Comments on online shopping

plj46

I complain A lot, but I can't change this.
  • Jan 7, 2008
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    Do you guys have any idea the average annual compensation for dentists? It's about the Mercedes, not about the cost of doing business.
    In California it's roughly 200K a year.Reasonable for what they do.I know small business owners that make more than that.
     
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    Sailfish17

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    Apr 26, 2023
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    Without getting into politics, I have never used allibabba (and probably never will)... that being said, I have purchased "generic" jigs off ebay and amazon (lets be fair, some of these name brand prices are crazy for what they are).... and I often fish through fish with lots of sharp teeth (cudas, kings, sharks)... and I was first getting into slow-pitch i was in a state of "WTF" seeing some of the prices.... I'm not a dentist, and I don't have a mercedes

    The cheapos definitely catch fish (ocean Cat), but One noticeable difference on these is the finish is definitely not the same.... paint. color, etc will be gone after a few fish.... I guess that's fixable with some paint and flasher tape... but overall I dont feel bad when I lose one (and granted I'm jigging for bottom fish on light tackle and not bluefins like some of you.... I still stick to hooks on the top just in case ;)
     
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    GClev

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    8-strand multicolor.jpg

    Total 6600 yards of depth finder line. With shipping and CALIFORNIA sales tax $145. International line sizes 7.0, 9.0, and 11.0 from this manufacturer translate almost exactly to 8-strand Izorline 60#, 80#, and 100# except for the label on the spool.

    A major metal lure manufacturer posted the link to their full catalog. They make 80 styles and in all the weights from 10 to 800 grams, all the major brands, Shimano, Daiwa, Yo-Zuri and a bunch more, the same exact lures found in my local tackle shop. The only difference is leaving out two or three layers of middlemen.
     
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    luckylogger6

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    While i agree with you i do beleive that most of what the manufacturers are selling to local tackle shops are also imported products from china so shopping local does not insure you are not supporting china,read the labels.
    Check out leadmasters for less expensive lines of jigs,they source their recycled lead as much as possible from shooting ranges and they manufacture everything in the high desert of california.
    Well said. Buying china made crap from your local tackle shop only makes you feel better about buying it.
     
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    bassnet

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    Nov 30, 2003
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    Well said. Buying china made crap from your local tackle shop only makes you feel better about buying it.
    Fished last weekend, my buddy rolled up the bluefin on a certain knife jig- I only got one on a KB- not that it matters, lots of this and that, conditions and stuff... we started looking for that jig he slayed them on, found it was straight outta China. I ordered two from the commies, he found the exact same jig at the local tackle store- so they too ordered them straight outta china and just marked them up. Just what I learned this week. At least we're catching fish, let's go! Oh, btw, we tried to read the Chinese writing on the package, best I could make out was that it says China Vagina. We're going to try the CV jig some more and will report back.
     
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    walter heim

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    Most of the braid I use is Hercules off amazon. Usually, the breaking strength of the braid is about twice that of the top shot, so not the weak link. I suspect that most of the brand name braid is made in China, but I could be wrong. My 2 cents.
     
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    Madmax22

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  • Jun 25, 2019
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    Most of us here live and pay taxes in CA. Just saying. . .

    Personally, I like cheap products without private label markups.

    Ok so you pay taxes which puts more hair gel on ol dipshit. In no way does that help or go toward local business owners nor does it support American made. Infact it probably directly supports ol china town.

    Unfortunately most of the crap sold in any store is made in commie town. Finding made in US can be a challenge in itself when ya look deep enough.
     
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    GClev

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    Polyethylene Fiber Production world wide top 5. All the Chinese braid is sourced from Japan. Our fishing lines are made by the Gel spun process, much like a spider spins a web, except in a chemical gel, not air. The Japanese have a dominant position in high quality machining of the spinarets, the tiny little jets through which melted polyethylene is ejected under pressure into a chemical gel to make the tiny continuous fibers. Production in Kilotons.
    Toray Industries, Inc.Tokyo, Japan49.5
    SGL CarbonWiesbaden, Germany15.0
    MCCFCTokyo, Japan14.3
    Teijin Ltd.Tokyo, Japan12.6
    Hexcel Corp.Stamford, USA12.5

    Polyacrylonitrile and polyethylene are "carbonized" to form the carbon fiber used in our graphite rods. Toray, Japan is a major producer of the graphite fiber.

