A tail of two shirts

We don't have a "Save money" forum so this is the best I can do.

I have 2 shirts. [ ok more than 2 but for this purpose, I have 2 ]

Same shirt, same quality, comfort, looks, you name it, they're the same shirt. I've had both for about a year and they both stand up well to wear and tear, washing, etc...

The catch is, one is Realtree from Wal Mart and the other is Columbia brand.
Also, the Realtree is $16 and the Columbia is $50. I know some folks like to wear the name brand on their clothes so they can look fashionable or something, but I have the fashion sense of a turnip so I don't care, I just want a comfortable, good looking casual shirt. If you look for one at Wal Mart, they are not in Men's Clothing, they are in Sporting Goods.
It won't let me upload the image, so here's the links.

www.columbia.com...
www.walmart.com...

Seriously. Tell me those are not exactly the same shirts.

Both are good. Well made, thin, cool material, great for Summer at the lake fishing or going out to a casual dinner...it's just that my miserly soul doesn't want to pay an extra $35 just because it says Columbia on the tag.

a reply to: DAVID64

I wouldn’t even ask or care, $16 and it looks the same
Pay to wear someone else’s brand, they should be paying me to wear their brand
Function over fashion every time

a reply to: DAVID64

lol I was expecting costume crafting, how you made a tail out of two shirts.
But it's just a tale.

Apparel is something I semi-know about... Manufacturers find it easier to cut/manufacture a few huge lots for Walmart than a bunch of smaller ones, in popular items the big producers will use all the material a contractor may have in stock at a time, cost less per item, and have better consistency of product, especially on lower end items. With Walmart, or as we call it Wally World, they obviously found the same source in China for the Columbia shirts, and order a # ton of them. While the originating company likes to keep its price point higher and more exclusive.

Yes, branding is huge in the industry, so many attach thier esteem and egos to a little tiny label tag, and it's the only difference in the product.

It's crazy but the money generated makes the world go round. You did see the experiment where they opened up a retail shoe store offering high-end shoes, and they were all Payless shoes. Ladies were buying shoes at 10-15 times the mark up what they would cost at Payless. I believe it hell, Ive seen it with brands we have sold in the past.

originally posted by: DAVID64
We don't have a "Save money" forum so this is the best I can do.

I have 2 shirts. [ ok more than 2 but for this purpose, I have 2 ]

Same shirt, same quality, comfort, looks, you name it, they're the same shirt. I've had both for about a year and they both stand up well to wear and tear, washing, etc...

The catch is, one is Realtree from Wal Mart and the other is Columbia brand.
Also, the Realtree is $16 and the Columbia is $50. I know some folks like to wear the name brand on their clothes so they can look fashionable or something, but I have the fashion sense of a turnip so I don't care, I just want a comfortable, good looking casual shirt. If you look for one at Wal Mart, they are not in Men's Clothing, they are in Sporting Goods.
It won't let me upload the image, so here's the links.

www.columbia.com...
www.walmart.com...

Seriously. Tell me those are not exactly the same shirts.

Both are good. Well made, thin, cool material, great for Summer at the lake fishing or going out to a casual dinner...it's just that my miserly soul doesn't want to pay an extra $35 just because it says Columbia on the tag.

Just like every other product in the store.
Columbia pays some child labor sweatshop in China, 4 dollars to make the shirt and ship it.
They mark it up to 50 under their big name.
They also sell the same shirt to Wally World for 8, who then puts some odd store brand name on it, sells it for 16.
WW buys some with the Columbia tag for 12, marks it up to 50.
They do this same strategy with soda, coffee, furniture, everything in the store.
You can by a Dr. Pepper, or a Dr. Pizzwater for half the price.
They don’t do it with beer anymore, but they used to in the 70’s-80’s. Some big grocery chains used to have generic packages that were yellow or white, with just one word descriptions on the package. Cans that just said “Beer”. No pictures or designs, lol.
No telling what swill was was in there. Probably Blatz / Schaefer / Schmidts / Rheingold.

