I bought some crankbaits today. Paid $8.99 ea because well... someone told me they'd catch a big one. Sounded like a bargain to me! I was disappointed to see that, at $9 ea, they were still made in china. I went to searching around and found a huge variety of crankbaits anywhere from $.20 - $1 ea and some of them look damn familiar. Of course there's a minimum order but the minimums are as small as 10 pieces so no big deal. Do you think China rips off the American company's intellectual property in this case or do the American companies just buy China's stuff and package it as their brand, pay a pro and then mark it up 2000% because people like me will pay it?

http://www.alibaba.com/products/F0/crankbait/CID100005453/2.html

Most crankbaits come from china and many look similar cause they are shot by the same company. Like basspro, academy, lucky craft....very similar. I think if they change them slightly inside the crank bait, they can pretty much recreate identically the outside

I'm convinced the Chinese are trying to kill us through their crappy products that either break causing injury or are toxic to human health.

I'm sure I have some Chinese made crankbaits...

Purchasing a known knock-off that has stolen intellectual property is the same in my mind as theft or purchasing known stolen property.

my $.02

Where do you think most crankbaits are built? Overseas mass injection molding has been the norm for years

That website looks all-American but it is obviously Alibaba, the Chinese version of Amazon, Ebay and Facebook all wrapped into one.

LOL!

I've bought motorcycle hard parts on there before. It's legit.

That's the way the world works now a days!

Just like coach purse , they are made in China! And us dumb as Americans will pay hundreds of dollars for them! I think the same people that make the knock off make the "real" ones!

Japanese crankbaits are made in China, too.

If you buy a Chinese lure, and you hook a fish with it, the hook/lure has Chinese chemicals in it that will tarnish the fish, the food, and kill us, just like using their toothpaste will. Yes, the Chinese are dang smart, and looking to the future!

Hey, I think "1" Chinese man, down on his luck several years back, started Alibaba...dang smart and nice to be one of the world's top billionaires!

More important than where it was made is where you buy it and what their customer service
and return policy is.

The Japanese got tired of being the cheap labor pool of the world years ago. As opposed to 40 years ago, finding something made in Japan would be a good product. Japan outsources to the new "3rd World" countries such as Malaysia.

Yes and yes. They design it then pay to have it made in China and mark it up to make outrageous profits. The company in China that is making it, takes the designs and makes their own to sell at lower prices. Like someone said earlier about Coach purses. The knock-offs that are sold in China are made by the same company and have the same stitching and everything. You really can't tell the difference between the two. Not the same as the knock-offs that you see sold in the USA.

I have ordered some things from China that I just couldn't find here and the sad thing is, they can make it across the ocean and to my home in a couple of days. I usually have a shorter wait time for those products than the ones I order in the USA.

I have looked into ordering my blanks straight from China to cut down on my cost in return I could offer lower prices and make the same money. I am using most of the same blanks now I'm just paying a middle man .50 cents to a dollar per bait depending on the amount I order. It's just hard for a small time painter like myself to order 500 to 1000 of the same blank. I found it interesting that they have some of the cranks that look identical to the bait balls and they are like a third of the cost.

Bill Lewis RatLtraps 100% made in America. The new square bill should but out soon. [video:youtube]Fishhound's How It's Made: Rat-L-Trap Lures: http://youtu.be/bp0eTsmy2yI[/video]