+161 How come if there are kids basically being enslaved to make my sneakers, do they cost even more, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

They're turning kids into slaves just to make cheaper sneakers! But what's the real cost? Because the sneakers don't seem that much cheaper. Why are we still paying so much for sneakers if we got little kid slaves making them? What are your overheads?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What's wrong with world today?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

This isn't really related to the topic, but I read somewhere that to make your average shirt for stores like Aeropostale, American Eagle, etc, it costs about $6.20. Then they charge you $40...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

6.20? what not even they get paid like 25 cents an hour? and I can pretty much guarantee it doesn't take 12 hours to make a shirt, they mass produce them.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well I'm sure the 6.20 includes materials and equipment fees

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That still seems a bit high.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Aero is pretty cheap...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Because regardless people are willing to pay that amount, basically.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I know I might sound like an asshole, but kids and adults working in sweatshops in asia is actually making them better off. Without those jobs they would have to rely on things like crime and prostitution for income. You might think "Oh, those poor kids working in sweatshops", but in reality they are being helped by them.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

But the big companies (Nike, Adidas, Converse, etc) that are using those vulnerable portions of society as cheap labour are making a large profit - the point is they could afford to make the workplaces safe and pay their employees a decent wage, at least.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Agreed. However you can't blame a company for maximizing their profits. That's their job. Globalization, I totally agree. I've been there and seen the alternative to getting a job.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I watched a T.V. special about sweatshops (I think it was 20/20) and they interviewed kids working in sweatshops. They were so grateful that they were able to make money to feed their families, and one girl even said that she was a prostitute before finding work at a sweatshop. They got all pissed when they heard about Americans protesting sweatshops and thought that they should mind their own businesses. So, as horrible as it sounds, I'm in favor of sweatshops but I think those people deserve better working conditions/benefits.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

When companies import clothes from other countries, they usually place a tax/tariff/duty on it which makes it more expensive. The purpose of this tax is to protect goods made from their own country. By making the foreign products more expensive, they hope that consumers will buy local goods. However, consumers don't always know what the local goods are or where they came from. If I go into a store to buy a shirt, I'm not going to check the label to see where it was made and where I can find one that was made locally. Most probably, if the consumer likes the product, they will buy it nonetheless. Another reason why some prices are higher is because people along the process need to be paid as well. For example, the retailer, the manufacturer, etc.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

These kids are also placed in very poor working conditions. For example, Nike owns many sweatshops in third world countries. The Nike CEO knows that this is wrong, but it's cheap labour so he doesn't do anything. He was even asked if he would go visit the sweatshops in an interview and he said no.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

"nike owns many sweatshops in 0 third world countries" took me a minute before discovering that 0 was the score.... it's neutral so it wasn't green or red -__- LOL.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Really Nikes are probably worth like 10 bucks.

by Anonymous 12 years ago