    And on to Fluorocarbon leaders for sport fishing. Yo-Zuri, also Japanese, makes a decent grade of fluorocarbon suitable for sport fishing. It very much looks like they export it in bulk to China for repackaging in smaller spools. You can find both the pink and the clear on Amazon under the brand name Rikimaru. The same brand is available directly on AliBaba for about half the price at Amazon. It's about one-sixth to one-eight the price of the Seaguar brand sold in many tackle stores. Seaguar is also a Japanese brand.
     
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    Jose Caballero

    I Should Upgrade My Account
  • Feb 28, 2016
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    I love these brand/off-brand connections. if anyone knows more, keep them coming. this is an interesting topic for me.

    my neighbor often visits Hong Kong, where his father manages a large factory, and he told me something that I found very compelling. here's the story:

    if I heard correctly, his dad's factory makes most/ALL?! the silicone-bonded-to-stainless kitchenware on earth (you know, stainless stuff with black or white or pink handles, paddles, whatever). we chuckled because his kitchen is littered with the stuff, so he told me the story of how he gets one-offs and seconds and scraps on every trip; they're also all around his yard, garden shed, garage, bathroom... sounds like it's a pretty decent, modern factory, very high-end by asian standards, with A/C, on-site childcare, etc... but anyway here's the interesting tidbit: he tells me that the assembly line is the same, the materials are the same, the parts are (essentially) the same... they just take one cart and label/package it for K-mart, another cart gets labeled/packed for William-Sonoma, another cart gets a [major brand removed] sticker and sold all over the world, another cart gets no label and sold locally to the vendors you find on Alibaba... but the interesting part is that if it comes from the same factory, it is the same product, and the producer gets the same price (!), there's just a difference in the packaging/labeling costs, and the amount of profit extracted in promotion/marketing/distribution/retail.

    I am NOT saying that all gear is the same... I'm not saying your loyalty brand is made in Hong Kong... but it is interesting to me to know if major brands have a "minor brand equivalent", so LMK if you find those.
     
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    GClev

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    If you like brand/off-brand connections, check out Weihai Rixin. This is the Chinese foundry that makes all the metal bodied lures for the Shimano, Daiwa, Yozuri, IMA, Zetz, Shout, Deepliner, V-Fox, Beat, Sea Floor Control, Maria, CB One, Major Craft, Xesta, DUO, Hayabusa, Storm, Nature Boys, Xesta, STORM, and DAMIKI brands. I googled most of those and yep, those are real lures and real brands being imported from Rixin. It's a hell of a catalog with about 125 models and weights from 7 grams to 800 grams. And they sell retail to Americans willing to navigate Alibaba. Sunny's English text isn't perfect, but she gets the point across and always calls the customers, "Dear."

    There aren't very many American foundries that handle lead. There are just too many OSHA regulations. Leadmasters may be one, but they only make leadheads and cedar plugs, not knife jigs, flat falls, or deep drop lures.

    I can't tell you if the jigs I found at Alibaba are through-wired. Lead doesn't X-ray. However, I am the guy who cut apart a couple of hundred dollars in wahoo trolling lures and posted this:

    Nomad is going to eventually get the same treatment. DTX Minnow, MadMac, Slipstream, and maybe a Halco Max Jig. Who else cuts up $200 in gear to see how well it's made?
     
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    GClev

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    Made in America.

    Honeywell makes two grades of gel spun polyethylene trademarked as Spectra which is Izor's source, now owned by Steve Ichinokuchi.

    Western Filament makes braided ultra high molecular weight polyethylene called Tuf-Line in Colorado.

    It appears both Power Pro and Cortland fishing lines are made in the USA.

    Spectra is 8-10 times stronger than steel and 40% stronger than Kevlar with approximately twice the cut resistance of Kevlar.

    JB never produced a single fiber or braided one single inch of line. They are a reseller with a hefty markup. Is JB Cortland? or Western Filament?