A lot of that stuff is made by the same manufacturer over in Asia and the only difference is the high end one might get a label sown on.

a reply to: DAVID64

One of the most ridiculous mistakes I made in my youth. During and early after my University days, I thought I was special to be included in the in-crowd. What an idiot I was.

I wish I could get back all the money I spent in custom and designer clothing. I look back now and I kick myself in the arse.

a reply to: DAVID64

If the fabric material, stitching, and fit are the same--then brands don't matter. Your second link to Walmart didn't open for me, but for the sake of the argument let's say they're the same. That doesn't entirely surprise me. However, once one is going to purchase premium materials like silk or cashmere, cheaper is never better. For instance, I love Olivia Von Halle. It's not the most expensive silk in the world, but the owner is really nice and does all of the customer relations herself and the quality is good. I got several pieces on sale and I completely understand the idea of wanting to save money. However, I would never buy "silk" at Target--actually I tried once and it was the worst and most static-filled mess of a fabric I've ever had the misfortune to wear. One would be better off wearing literally anything else. Same with knockoff Chinese silks--they're not thick or good. Trust me, I've checked them all out and returned many. Same with those awful Lunya silk things (they're a rip-off and overly expensive).

Sometimes the best option is waiting for a sale to occur. High end fashion designers often have great sales at certain times of the year. I believe retailers like Columbia do, too, but oftentimes the fancy-dancy fashion designers have better sales than stores like JCrew or Banana Republic.

There's nothing wrong with being thrifty, but there's also nothing wrong with wearing designer clothes sometimes if one likes that kind of thing.

I'm a girl and I like pieces that can last a lifetime. That's one thing that very high quality gets you that budget does not.

a reply to: Raggedyman

What if the function is to last a lifetime? What if the function is silk or cashmere? Skimping on quality is a terrible, terrible idea. Same goes for leather handbags. Yeah, a Versace or Prada or Chanel bag is expensive, but it's going to last forever.

Vestiare Collective is a great place to go for fashion, by the way.

I'd bet Columbia and Walmart, among possibly/probably other stores, orders a certain number of shirts from the manufacturer with their label on it. Walmart most likely orders a larger amount so can afford to sell at a lower price.
Congratulations; they're the same shirt, made by the same manufacturer and sold to different companies.

originally posted by: nugget1
I'd bet Columbia and Walmart, among possibly/probably other stores, orders a certain number of shirts from the manufacturer with their label on it. Walmart most likely orders a larger amount so can afford to sell at a lower price.
Congratulations; they're the same shirt, made by the same manufacturer and sold to different companies.

This is most definitely true, contractors in China will offer huge discounts if a company will order a cut at the end of a season, or a cut that will use up all of thier stock on a difficult-to-sell fabric. We once had a style that was selling like crazy beautiful champagne tapestry top satin skirt huge seller. The Chinese contractor saw huge sales figures and offered us another color option, a black-based tapestry black satin skirt. It didn't sell well at all, but the contractor had already purchased yards and yards of the less-than-beautiful black-based tapestry. LOL, they were choking on it and we couldn't sell enough of the original style to make a dent in it. It was a fall seasonal look and if we didn't sell it quickly it would be bogging down the factory being unused till next fall/winter. We finally decided to use it in a version of our top style, the contractor gave us a huge discount just to get it out of their warehouse. We sold loads of it at a huge markup, compared to the original style.

If the little pissant company I worked for could do this we know Walmart does it all the time on a huge scale.

a reply to: putnam6

The markup on goods is unreal. An uncle was a carpet layer and explained how the different 'grades' of carpet are sold. The salesman shows you three samples of the carpet you chose; sample A is the lowest quality; sample B has better quality fibers for just a couple of dollars more per yard.. Sample C has 'treated' fibers that will extend the life of your carpet considerably, and is well worth an additional three dollars.

