The logic goes like this: These Chinese kit suppliers don't care if they destroy the market for a particular item they are selling. They'll just provide a different kit to a different market segment, and do the same thing there. Since they're based in China, and they are selling to international customers, the friction of returning a kit due to it being nonfunctional is very high. They're pretty much assured of keeping the money you paid without having to deal with a ton of returns.
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Is this ethical? Probably not. What they're doing is peddling junk to unsuspecting customers.
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It's not just limited to kits. We also see it with commodity electronic components being re-labeled as a more expensive components and being sold to unsuspecting buyers.
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My guess is that when it becomes too expensive to ship this junk into the USA this will stop, and maybe just maybe we'll see kits and electronics stores reopen in the USA.??
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Please note that the following is not intended to have any political overtones : The $800.00 de-minimis tariff exemption will end soon, and that will make it more expensive to ship this junk to the USA. They'll have to open warehouses in the USA to continue to sell this junk -- but that will also cause them to have a physical presence in the USA, and therefore make it easier to return this crap. So in the end prices will go up, but maybe we'll get kits and parts which are not crap.
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Steve
WA6ZFT
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hwstar