View CartWe received an inquiry today about Remotes Unlimited and Amazon pricing. Here is my response to the consumer:
You sound like a smart consumer, so I am sure you know that Amazon and eBay and many other web outlets are deep discount sales channels.
The OE vehicle manufacturers are gouging. The true product cost of any remote transmitter is $5-10 or less . . . or was — labor costs are rising quickly in China. Vehicle manufacturers set dealer list prices on replacement parts to give themselves and their dealers an exceptionally high profit margin.
Original equipment remotes are a proprietary security product with encrypted codes. Vehicle manufacturers try to limit and control aftermarket supply of remotes by having the “programming” of keyless entry systems require use of the vehicle’s onboard computer systems, thereby forcing use of a scan tool for programming. Again, this is a proprietary piece of technology which has been priced very high to limit aftermarket access. Thirty years ago, any mechanically inclined person with less than $500 worth of tools could rebuild and tune an engine. Today, doing so requires thousands of dollars worth of tools and the parts are far more expensive, not because electronic parts are expensive to manufacture but because their technology content makes it easier for vehicle manufacturers to make them proprietary. For more on the vehicle manufacturers’ efforts to limit independent aftermarket participation in vehicle repair see the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association’s website or visit the Right to Repair Coalition website at www.righttorepair.org.
Except in unusual cases, Remotes Unlimited does not have access to these proprietary parts at anywhere near the cost to Chrysler, Ford and GM. While some Remotes Unlimited prices may be high relative to other web sellers, believe me, we are not gouging.
Remotes Unlimited is primarily a wholesale distributor to large aftermarket auto parts chains. We have to stock over a thousand different parts and have multiples of each one so that they are ready to ship when our AutoZone, Advance Auto, Pep Boys, NAPA and other store customers want them. And, for those customers, we are pretty much constrained to selling new original equipment parts. Unless we have flat out made a pricing error, all Remotes Unlimited products are sold at below the list price of automobile dealers. Given that we have to buy many of our remotes from these dealers, generally have much better knowledge about these parts and their applications, and provide free technical support to our customers, we think this is pretty good value.
Amazon and eBay and many other web “clearing house” shopping sites are huge virtual flea markets. Anyone can be an Amazon seller and they can sell anything through Amazon. Sure, there are consumer reviews . . . but how qualified are most consumers to evaluate the authenticity, technology and product quality of a keyless entry remote? Remotes sold on Amazon could be new original equipment parts, but a remote sold for $13 is most likely used, refurbished (that is, a used remote that has been put in a new case with a new battery), or a non-OE part. We receive calls every day from consumers who bought a part on eBay or Amazon and either want to return it or need programming instructions or technical support. This is not to say that all Amazon sellers of remotes are bad. Some are very good and do an excellent job with the limited inventory that they carry.
Sources in China are starting to reverse engineer the more common remote transmitters. Depending on your perspective, this is the free market at work or it is illegal circumvention of intellectual property laws — such as patents, trademarks and copyrights — and US regulation (the FCC).
eBay and Amazon are also outlets for huge quantities of stolen goods.
We all have to make choices about what is important to us. Businesses have to decide how they are going to do business and deliver value to their customers and consumers have to decide what is important to them about the products they buy.
I have many friends who are enthusiastic Amazon shoppers. It sounds as if you got a good deal on Amazon, which is cause to be happy.
Thank you for your inquiry.