Sample A, B and C are the exact same carpet in every way; no 'enhanced' fibers, no 'treated fibers'. Just three identical in every way samples. It's amazing how well it worked.

This was back in the 70's to 90's, but I doubt much has changed. You don't always get what you pay for.

Such is fashion - always between tomorrow's shirt and yesterday's socks.

Just do try it on, because small, medium and extra--large does vary quite a bit between stores.

Like underpants (for dudes): "large" may apply in this store, but flip that's Chinese torture for my waist in another.
Of course mum gets me a pack of fives.

Be glad we're male, and only need to go clothing shopping once a year.
And we got chinos, jeans and broad-shorts in the cupboard that mix with anything.

Women, I imagine, must be stressing about this on an hourly basis.

originally posted by: DAVID64

www.columbia.com...
www.walmart.com...

Seriously. Tell me those are not exactly the same shirts.

I can't tell because the WalMart link shows "Page Not Found." I have found the Columbia brand to be consistently of good quality whether it is shoes or a raincoat. With WalMart you take your chances. Some of it is okay and some of it falls apart after a single washing.

And a "tail" of two shirts. Cute. Nice try, though.

And then there's always camo ,,,

I might not be in the army at present, but you must concede:

Voila, everything matches.

You wake up groggy, and freezing cold in winter (because in SA there's no electricity).
Oh crikey, what am I going to wear?

Uncomplicatedly uniform.

Imagine poor King Henry the eighth:

Wife number four, could you show me shirt number two?

Flip this is getting confusing.

Nicely ironed though.
Now that's what i call an "iron maiden".

There's an annoying thingie at the back of my neck though.

What does it say?
"Made by slave labor, and try not to boil it".

What concerns me even more is a woman with a pair of scissors.

Snip.

There, your torment ends, but remember, now you can never take it back to the store.

Dr. Frankenshirter.

If I sewed you together I'd have curtains!

Muhahahaha (evil laugh).

a reply to: DAVID64

I know some folks like to wear the name brand on their clothes so they can look fashionable or something, but I have the fashion sense of a turnip so I don't care,

Brands do not make style...

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn
a reply to: DAVID64

One of the most ridiculous mistakes I made in my youth. During and early after my University days, I thought I was special to be included in the in-crowd. What an idiot I was.

I wish I could get back all the money I spent in custom and designer clothing. I look back now and I kick myself in the arse.

In the 80’s you had better be wearing an Izod shirt with a spiffy suit jacket, and a Walkman in the jacket pocket, headphones very prominent.
This was the uniform of the super cool.
Khakis and Dockers shoes I believe. Maybe toe-shoes.
But it was kind of a double-edged sword.
These guys were very confident of their coolness, yet we made fun of them all the time.

There are lots of things that are the same just that they are not the same product name. I used to buy a certain winter coat...name brand...and they discontinued the style. One day I saw the same coat under a different name at about two thirds the price I had paid, plus it was on sale too, another twenty percent off because it was early January and they go on sale. I could have waited and bought it at half off, but I have a really large size since I am so tall. When I bought it I looked up both companies and found the Brand at Target was the manufacturer of the much more expensive winter coat brand...and once that company stopped buying that model, they could sell it themselves. But, within the time I needed another winter coat it was about four years and that company also discontinued that coat. I usually buy a new coat then don't use it for anything but going out in public then use the old coat for working and doing stuff out in the yard after buying a new one to replace the old new one. A winter coat lasts me about six years total in that rotation till it winds up hanging in the garage to use to do mechanic work before throwing it away. Similar cardhart coats now are two hundred bucks last year...I bought the Tractor supply brand which is pretty good and will last six years.

That difference in price also applies to car parts. Some cheaper brands are actually the name brand parts with the same life expectancy but less of a warrantee time..like Moog and NAPA or other store brands on some parts but not all parts in a class.