Finding the OEM of products

[alsetema]

 I realised that on places like ebay or Aliexpress  a lot of different brands  seem to have the exact same product images. Companies like amazon also get products from OEMs and rebrand them as their own. I was wondering if there is an easy way to find the OEM of those products based only on the product page and the info you can get there. This would be useful in the case you could find that exact product under cheaper brands with the 'safety' of knowing that it is the same product since it has been manufactured by the same company.

 

For instance, let's say we have the following cheap computer mouse  from amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-3-Button-Wired-Mouse-Black/dp/B005EJH6RW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&pf_rd_i=10112675011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=866f1e9a-1d8a-49b3-8986-c6c364f13a15&pf_rd_r=4XQE5WDQ1TZAGZA7K398&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-4&pf_rd_t=101&qid=1547908383&s=Computers%2B%26%2BAccessories&sr=1-5&srs=10112675011&th=1

What hints can we get from the product page to determine the OEM?

 

Thank you in advanced

 

Edited January 19, 2019 by alsetema
wanted to change the last line

[LogicWeasel]

Perhaps if you had an example of a product that was more expensive than $7 it would be worth the effort to discover a cheaper version.  Do you have any examples where you've found something actually much cheaper in an OEM version?  Typically OEM stuff would only end up on eBay or the like, as a middleman will always have to handle it for it to end up on NewEgg or Amazon, OEM's don't typically sell direct as they deal in bulk.  Consider how Intel's tray price (as explained by Anandtech in their recent article about the i5-9600KF and other video-less CPU line) is the price for buying a tray of 1,000 units, Intel won't just OEM those onto eBay, they wanna sell them 1,000 at a time to Dell and let Dell handle the warranty and end-user cost/demands.

[alsetema]

3 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

Perhaps if you had an example of a product that was more expensive than $7 it would be worth the effort to discover a cheaper version.  Do you have any examples where you've found something actually much cheaper in an OEM version?  Typically OEM stuff would only end up on eBay or the like, as a middleman will always have to handle it for it to end up on NewEgg or Amazon, OEM's don't typically sell direct as they deal in bulk.  Consider how Intel's tray price (as explained by Anandtech in their recent article about the i5-9600KF and other video-less CPU line) is the price for buying a tray of 1,000 units, Intel won't just OEM those onto eBay, they wanna sell them 1,000 at a time to Dell and let Dell handle the warranty and end-user cost/demands.

That mouse was just an example since it looked generic enough, but you could look at other amazon basics products for instance. I have realised a big price difference in Aliexpress  regarding headphone plugs.  You could tell it was the exact same 3.5mm headphone plug but considerably cheaper, from another brand. If you're an OEM it does makes sense to sell  in bulk to other companies, but if you manage to find the OEM of that product  you might be able to find other brands that have bought more units and are able to sell them for cheaper (that is where I am trying to reach)

[mariushm]

Well, you could start by looking at what mouse OEMs use usb cables made by "Foxwell" or have the "Foxwell" inscription on them.

Then you could look up mice models that have that optical sensor rotated by 90 degrees... that's not quite as common.

You also have the GG-01 text on the label, but that's probably too generic.

Next step would be to open it up and look for texts on the printed circuit board and maybe you get a PCB manufacturer ID or something.

 

Anyway, it's a very cheap mouse, they sell a 30pack for 145$ , or less than 5$ per mouse, you can bet even on that package their profit is at least 1$ per mouse, so we're dealing with 4$ mice here.

 

My guess is the mouse is from a company like A4Tech or some other smaller manufacturer and Amazon simply ordered 10k of them or something like that. Could be a somewhat unknown OEM, after all anyone can make a mouse these days.. the most difficult part is making the plastic case (the case of the mouse), everything else is readily available or can be easily made (circuit board).

 

[alsetema]

2 hours ago, mariushm said:

Well, you could start by looking at what mouse OEMs use usb cables made by "Foxwell" or have the "Foxwell" inscription on them.

Then you could look up mice models that have that optical sensor rotated by 90 degrees... that's not quite as common.

You also have the GG-01 text on the label, but that's probably too generic.

Next step would be to open it up and look for texts on the printed circuit board and maybe you get a PCB manufacturer ID or something.

 

Anyway, it's a very cheap mouse, they sell a 30pack for 145$ , or less than 5$ per mouse, you can bet even on that package their profit is at least 1$ per mouse, so we're dealing with 4$ mice here.

 

My guess is the mouse is from a company like A4Tech or some other smaller manufacturer and Amazon simply ordered 10k of them or something like that. Could be a somewhat unknown OEM, after all anyone can make a mouse these days.. the most difficult part is making the plastic case (the case of the mouse), everything else is readily available or can be easily made (circuit board).

 

The mouse was just an example here. I do like the idea of looking at specific details in the product images. In fact  it does help. I have also tried in the past looking for products of the same specifications but it simply is too generic since generally there are many different items.