    Mustad Hoodlum hooks on Amazon $14.81
    Mustad Hoodlum hooks on Alibaba $2.52
     
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    SergeyS

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    There are quite a lot of lures manufactured in China, but it isn't nearly as concentrated as you might think. There's pretty much no chance that Aliexpress seller manufactures lures for any of the companies you mentioned, although they might find some creative inspiration from the original designs those companies make/made. There's plenty of factories in Weihai, Qingdao, Yantai and Dalian making thousands of different jigs. China does have a solid grasp of the tungsten jig market since it is a difficult metal to work with.

    Daiwa: The jigs they sell in the US come from all over the place mainly Thailand, Vietnam and China. They partner with Zeake on some product which is from Taiwan as well, they're increasingly moving away from China due to tariffs.

    Yo-Zuri: Pretty much all from the Philippines these days, mostly jigs and hard baits.

    Ima: Started as a computer aided design company and went on to dominate the seabass niche. Most of their stuff comes from Indonesia but some is still made in Japan.

    ZetZ: All under the Palms umbrella, lots of really funky looking lures and jigs at a good price point since they come from China.

    Shout: Owned by Sasame Co, jigs made in Thailand with some stuff coming from Japan, Vietnam, Korea and Dalian China. Really nice product.

    Deepliner: One of the greats in the Japanese jigging market. All of their jigs and rods are made in Japan, their new reel at $1500 probably comes from Japan too.

    Beat: Jigs and rods all made in Japan, also another great company with a lot of interesting designs.

    Seafloor Control: The other Japanese jigging great and by far the most copied jig designer in existence. You can find some of their designs at a lot of SoCal retailers, even though most people have not heard of their name. They are made to order in Japan, last time I saw their price list it had 43000 items because of the thousands of different color options retailers have ordered over time. They have a TG line of a few different jigs, not sure where they are made but Alibaba is quite lacking in the TG department.

    Maria: Made by Yamashita in Japan, although they do not sell any metal jigs. Their stickbaits are quite nice.

    CB One: Some of the nicest wooden lures in the world, made in Japan. Haven't gotten any of their jigs but there's a good chance they are produced in China.

    Major Craft: Jigs mostly made in China, they're a pretty big company so they probably work with a large factory. They've got a huge rod facility in Vietnam too. Very good price point in the US.

    Xesta: Lures and rods made in China as far as I know, not much info.

    Duo: Majority of lures and jigs made at two large facilities in Japan. Some tungsten jigs made in China and some jigs made in Vietnam.

    Hayabusa: Mix of Japan and Vietnam. They have a factory in Qingdao China which they own and run.

    Storm: Owned by Rapala and not made in Oklahoma.

    Nature Boys: Made in the snowiest city in the world by Aomori Hoei Industries

    Damiki: Great Korean company. They also have a factory they own and run in China 荣成多美技钓具有限公司

    I'm sure there are plenty factories that sell direct to consumer, but jeopardizing relationships with companies that order minimums of 1000/SKU doesn't make much sense unless they can create original brands that can sell more.

    There's a few reasons why the jigs are so affordable. Not developing and testing jigs brings in hefty savings, although there are some manufacturers who do. Having a few less middlemen is a big one. If a company wanted to bring jigs in to sell here they'd be hit with tariffs and customs to the tune of 20%(I think you're off the hook ordering <$800), they also wouldn't have the benefit of the taxpayer subsidizing postage via the UPU so that's another extra cost(5-10%?). If they make the unfortunate mistake of selling or distributing fishing products in the US then they also will pay a 10% excise tax imposed on all fishing goods at the first point of sale.

    JB and Tufline are woven by Western Filament, I believe Izorline is also. Power Pro, Cortland and Playaction Sports also do weaving in the US.

    Russ Izor and Izorline deserve the credit for bringing Spectra to the fishing market. The fibers were developed separately by Allied Signal but ended up falling under DSM's Dyneema patent and he helped in securing a license.

    The primary manufacturers for the PE fibers are Toyobo, Honeywell and DSM. These days they have their own flavor of PE: Izanas, Dyneema and Spectra. There's also a few Chinese companies that produce the fibers, this is the majority of what is used to make braid in China. It's all the same stuff, the hard part with Aliexpress line sellers is getting straight information and consistency. For example, the international line sizes of 7.0, 9.0 and 11.0 do not exist for braid. Those numbers are based off of a Japanese standard for mono, polyester and fluoro line. These are the standard braided line sizes defined by denier.

    peline1.png
     
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    GClev

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    Interesting stuff, but I started the thread because I'm sick of paying huge markups on all these fishing gadgets. $400 to fill a 50 with line makes me puke. If I found a place that will sell me two fat boxes of tuna jigs that don't bend and don't pull out for 80% off retail I'm going to be really happy.

