Fair Trade in Golf

[madandra]

Once again whilst posting a comment regarding 7 year olds in China making golf bags it made me wonder if Fair Trade in golf is a concern to anyone. If say, Callaway, Ping and Titleist were to disclose how much it cost to manufacture there equipment would it influence you when shopping for new gear?

If a dozen Pro V1's cost £3.50 to make would you still shell out 10 times as much for them?

I would love to read an article on this in Golf Monthly but I am sure manufacturers would not be very supportive of said publication if they opened a can of worms.

 

[GB72]

I certainly would be interested in fair trade issues in golf. I would be willing to pay a little more for gear made in equitable conditions. Unless they all come from the same places, I am surprised that no manufacturer has used this as a promotional tool.

 

[USER1999]

They nearly all manufacture in China where labour is cheap.

You would be horrified if you knew how little it cost to make golf kit. What you are paying for is shop profits, advertising and research.

Most chinese factories involved in manufacturing for the west have rigid employment rules regarding exploitation, both in terms of child labour, compulsory overtime, dormitory standards, healthcare, and food. It is up to the western companies involved to police this.

Some golf companies assemble their products in the US in order to have a higher percieved quality. The heads still come from China though.

However:
It is very easy to seek to impose western standards on foreign factories, but this is not helpful, as what we regard as barbaric or dangerous is not neccessarily so, we are just awash with health and safety to a ludicrous degree.

Often people are employed who appear children to us (I am not talking 8 year olds here, but more 14 / 15) but who are sent out by the familly to earn a living for the whole familly. If they were not working, they would be begging or selling themselves. It would not see a return to schooling and a brighter future as we would hope.

Sorry about the rant, but I spend a lot of time out in China, and nothing is ever that simple.