Quote Originally Posted by Mr120 View Post
It's OK to import stuff but it just doesn't seem right for them to then turn around and appear to deceive their customers by saying it's "their factory" and that they designed the stuff.

It's pretty clear to me that Everlast works closely with their factory. It's also clear to me that Everlast isn't a clearance center for surplus products. Given the amount of product Everlast sells, I'm pretty sure that Everlast will be around for quite a while to provide service and advice when I need it.
But Everlast is just a sales channel for certain welder factories in China. Sure, there is some customization done by the factory for a supplier, but it must be either paid work up front, or on contractual obligation for certain volumes, but let's be clear, the ownership of the IP, design, and production capability of the welders is all with the factory which is also supplying equipment to multiple channels.

When I first joined this forum, that is what surprised me - how little Everlast knew of the inners of their machines, and how the factory had complete control over that IP/design. I mean the real inners, the internal electrical design, the software code. Everlast does know enough to do a decent job of support, but often they have to go back to the factory to ask about a feature or parameters. When a new welder is introduced, they are often learning of features along with the customers...

To be clear, this is not a bad thing, it's just the way it works. The failure of the 250EXT was a classic case, the factory basically screwed up, the testing that Everlast performed did not catch the issues, and finally the initial users found them and objected. Everlast was caught between their customers and the factory, not a good place to be. During that time, there were constant "we need to check with the factory" type responses.

That is why you see lots of suppliers with very similar looking machines under different labels, they are often from the same source. In that environment, the selection of which "supplier" to go with comes down to price and service. Everlast is trying to build their brand on service, mostly successfully, and a bit on price. They are not the cheapest on the market, but one of the best for service.

About to how stable Everlast is, they have a good track record, but if they do not keep the revenue flowing with new sales to feed the machine, they can disappear really quick. I do not think they any tangible assets like a typical high tech company would have, like patent protected designs, proprietary production techniques, factory capabilities, etc. The funny thing is, if a company failure happens, I am sure someone will find out the source factory in China, and for spares/etc. we can look at dealing direct, or find another supplier selling the same welder in a different color.

Cheers,

Mike