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Extortionate spares prices
howardl
Posts: 5,120 Forum Member
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My wall fan heater on/ off rocker actuator has broken,
Basically a bit of plastic which pushes a small switch,
£12.60!!!!. Probably was made at a cost of 50p.
So i made my own,works a treat.
Basically a bit of plastic which pushes a small switch,
£12.60!!!!. Probably was made at a cost of 50p.
So i made my own,works a treat.
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Yes, I know that they need to pay for storage and staff as well as manufacture but I still suspect that when they've got the customer by the short and curlies that they'll load the price with all they can.
I am actually in favour of make, do, and mend. Oh, and that little actuator.... fractions of a penny to make. But holding one in stock on the off chance that some enterprising soul will do their bit to save a bit of landfill space, well that's a big gamble.
I measured it, as it has a large compartment compared to modern ones, and bought a universal one, which you cut to size for about £5 with free delivery. Now it's just like new again.
Prior to that it's only needed one replacement light bulb. I managed to get 2 for £1 in Poundland and the spare one fitted my fridge when that blew. So I've been pretty lucky with spares so far.
They don't sell them seperately, I have to buy a whole new pump, £155! Just to get the O-ring. Not only ridiculously expensive, it's hardly environmentally friendly!
I'd take your original and then shop around in hardware/plumbing stores for one before paying that amount out.
Another thing I had to get recently was a new watch battery. Normally I'd take it to a jewellers and get it changed and it cost me £5 last time. This time I ordered a battery online and it cost me 75p and p&p was free. Watch is working fine again
I was quite surprised the replacement was only £37, which seemed quite reasonable. On order presently, and will probably cost £150 to fit!!
Don't get me started on the price of Jaguar spares.... >:(
Aldi are selling a set of O rings for £6.99 this week. Maybe you might get lucky.
Try and find a place locally that does seals, they will probably do 'O' rings - assuming that you either know the size or can take it with you as a pattern. They're not usually anything special if they are just round ones.
I had similar fun and games with my mum's vacuum cleaner a couple of years ago, only about 15 years old but the brushes had worn down. They were not available as a spare part, but by being creative I managed to get a set of similar size brushes for a couple of quid, needed a bit if filing down to fit, but got these installed and it has been good as gold since
I mean, if you work for Ferrari or a Lamborghini I suppose you can claim that the mechanical bits you make are better quality than the equivalent bits for a Ford or Vauxhall but I can't see any reason why, say, a front wing for a Ford Focus can be had for about £70 while a front wing for a Porsche costs £500 when they're both just machine-pressed lumps of unpainted tin.
Because one's a Porsche I suppose!
I have an interest in classic cars and you often find a lot of Lucas bits are used everywhere for example the rear lights on an Aston Martin DBS are the same as a Hillman Hunter, but I bet if you went to Aston Martin they'd charge you a hell of a lot more than if you went to RJ Grimes for a Hillman....
that's why Lacoste can sell a leather wallet for £100 and I can pick up a generic one off a market stall for a £5 both bits of leather you put your cash in
the reason parts are so expensive is because the manufacturer wants you to buy a new machine/hoover whatever it may be
I work in the electrical industry (more construction and industrial rather than a curry's) a lot of customers come in for elements for cookers but they are paying through the nose for it my cost from my supplier is usually £100 +vat by the time the company mark up goes on its just as cheap to buy a new cooker
On that note...
It always seems to be the power-supplies for LCD TVs that packs up and the price of a replacement PSU is always only around £100 less than the price of a complete new telly.
Given the cost of an LCD panel, I can't really see how the value of the PSU can be anywhere near what manufacturers charge.
It'd be nice if, a bit like PCs, the components in stuff like TVs and washing-machines were all standard and modular except that, obviously, that wouldn't help manufacturers shift the latest models if people could buy modular components to repair existing products.
Car shops are usually great for O rings etc. too.
Probably not, considering Lamborghini spares come in boxes makes 'Skoda'
For a start I'm not convinced that all supercar bits are actually better quality than mass produced items. Sure, specialist bits or high stress components will be; but then again those won't be found in a run of the mill family saloon. But is a headlight bulb for a Gallardo any better than the same for a Volkswagon? I doubt it. But you can bet your bottom Dollar that that an invoice with the Bull on top is going to sting the wallet more.
Prestige car spares from an Authorised Dealer are always going to carry a premium. If the vehicle is under warranty and fitting a genuine part is the only way to maintain that status then they have you by the short and curlies I guess. Then there's the question of maintaining originality. Would a £100,000 GT3 lose value if repaired with a pattern wing that didn't quite fit? Finally, it's "Well that's the price, Sir". If one can afford the purchase price of the car......
QED
A lot depends on whether that brand has "sold out" or not.
When brands are building their reputation then you'll often find a lot of attention equally lavished on the mundane as the start pieces. For example, a designer Tee-shirt might cost £100, but will be made from better grade material, cut with the bias of the cloth so it stays in shape even after many washes, and tailored so it actually feels really nice to wear. It's still a hellishly expensive Tee-shirt when all said and done, but at least it looks good, feels good and will last. You're paying for quality.
The flip side is when the brand cashes-in and the Tee-shirt that sells for £40 buy is pretty much the same as any 3 for £10 sweatshop produced tatt. The core values of the brand are diluted.
I guess it's partly to do with the cost of the original device. If a vacuum cleaner cost the equivalent of several weeks wages then I'd be more inclined to look at repair rather than replacement. The argument being that while one part may have broken, there's still good service life in the rest because the product was built to a higher standard. The same wouldn't be true of a vacuum that cost a week's wage. One might reasonably take the view that after 2-3 years use then it is past its prime.
I am a bit surprised though at the cost of elements for cookers. I presume you must be talking about commercial cookers since I'm buying genuine replacement elements for domestic cookers as an end user at less than 1/6th of what you're paying. Is your supplier(s) taking the pee?
In most cases with TVs it's just a couple or three capacitors that need changing. If there is a driver failure (Xsus, Ysus) then there are rebuild kits available but one needs to take care to replace some other parts in the chain as well otherwise the repair won't be successful. Total cost is generally under £100 as a DIY fix.
the biggest one you'll find (or maybe not but it happens a lot to me because of where I work ) and its a cost issue AND a " where do I get it " most fluorescent tubes are all standard sizes across the industry no matter the manufacturer
BUT
you will find the big home stores (B+Q ikea and the like) buy cheap under shelf lights made in china/India wherever and the tubes (while not dangerous and adhere to all British safety laws ) are not made to UK "industry standard" and will ALWAYS be a slightly different length making it dam near impossible to find a replacement at a standard store and you WILL have to go to ikea BQ or whoever and buy the replacement lamp for about 15-20 quid rather than the 3.00 quid it will cost you from me
and again a under shelf light would only cost you £10-15 and you can get replacement lamps at the drop of a hat
partly I'm talking about commercial and industrial cookers (the ones that cost around £100)
but as I say I'm not a true stockist of cooker elements I'm in the wholesale industry but we get those in for a select customer who looks after hotels/prisons etc where they cant be ripping out cookers every time one goes down but if I was a stockist and ordered in bulk I'm sure the price would come down
it still boils down that a manufacturer would prefer you by a new unit than repairing the old one I'm not saying its right that's just how it is
Brand new knife set = £19.99.
They also like modifying standard parts like the pump so you can't just buy an off the shelf replacement, you need to buy the specific part number, obviously for an inflated price.