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China Chinese Mics - Wholesale Chinese Mics Manufacturer

Chinese Microphone WebSite Link:
http://www.chinese-microphone.com/

China GuangZhou TianTuo Microphone Manufacturing Co., Ltd WebSite:
http://www.chinese-microphone.com/


Microphone Products are: Wireless Microphones, Conference Microphones,
Headset Microphones, and Lapel Microphones, interview microphones,
wired microphones, musical instrument microphones, drum microphones,
teaching microphones, recording microphones, computer's USB
microphones and microphone accessories and So on.




THE CHINESE CONNECTION Welcome to EQ magazine - For audio and home
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a friend 5鈥橪L GET U 2 THE CHINESE CONNECTION By Lynn Fuston | March,
2006 Lynn Fuston digs deep into the thrifty bottom line of Asian mic
manufacturing. The heat was rising up in waves off the pavement as I
hustled down the crowded city street. There I was, minding my own
business, when I see a guy wearing a trench coat making a beeline for
me. Before I could decide where to run, he was right in front of me,
stopped dead in his tracks. I was trembling as I noticed his hand
slipping into his coat and I heard him say, 鈥淗ey buddy, wanna buy a
ribbon mic? Cheap?鈥?p>Then I realized I was wearing my AEA T-shirt,
with the RCA-styled logo and 鈥渞ibbonmics.com鈥?on the back. I might as
well have had a bright red target painted on my chest. Before I could
answer, he shot back, 鈥淭wo hundred bucks, no questions asked, you鈥檙e
good to go. I鈥檒l throw in this canvas mic bag for free. And just
because you got an honest face, you buy it now and I鈥檒l give you this
aluminum flight case too.鈥?He pulled out a shiny box the size of a
pistol case.鈥淎m I dreaming?鈥?I thought to myself. 鈥淭his guy鈥檚 peddling
ribbon mics off the street corner for $200? Somebody pinch me.鈥?I don鈥
檛 usually fall for tricks like this. I pass up the $50 Rolexes when I
go to New York City. I don鈥檛 even buy the $30 Gucci bags for my wife.
But a ribbon mic? For $200? What鈥檚 the catch?I was so shocked I didn鈥檛
even bother trying to bargain with him. I reached in my pocket and
handed him two C-notes. You see, I鈥檝e got a weakness for ribbon mics.
As I walked away with my new microphone, I thought about what a deal I
had made. The other ribbon mics in my collection cost me 10鈥?5 C-notes
each. (That鈥檚 $1,000 to $1,500 if you didn鈥檛 know.) I use them all the
time. The vintage RCAs that I鈥檓 hunting for can cost up to $3,000. Did
I mention

