[cosmie]

In some cases, I’ve gotten products off AliExpress that were made far more robustly internally than the name-brand product they were imitating (not direct knockoffs pretending to be authentic, just obvious imitations).

The economics of buying from AliExpress/Alibaba can work out slightly differently than buying from a Western company that’s sourcing from China. Cutting out the middleman allows them to sell it at a price that I find cheap while they’re still able to capture far more profit than from a wholesale purchase. Potentially improving conditions vs if you bought the non-knock off.

Not to say that happens in every case. Nor as a broad comment on the conditions of factory work in China. But food for thought on the benefit of buying directly from Chinese companies.

[double0jimb0]

What happens when there is no upside for the original creators/designers/inventors? Who designs the next best thing?