Topic: Surprises in TK Maxx today - Chinese Caithness & Scavo

[misha]

Good idea Kevin, it could be a reasonable discussion in the Cafe, with reason.

Care to initiate that?

Briefly, on your thought question... It comes down to Corporate identity doesn't it and those who decide that [no doubt for profit taking motivation] their manufacturing identity and heritage can be sold off.... and it would follow, to those that value truth and heritage would be disgusted.

I suggest there is a huge difference between creators and marketers, the only common ground being production.  What disgusts me most is that the least productive in the whole chain [and society generally, not those people actually making crafting something] end up being paid the most.

You cite the Marketing house 'brand'. They are nothing more.  The inferred quality and history through use of a geographic name is clearly a marketing ploy.. stronger word would be sham, in my opinion. 
But for a long established manufacturer known as such to 'out-source'... I call that a sell-out and, so it goes, due loss of credibility and reputation.

The only means of saving credibility in this case would to be the indelible marking of product so that the buyer full well knows 'what, 'where' and 'who' made an item.

Sorry, not brief. 

[Wuff]

What if a company had no specific brand of its own within a certain product line but simply outsourced a couple of lines and sold them as their own; would that be immoral? Examples of this were two types of millefiori paperweight sold by Edinburgh Crystal; the first were made in Murano and the second were made by Caithness Glass.

We should clearly differentiate two different categories:
1) A company selling stuff, produced by someone else under commission, under his own name, and
2) a company selling something, produced by "themselves" (whatever that may mean) under a different (well established) name.

The "Edinburgh" weights fall into the first category - the weight starting this discussion into the second (whilst I don't know, whether "Caithness Glass" is a protected brand name - or anyone can name a product line "Caithness").

[Lustrousstone]

Caithness Glass is an EU trademark covering almost anything you could imagine https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU005854682 and it is owned by Dartington.

This outsourcing and applying a brand name has been prevalent for years over many products. What many "collectors" don't realise is that consumers don't often care where something comes from, just that the product meets their requirements, whatever they are.