    Is that your tip? Keep it under $800.
     
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    Wandering Blues

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    Oct 19, 2008
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    Pretty much most anything that is designed and manufactured to be a throwaway item is probably made offshore (pun intended). That part of the supply chain is something mostly beyond control.

    But, you can decide whether Jeff Bezos or similar (Amazon, Alibaba), or Mark or Sergei (Charkbait, etc) puts food on the table. When it comes to that, I’ll support the local guy. And if it’s made in the USA, even better.

    But, I get it. Some guys need to watch those dollars spent closer than others.
     
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    SandyClaus

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    savings are tempting. I've wondered about the same questions that you do.

    regarding the knife jigs: I personally struggle with the Alibaba interface, but honestly, I'm not convinced there's much magic to any of the main brand names. I've fished side-by-side with buddies most of my night trips the last few years, and we always try to compare... and it seems like the position of your cast/drop/retrieve matters a lot, total weight matters a lot, hook size/location probably might matter maybe, and color/brand matters roughly zero (at least, at night). I know you are very knowledgeable, so you know that even sinkers with hooks work very well. personally, I liked it when I could buy knife jigs direct from James Kikkawa (of KB/WCJ) and since I'm hoping for a day of daytime knife fishing (where patterns might matter more), I'm just sticking with those. but if you're only gonna fish night or if you're open to experimentation during daytime, I would say if you can find cheap knives, do it. skip the various middlemen and go straight to the factory, why not?

    regrading the braid: I've had mixed results with off-brands. for my boat rods, I always have a whole quiver and the stakes are never THAT HIGH, so I use whatever comes to me, and rarely have a problem. I've had two batches that broke in weird "mid-line" frayed failures, but honestly, it was worth the savings (I just switched to another rod and kept fishing, then went home and replaced with another cheap spool; no problems!). that said, I have only been using premium brands for my tuna gear... that's only because I've had limited opportunities to test breaking strength-vs-diameter. I *DO BELIEVE* there must be cheap generic spectra that is just as good... but I *ALSO KNOW* that some of the generic stuff out there fails on the diameter/breaking strength comparisons. so on the braid, I would say proceed with caution and use any line that you have tested, but never trust published breaking strength/capacity numbers (BTW, some of the most reputable brands have had bad batches, so it makes sense to test all your line IMHO).
    The Alibaba interface is not the most user friendly. Try Aliexpress. It's a little friendlier, and the minimum orders are lower. Costs just a few Scheckel's more for the convenience, but it's worth it especially if you're new to ordering direct from China.

    If you're fishing at night, color doesn't matter, so long as the jigs are through wired you're good to go.

    As to braid, I've bought a bunch of different brands with zero problems. Does the 4 strand Hercules cast as nice as 8 strand waxed name brands? No, but then neither does the 4 strand name brand stuff. You want to pair your line with your mission. That cheap 4 strand stuff will cut through kelp a lot better then the slick 8 or 16 strand stuff, so pick the right tool for the job.

    Personally, I've settled on Ashconfish. Best I can tell it's from a factory that spins it for a high end Japanese brand under their own brand name. You can find it on Amazon, Aliexpress, and Alibaba. If you see some but it's not in the exact size/spool/color you're looking for, keep looking, you'll find it. Give yourself a 2-4 week lead time and you should be good.
     
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    Salmondave22

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    In California it's roughly 200K a year.Reasonable for what they do.I know small business owners that make more than that.
    Don’t forget the cost of dental school. It is around $250K. And that doesn’t include the cost of the 4 year college degree you have to get BEFORE they will let you into dental school.

    To add insult to injury the interest you pay on the student loans IS NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE even though it is a business expense. Let’s not forget the price to purchase a dental practice after you get out of school, $500K +

    My brother is a physician. He makes about $350K / year. Between seeing patients, charting, misc office paperwork, managing employees, answering after hrs calls, etc, he puts in 80 hrs a week and works 6-6.5 days per week. Year after year after year.

