Fake parts make me SMH

[Yeru]

Originally Posted by ilikebmxbikes

Aside from replicas on a consumer basis - what do people think of it from a company basis?

Do people think it is legal for companies to recast other companies CF parts and sell them as their own products? By doing so, they cut out design and r&d costs, (often other corners are cut as well) thus can offer them cheaper.

It's really not about what "people think"; reputable vendors use verbiage similar to "BMW like" to clearly distinguish a product from its OEM equivalent, and when the latter, use terms like "Original BMW" and include the BMW part # so that the buyer is clearly informed and able to cross reference an item against BMW's catalog. It's all in the verbiage, legal and ethical. If a reseller omits this info, it's dodgy at best, but not illegal unless they explicitly state a copy is original BMW or BMW Motorsport.

[LakeSurfer]

What a silly thing to complain about. You should be more upset about the expense of your original parts.

Your getting charged a premium for the name and not the quality. A US made product, you will pay more for because of the wages of all the uneducated non skilled labor demanding $30 an hour to stamp steel. And if you've ever talked to a human you know that most of then don't give a shit about the work they do. So you're original part costs 3 times what it should.

And BMW is no better. Can't tell you how many parts I put on my car with the same part number as OEM but it lacked the BMW sticker and paid 50% less.

[Throatpunch]

Originally Posted by LakeSurfer

What a silly thing to complain about. You should be more upset about the expense of your original parts.

Your getting charged a premium for the name and not the quality. A US made product, you will pay more for because of the wages of all the uneducated non skilled labor demanding $30 an hour to stamp steel. And if you've ever talked to a human you know that most of then don't give a shit about the work they do. So you're original part costs 3 times what it should.

And BMW is no better. Can't tell you how many parts I put on my car with the same part number as OEM but it lacked the BMW sticker and paid 50% less.

You’re missing a big portion of the costs, which is research and design. Its easy to ignore the hours of design work and in some of the more important parts… safety and performance testing. Fake parts are cheap because they are relying on a design that was on someone else’s dime.

[LakeSurfer]

Originally Posted by Throatpunch

You’re missing a big portion of the costs, which is research and design. Its easy to ignore the hours of design work and in some of the more important parts… safety and performance testing. Fake parts are cheap because they are relying on a design that was on someone else’s dime.

I see your point on some parts but aesthetic type stuff, maybe not so much. The prices on those get absorbed on the name that they are associated with. So many parts on cars are contracted out by their suppliers, who does the R and D for those? The contractor or the OE or both? And if it actually is the OE putting in the work than at what point should the prices drop a little?

For fun I rebuild Gibson electric guitars on the side. They're made in America and many of the parts are built overseas. So I buy them directly from overseas. One specific part Gibson charges $50 for a little piece of plastic, I buy it directly from China who actually make it for them and it costs me $5. Purists think it's a knock off because of where I get it from but it's the exact supplier as the OE uses. It's not always the case.

At the end of the day It's up to the buyer to figure out what they're buying not the seller. Who's the sucker, the one buying or the one selling?