I think maybe it’s time to have the conversation about trombone cases made in china for OEM (perfectly reasonable practice, no problems there, except the occasionally blatant copywrite infringement) that are then sold in Europe or the US at outrageous markups.

For the past few years now I have been following the development of the Chinese trombone cases market, which through sites like Alibaba, Ali express and made in china, you can view which models are made and how much it would cost to purchase.

The cases have gotten very good overall with some factories making things that you would expect more from the range of premium brands like Bonna or bags of Spain etc. Once you have seen enough of these cases however it becomes very easy to recognize which instrument brands or shops are selling these cases.

Again, nothing wrong with that. A good example of this would be the Thomman Trekking Case which Sells in Europe for €110. You can find the Chinese factory version on alibaba for between €64.48-85.98 depending on what you customize, and if you order bulk you get each unit at a cheaper price. Thomann buys in bulk gets its logo on, imports it, ads a little bit to make a profit and there you go, the global market in action. You get a reasonable quality case at a reasonable price.

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What I have started to notice recently though are cases, which you can find on these Chinese sites for anywhere between €50 - €100 being sold with incredible markups, one I saw recently €400+. They are clearly the same case, some of them have the nicer outer fabric options which are available and add to the cost however the main difference is not in the case itself but the marketing and what logo has been put on the case. If it was a reasonable mark up like the Thomann example, fair enough, but at that price range you are getting close to the high end case makers like MB or DAC, and are already more expensive then Bags (Bags of Spain).

So what is the point of this…. Partially an observation of how many companies are using these cases from china with their instruments (Q-shires, Thomann, Eastman, JP Rath, Victory and many more) I think it is important to try to be more aware when buying a case or a trombone that there are a lot of cases that are now made in china (again not a problem unless they have stolen another brands design), and people should be more wary of not get ripped off on the price, or be tricked via marketing into thinking you are buying something that is made by someone somewhere else then it actually is (See the “made in America” Trump phone as a prime example).

That, or you know, it’s good to know it is possible to get a new trombone case, even screw-bell case for under $200 if you are comfortable buying from China directly yourself.

Not sure what others think about this, but feel free to chime in.

Best

Sam

Agree. But don't forget shipping fees and taxes. Ordering one case from China and shipping it to Europe can be more expensive than buying the same case from someone in Europe who bought in bulk and still makes profit.

The price you see on Alibaba is often far from being your final price.