Would you buy a $22 American made shovel when an $8 China made one is available?

[quakerboy]

161. I am the opposite.

On the shoes, in a heartbeat. The shovel is a little harder.

The shovel I will probably use a season, and then be done with. I don't really have an outdoor area or a need for a lasting one. So I would struggle with the need to pay more for a higher quality item. As long as I remain in a position to do so, I try to buy american. But sometimes I struggle with it, just due to cost.

Shoes, on the other hand, go on my feet pretty much every day for many hours. And I have noticed a vast quality difference in US vs Chinese production. Even with my preferred footwear, Chaco Sandals. A few years back their production moved to china. The sandals are not as well made, even though they are theoretically identical.

I will pay the extra 25 bucks to have them custom make me a pair in their US repair facility rather than buy the Chinese ones. The US made ones last me years of constant use. The Chinese ones only last a year, there is always some defect that comes out right about a year into use.

The commonplace circumstance of not being able to find a single brand of a product in a store or even a bunch of stores that was made in the US is very troubling. I think its a big part of why so many people dont even try. You have to do research to find the single brand of bath towels still made in the US, and you probably cant buy them anywhere local, so there's no way to examine them before you buy.