my ribbon mic addiction? It鈥檚 my 鈥渉abit.鈥?Those Ribbonaholics
Anonymous meetings have helped, but I still couldn鈥檛 pass up an
opportunity like this.Then it occurred to me. 鈥淣ot only is this guy
selling these for $200, but he鈥檚 making money at that price. Who is
HIS source?鈥?That鈥檚 what I had to find out. So as soon as I got back
to the studio and put my new beauty on display for all to see, I got
on the Internet to do a little research.While this fictionalized
account may seem a little far-fetched, the circumstances on which it
is based are very real. There is currently a flood of Chinese import
microphones on the market. Some are imported under Chinese brand
names, but increasingly they are being sold by companies wanting to
expand both:A) their product lines and B) their profits. Cable makers,
mic stand makers, even individuals are getting into this seemingly
lucrative business. If someone can buy a mic for under $100 and turn
around and sell it for $200 with no development expense, why not? And
with the prices that Chinese manufacturers ar http://www.chinese-microphone.com/
e charging, there鈥檚 plenty of room for markup. This isn鈥檛 rocket
science and it doesn鈥檛 take an entrepreneurial wiz to figure this one
out. I鈥檝e been getting emails for the last five years from companies
that say 鈥淲e can put your logo on our mics and you can sell them and
make lots of money.鈥?Obviously, I鈥檓 not the only one receiving those
emails.So I decided to give it a shot. Not because I ever dreamed of
becoming a mic importer, but because I鈥檓 curious just how difficult or
easy it truly is. And the Chinese ribbons got my attention because I鈥檓
the world鈥檚 biggest ribbon neo-fanatic. (I told you part of the story
was real.) So here鈥檚 the play-by-play story. Names have been changed
to protect the innocent.DAY 1: I decided to try this out and see how
hard or easy it is. So I go online and find a source for Chinese mics.
That takes about five minutes. Next, I contact them via email. I鈥檓 not
going to lie and pretend to be a big shot. I鈥檓 just a guy, a nobody. I
type a letter expressing interest in their products and requesting
evaluation units and send it. That takes about two minutes.DAY 2: I
expect it may take a while to hear from them but the response comes
the next day. I receive a letter asking me to check out their online
catalog and tell them what I want. I have already seen the catalog and
know I want a ribbon mic, so I reply and wait another day. They
respond with a quote for the 鈥渆valuation units,鈥?which is about $60
each. In our correspondence, I made my intentions clear, that this was
a one time order, these mics are for demo purposes and I would not be
buying thousands of them. So I asked for pricing on 10 units with
shipping straight to me in Nashville. Now I have to decide on how many
to get.Later that day, I get an email saying that the shipping price
for the 10 mics (weighing 3 kg each) is $315. That will get them from
China to my door in one week鈥檚 time. It seems like a lot for $600
worth of mics, doesn鈥檛 it? That may be a reasonable price, but I鈥檝e
never done this before so I don鈥檛 know. I do know that it adds 52% to
the cost of each mic. That鈥檚 a lot. So now they will cost me $91.50
each. Since I am bringing them in as 鈥渆valuation units,鈥?I won鈥檛 have
to deal with customs or pay import duties, I remind myself. I don鈥檛
know how much that would be but it does add another layer of paperwork
and cost to the deal.DAY 13: I wonder if I鈥檒l have trouble selling
eight mics, since I鈥檇 keep two for myself. Well, that worry disappears
within eight hours of mentioning it online. Even at $100, I have
orders for 16 mics via email. Within another eight hours, several
friends hear about it and want some too. Everybody I mention it to
wants one or two. So now I could sell 24 mics, even though I am only
ordering 10. Nice problem to have. Of course everyone is excited
because it seems like a deal. Well, it is. See, I鈥檓 doing all the work
and they鈥檙e reaping the rewards. Selling them at $100, I鈥檓 not making
anything for my trouble. How much is my time worth? And what about
warranties? What form of technical support do I provide? And branding?
Do I just import them 鈥渁s is,鈥?or do I put a logo on them and make a
website and

