Post #659343 by Swanky on Wed, Nov 21, 2012 8:24 AM

On that subject, let me also shed a little light on China production.

A friend of mine is an importer and he says that if you have something, a mug, made for you in China, that company will feel free to make more of your mug for someone else if there is an order. There is an extra fee you can usually pay them to "buy the mold" and they will not offer your product to anyone else to make.

Tiki Farm has used many manufacturers over the years and then those companies will put the Tiki Farm mugs on their sites as samples of their work. Another company will see it and ask them to make them a batch. If they didn't "buy the mold", the company will do it. They may do it anyway, but...

This is also a standard practice over there for him. If you find the company that is making wood clamps for Irwin, you can get them to run you off a batch with your label on it for you. They may change a color or something, but it is the same product.