside: http://needwant.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/17.jpeg http://needwant.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/17.jpeg http://www.35mm.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Hong_Kong_06-1024x683.jpg http://www.35mm.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Hong_Kong_...
- pcr0 11y agoI hope you didn't just take taxis around all day. Public transport, especially the trains in Hong Kong are day and night compared to most other countries in terms of pricing, speed and reliability. 6000USD/Month for 600sqft is ridiculous, even by HK standards. It's probably a 5-star serviced apartment, i.e. long-stay hotel. Paying 200 to drive across the border is a rip-off though. There are trains and buses that take you right across for less than $20, in the same amount of time.
- ddeck 11y ago>Paying 200 to drive across the border is a rip-off though Agreed. For anyone planning a similar trip, the train to the border at Lok Ma Chau costs less than US$5 and you can then just walk through immigration. Taxis and the Shenzhen subway are right on the other side.
- robryan 11y agoYou can also get a 5 day Shenzhen only visa at the border for a lot cheaper than the regular Chinese visa. (Although only from the Lo Wu crossing).
- ddeck 11y agoBe aware that U.S. and French citizens are NOT permitted to apply for the 5-day Shenzhen port visa. [1] It's also not guaranteed for other citizens so probably best to get a regular China visa rather than risk being turned back at the border. [1] http://www.travelchina.gov.cn/art/2015/1/30/art_15_45566.html http://www.travelchina.gov.cn/art/2015/1/30/art_15_45566.htm...
- eitally 11y agoRegarding border crossing ... if you haven't crossed into China before, it's quite possibly worth taking a full-service car that has driving privileges on both sides of the border. For a first timer who might not have much international travel experience, disembarking on the HK side, going through customs & immigration unaccompanied, then finding the right transport on the other side and being able to communicate destination, can be daunting. After you've done it once, no problem, but the first time is anxiety inducing. Also, the lines. If you pick the wrong time and you hit the border with tens of buses in line, you're going to have a bad time.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- mdorazio 11y agoI have to wonder if there's a market for people who specialize in helping foreigners do factory tours like this more efficiently. For a few hundred dollars, someone who actually knows China could have easily paid for themselves by preventing ripoffs like the taxi to the border (as others have pointed out, the train is dirt cheap) and the rush visas (you can get them done in HK within 24 hours for way less than $200), and made the whole trip smoother and less stressful. As someone who lived in China, this seems like it would be pretty fun.
- imron 11y agoThis was my first thought on reading the article also.
- idra 11y agoThis market not only exists, but is quite saturated already with plenty of foreigners based in China making a living out of it. I've done this kind of work before and it's only fun the first time, then when it's time to actually deal with the suppliers it becomes stressful on a whole another level.
- joshvm 11y agoDangerous Prototypes run periodic hacker camps which tour the markets in Shenzhen, I think recently they're including a factory tour. The focus is more electronics, but the general principles about navigating the city is probably transferable. http://dangerousprototypes.com/hackercampshenzhen/ http://dangerousprototypes.com/hackercampshenzhen/
- culturestate 11y ago> you can get them done in HK within 24 hours for way less than $200 They didn't mention whether that price included the PRC processing fee, but if it did that's not a terrible deal for having expedited it in the States. Honestly, given some of the crap I've had to go through with PRC immigration, I don't blame anyone for paying extra to make sure everything's in line before they fly 18 hours across the world.
- ePierre 11y agoMy goodness. Their website is made exactly after this article: https://medium.com/slackjaw/template-for-tech-product-announcements-f92830f6a2c4 https://medium.com/slackjaw/template-for-tech-product-announ... As for their story... Well, it's great that they wrote up a summary of their adventures, but I'm appalled at the fact that these three 25-something year old Americans are amazed that in China, people speak Chinese and nothing is written in English... Welcome to the World, I guess!
- garrettgrimsley 11y ago>three 25-something year old Americans It says that they departed from St. Louis, but I don't think that they're American. For one, their English isn't at a native level. Also, at one point in the article they referred to what the vast majority of Americans would call a "soccer ball" a "football." There are many other terms and phrases that I wouldn't expect an American to use, like "China border." Assuming you are American, think about it, do you hear anyone calling it the "Canada border?" No, we say "Canadian border." Maybe Western or Northern European.
- Nr7 11y agoThere is a caption on one image that mentions that at least one of them is from the UK: "There are lots of things in Hong Kong that Jon remembers from the UK, like Lucazade!"
- StavrosK 11y agoWhich is another mistake, since it's "Lucozade", as you can see in the photo right above. Plus, at one point they say "it costed us X".
- ePierre 11y agoFrom http://needwant.com/about/ http://needwant.com/about/ : > Marshall Haas, CEO & Co-Founder: A Texas native… > David Myers, Design & Co-Founder: From New York… > Jason Cox, Head of Operations: Jason was a fashion model in NYC… The only one who's not from the US is > Jon Wheatley, Product & Co-Founder: Born and raised on the south coast of the UK… Are you telling me in addition of not knowing that people in China speak Chinese, they don't know how to write in their own language?
- camkego 11y agoThese poor guys, it seems not one nice thing was said about them or their article. I suspect they will think twice before posting to HN again.
- idra 11y agoThe article is poorly written and they seem absolutely clueless, have too much money (most likely from a trust fund set up by daddy) and too little sense. There's nothing nice to say.
- puranjay 11y agoAs my grandma used to say, if you can't say anything nice, it's better to not say anything at all
- yitchelle 11y agoPartially relevant. Bunnie's guide in doing business with electronic factories and suppliers in Shenzhen. http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4585 http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4585
- nxbtch 11y agoNice post. Quiet true about everything in china. If the labor price is higer in china, these young man probably will visit laos or vietnam
- ww520 11y agoFascinating. Sounds like a 2/3 vacation, 1/3 work, but I guess the time was well spent, as they caught production problems earlier on.
- Renaud 11y agoI enjoyed that account of their experience. It's a bit cliché and naive but not in a bad way. They seem to have genuine wonder for what they encountered and it's an experience that has opened their eyes to a different world and -hopefully- made them question some of their previous beliefs and assumptions about the world. I especially love it when people come to Hong Kong for the first time. I still view that city with the same wonder I had when I arrived 20 years ago, probably why I never left. The account of their visit in China is spot on. It's messy, impossible to fully grasp, completely alien and yet things get done, fast. You better be there during early production if you value your product though. They did well to make the trip.
- TXV 11y agoNice blog post, it makes me remember my early years as a professional in China. Now as a 27 year old who flies back and forth once every 1.5 months to manage a team of 3 Chinese developers, I really miss the times when everything was a discovery and looked so fresh and cool. After a while you get used to it and start noticing all the bad details. It takes away a lot of the enjoyment that pushed me there in the first place. The good part is that China always finds ways to amaze and entertain me.
- kriro 11y agoThis seems like a pretty strange road trip with very little business content. More like a "ZOMG-wow we are in China" (wait you need Visa for that?). I would have been very suspect and have refused to go on that booked vacation. And smoking because you don't want to upset someone...strange. Oh yeah we will just take that click on a bunch of adds thingy..what could possibly go wrong. ALL IN ALL IT WAS WORTH IT.
- homero 11y agoCringe