 advertise? How do I let people know about them? Remember that these
mics are virtually (maybe precisely) identical to four other branded
mics on the market now. Those mics range in price from $199 to $399.
Street price is typically $199. Should I do anything to make mine
different, to set them apart from the others? Sure I could sell
hundreds at $100 each, but what would I have to show for my efforts?
Having the appreciation of my customers with no way to support myself
is not my idea of good business.After several Internet searches I
realize that other people are doing the same thing. Some groups or
forums are doing group buys, and subsequently receiving 鈥渃ease and
desist鈥?letters from lawyers of more established importers who
consider the product line their property. Some individuals have even
brought in hundreds of them, rebadging them with their own brand and
selling them. I spoke to one of these individuals who is selling quite
a few mics. Interestingly enough, he is having the same thoughts I was
having. 鈥淚f all I鈥檓 doing is rebadging the same mics as everyone else
and people are buying mine because they鈥檙e cheaper and I鈥檓 not making
any money, how long can I keep doing this?鈥?His plan is to branch out
and offer different units http://www.chinese-microphone.com/ , built
on recommendations he has given to the Chinese manufacturers. 鈥淪o how
will you keep them from taking your ideas and selling those mics to
other people?鈥?I ask, thinking that he is reaping from what other
people have sown and the same will be true of the seeds he is sowing.
He answers 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just a risk you take.鈥?We talk at length about our
dealing with the Chinese and how they do things. We have both had very
good experiences. But it鈥檚 a double-edged sword. On one hand, you can
get manufacturing done for less than half of what it costs in other
parts of the world, which is very good. On the other hand, your
designs may possibly show up in other products that may be sold to
your competition at the same price you are paying, except they don鈥檛
have to recoup the R&D time and money you spent. That鈥檚 bad. So you
have to balance the good with the bad and decide whether you can take
the risk of possibly giving away your investment. It鈥檚 a tough
call.DAY 33: After several weeks of debating about how many mics to
order and whether to sell them, I place my order. I decide to purchase
eight mics, only for myself and friends. I get a final pro forma
invoice and arrange to have the funds transferred from my bank to the
Chinese bank. The trip to the bank goes successfully with only minor
confusion over account numbers. After paying a $35 fee for the wire
transfer (didn鈥檛 know about that one), I have my receipt proving funds
are on the way. My contact in China assures me that as soon as they
have received the funds, they will begin building my mics. They
anticipate 15 days before shipment and another four days before they
arrive at my address. I have decided against any customization. Just
quick and easy this time.DAY 41: The payment has arrived in their
bank, minus an additional $28 transaction fee that was charged on
their end.DAY 45: The package has shipped from China and is on its
way. I am given a tracking number.DAY 47: I am given a new tracking
number since the forwarder has changed shippers for safety purposes. I
am contacted by UPS since they need additional information. The
package is stateside but it seems there is a catalog that was attached
to the declaration but not assigned a value. You can鈥檛 bring in
something without a value assigned, so I tell them that it鈥檚 worth $1.
They assure me it will be delivered within two business days.DAY 50:
Still no microphones.DAY 52: The microphones arrive. All are in good
shape and as I expected.DAY 69: I receive an invo

ice for $23.76 from UPS for import duties. So after I total my
expenses and divide by eight mics, I spent about $98 per mic. And
probably eight to 10 hours of my time. All went well and as
expected.So what did I learn?1) These mics look different but sound
the same as the other 鈥渞ebadged鈥?ribbon mics being imported.2) They
are a very good deal, considering the price of other ribbon mics.3)
Comparing these mics to the other ribbon mics in my collection, my
AEAs and Royers have nothing to worry about.4) If you order mics that
you have not seen o http://www.chinese-microphone.com/ r heard, it may
work out or you may get burned. Who eats the cost when you get what
you ordered and it鈥檚 not what you expected? You.5) These are indeed
useful mics and sound like ribbons. They would make a good 鈥渞ibbon
primer鈥?for people who have never owned one. Likely, they will make
you want better ribbons.6) Although ordering mics from China is not as
easy as walking into a dealer, it is relatively painless and I didn鈥檛
have any trouble with the language barrier or them being honest in
their responses. It was a good transaction (A++ in Ebay speak).7) When
I factor in my time, and the amount of time I gave up working on
billable projects to pursue this, it is no bargain. If I charged my
normal rate for my time (which is valid because I took time away from
my schedule to do this), the cost per mic jumps up to almost $260.
Considering that the street value of these mics is $199, these were no
bargains.8) Would I do it again? As a learning experience, yes. As a
bargain hunter, no. The other issues of warranty, ribbon replacement,
and local support all factor into my decision. It was a valuable
experience, but there鈥檚 a reason you pay a little bit more for a
company to handle import, QC, service, and other things. In my
opinion, their prices are fair. So, if you are willing to work for
free, then it might be worth your while. If you are planning on making
money doing it, by the time you have an outlet for selling them,
advertising, shipping, and warehousing facility, you would probably
have to charge the same as everyone else to make any money.My advice?
If you want an adventure, go for it. If you just want a ribbon
microphone or two, go buy them and leave the headaches to someone
else. If you want to go into business doing this, realize that you鈥檒l
be just another face in the crowd unless you do something to
differentiate your product from the others who are selling the same
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