    Many years ago I was in the recovery room giving post op instructions to the father of a two year old I had provided anesthesia for. The father was kind of an ass. He said, “I can’t believe you charged $500 to put my son to sleep”. I said , “I didn’t”. He looked a little puzzled. I went on to say, “I charged you $10 to put him to sleep and $490 to wake him up.”
     
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    Cubeye

    I Post A Lot But I Can't Edit This
    Jan 26, 2007
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    Don’t forget the cost of dental school. It is around $250K. And that doesn’t include the cost of the 4 year college degree you have to get BEFORE they will let you into dental school.

    To add insult to injury the interest you pay on the student loans IS NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE even though it is a business expense. Let’s not forget the price to purchase a dental practice after you get out of school, $500K +

    My brother is a physician. He makes about $350K / year. Between seeing patients, charting, misc office paperwork, managing employees, answering after hrs calls, etc, he puts in 80 hrs a week and works 6-6.5 days per week. Year after year after year.

    Many years ago I was in the recovery room giving post op instructions to the father of a two year old I had provided anesthesia for. The father was kind of an ass. He said, “I can’t believe you charged $500 to put my son to sleep”. I said , “I didn’t”. He looked a little puzzled. I went on to say, “I charged you $10 to put him to sleep and $490 to wake him up.”
    This reminds me of a story about a mechanic telling his cardiologist how much cheaper he can rebuild an engine than what he charges for his work.

    Doctor responds. Yeah, but we do it while the engine is running.
     
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    GClev

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    Dentistry and tackle store prices have a lot in common. I hate both. They must both be paying for high malpractice, big vacations, boat and plane payments. My dentist is supporting four expensive horses in her corral, but she has small, strong hands, a great trait in a dentist, and all her assistants are really cute and have brilliant white and perfectly straight teeth. I'll pay the extra and not cross the border.

    For example, the international line sizes of 7.0, 9.0 and 11.0 do not exist for braid. Those numbers are based off of a Japanese standard for mono, polyester and fluoro line. These are the standard braided line sizes defined by denier.
    Yes they are defined by denier. Denier times the number of strands, so /4, /8, /9, /12, and /16 (the number of strands in the weave) mean something when reading sizes by denier. My /8 strand Depth Finder multicolor line in sizes 7.0, 9.0, and 11.0 line may not exist in your world, but they arrived anyway and the actual spools are marked 80#, 100#, and #120. Bingo.

    I really like 6.0 - 70# test on the Bluefin!
    It's tough and it still casts. The Chinese stuff comes in about 10 colors including camo blue and camo grey\brown.

    To anyone who wants to save ~80% on their line prices look for Ashconfish, Proberos, or Hercules brands:

    AliExpress - smaller quantities, online orders with minimal communication required, low minimums, higher prices, shipping included.

    AliBaba - Higher minimums, communication sometimes required with Mandarin or Canotonese speakers (fun as hell, chatting with Mandarin speakers is a hoot!), lower prices, shipping extra. There are various break points for shipping from asia. Figure about $17 for 3-4 spools of line and $51 up to 21Kg.

    Both Ali sites will take ~4 weeks to arrive. Except MaxCatch - using Fedex express new fly reels took 4 days to arrive!

    Amazon - Same brands, but double the price of AliBaba, free shipping in one or two days, most of the time. Lots of folks are rigging Ali lures here in the US and selling them on both Amazon and Ebay for about full US retail less 20 or 30. Amazon brands are Hercules or a new one, Fishlund. I like the Hercules but know nothing about Fishlund.

    Ebay - sells Izor and JB at full retail. Better than Ebay, go to the local tackle shop and ask for 10% off to cover the tax. Both of these have priced themselves out of the market.
     
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    GClev

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    Shopping from Asia takes patience. I started this order when I started this thread.
    Patience.png
     
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    GClev

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    And feedback on these


    The $400 assortment box.
    400.jpg

    400glow.jpg

    And feedback on these BKK hooks
    Raptor Z.jpg


    BKK copy 2.jpg

    And feedback on these prices. I don't get out a lot. How do these compare with the other places that sell jigs?
    Order 3.jpg

    I wonder if they're through-wired. What did you use to check the jigs you use now? Hacksaw or blow torch? Oh.. wait a second, these are jigs, not sinkers. They're not the same thing.

    Sorry, I don't sell anything. Not a tackle store.
     
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