In saying this I am in no way slamming B&M, but they use the cheapest components (blank guides reel seat cork) they can buy to build a rod. They out source the labor ( China) and the story Rights in self on how you can buy them for so cheap. they make their money on mass sells of the product. St Croix uses name brand components and designs and produces Most if not all of their own blanks. Depending on witch rod you are looking at buying, some are made in Park Falls, Wisconsin ( USA made so your paying more and getting a better product) and to get the price down the lower end rods are made in Mexico if I remember right. You would be amazed looking at production say bass rods in a shore that are 300$ to 500$ that are sold with FUJI this and this and that to make you think its the high end. And when you know what your looking at it is the entry level cheapest fuji guide they make and that 450$ rod has a 30$ guide set on it. This is why I got into Custom rod building Because I can build with the best components and set the rod up the way I want it built.

I build custom rods as a side business, so for example the guide set I put on my crappie rods cost more then the built out the door taxed product from B&M and are middle of the road but still better then about any guide you will ever see on a production rod. The blank cost more more as well. I haven't even got the handle set up or started the labor part of this and I'm already at 2x the price. Most custom rod builder's fee is about 114$ to 130$ per rod for a normal build. Could I get the cheaper blanks and guides with EVA handle and some no name reel seat and build a rod for what it cost to buy a B&M sure but why waist 2 to 4 plus hours on doing it as cheaply as you can. This is why I only take crappie rod orders when I have the time to build them since I don't charge as much to build them, to keep the price down at 200$. My inshore and bass rods are 400+ $ and have the top end components to match what the price is.