Why do some of the box store hardware suppliers use vastly different model numbers than what is shown at the manufacturer’s website? (Do they really think that’s wise?) Is there a better way to find an exact product on their websites?
Warning: the answer to this question may make your faith in humanity drop by 32%.
So they don’t have to price match a lower price from a competitor.
Their price match is good on an “identical product,” with a matching model number. So Best Buy gets products with a model number 1234ABC and Target gets the same product with model number 9876ZYX and neither has to worry about what the other is selling it for.
It also has the effect of making comparison shopping more difficult.
Even if I’m not worried about price-matching guarantees (as WhyNot highlights), suppose I see part 1234ABC at Best Buy for $49.99 and part 9876ZYX and Target for $45.99. If they’re really the same thing, then I’d want to go buy it at Target - but are they? Scanning the descriptions, they sure look the same, but it’s hard to be sure.
What I’ll buy will probably depend on which competing expression is dominating my mood today: A fool and his money are soon parted, or You get what you pay for.
As an example of the above - I was shopping for an exercise bike many years ago. There was one at Sears that I liked - I always try to buy my exercise equipment locally so I can actually try it out for fit. It was even on sale. I went home and did some research, and found something that looked the same online with good reviews. But it had a different model number.
I went to the manufacturer’s web site, and found a live chat feature. I asked the person if the items were the same. They had to do some research, and eventually told me that it was a Sears specific model, but that it was the same as the other ones if you ignored the logo.
i’m not sure this is what Jinx is asking about. In the case you describe, the manufacturer will have model 1234 for a product sold anywhere, but also 1234ABC exclusively for ABC wherehouse, and 1234BB for Best Buy, all with some minor cosmetic difference. But those are all manufacturer’s numbers, and are recognizable as comparable. ETA: Whether they only differ cosmetically, or one has cheaper components and lower quality, is an exercise for the wary buyer.
I think what Jinx is asking about is when Home Depot has their own model number for 1234, something like UAC8365, even though the product also has the manufacturer model number 1234. When you look in the ads, Target might show it advertised as model 1234, but the home Depot ad might only have the UAC8365 number.
But the Home Depot number that’s vastly different from the manufacturer’s model number isn’t a “model” number, it’s a “stock” number or SKU, which is just Home Depot’s internal organizational system.
You can see the different numbers in question on the website. Example. You’ll see “model” number, “internet” number, and “SKU.”
Yes, when it’s a matter of different model numbers for different stores, they’re not vastly different. They will still be in the same format -for example, model numbers for that company may consist of two letters and six numbers. Best Buy and Target will both have model numbers with two letters and six numbers- but they won’t be the same letters/numbers.
True. The store needs it’s own numbering system so that it can control and track things. There is nothing to stop two different manufacturers from using the same model number. The store can track their own model number to each maufacturer. It allows for some commonality of numbers, if desired. For instance, fans could be FANxxxxx…or something like that.
My last two jobs working in cell phones did this. We had a variety of vendors with a variety of part number schemes. Our BOMs and schematics used our company part numbers - digital ICs were DIG-xxxxx, for instance. It made it easy for me to identify parts, since I didn’t need to know each vendor’s scheme.
A couple other reasons for different model numbers and/or models.
To foil prominent review organizations like Consumer Reports. If Consumer Reports says “avoid model number 124XYZ” and you have a hundred variations, only that particular model # might take a sales hit. (And any you have in the pipeline can be sent out with a different number.) CR has a major problem identifying a “typical” version of a model.
Hand-in-hand with this is perpetual changing of model numbers, so good luck even finding a well-reviewed model # by the time CR reviews and publishes it.
They really do make variants of models for different stores. Radio Shack used to be notorious for this, getting a cheaper version of a better quality model that didn’t last as long. Home Depot is also doing this now. That model of faucet that’s well-reviewed on Amazon might seem to have an identical model at Home Depot, but it could have cheaper components. Buyer beware.
This is also why mattress sellers make such a huge deal out of price matching and the like… because no two sellers have exactly the same models, thus they cannot be compared.
There is also the trick of producing an inferior (cheaper) version of a product for the big box retailers, and altering the part number slightly.
Go to real tool store: it is a Delta 4569
Go to Home Depot: it is a Delta 4569a
You are likely to assume there is no difference, or the difference is trivial. One goes for $200, the other for $120. Do you really believe that the big box format can cut that much?
I worked for a small company which made humidifiers and box fans (mostly). Some went out with the company’s name, some with “Sears, Roebuck, & Co.” (they were absolutely anal about the spelling and punctuation of that name). Mostly, they were identical products. Every once in a while there would be a cheaper motor in one vs the other
Amateur Barbarian - you are right on that, but if you reason with a newer sales person, you can still force a price match. Just this past weekend, I needed to get a new mattress to replace the 20 year old one in our guest room. I knew I wanted a Simmons Beautyrest and went to a smaller mattress store that wouldn’t go below $876 on it out the door for a queen set. Black Friday is the next day and Macy’s has what is the same set for $612 out the door, but I didn’t want to brave the mall to get it, so I reasoned with a different saleperson at the smaller store the next day, and he agreed it was the same mattress despite the slightly different model numbers because it had the same ridiculously long name; something like “Simmons Beautyrest Cloudburst Ultrasleep Pleasure Coaster Relaxomatic XE Turbo” or whatever the Hell it was, which was good enough to force them to abide by their own phony price match rules and save me the time and bloodshed of going to the mall on Black Friday.
and shit.
Anyone who has done appliance research knows that there are model numbers (sometimes a number difference, sometimes a letter suffix) exclusive to Lowe’s, HD, Sam’s and Costco. I forget which washer I was looking at, but the 600 was an entry model, the 650 was the loaded one… and Costco exclusively had the 640, which had puffy features added to the base model.
I’ve heard Amazon does the same thing for small appliances. The Cuisinart toaster you buy may not be the exact same model as retail stores carry. It may be cheaper made to slash the price a bit and make it seem like Amazon is a better deal.
I’ve also heard of power tools not necessarily being the same. The “cheap” version may have plastic gears that wear out and break where the better quality version will have more expensive metal gears inside.
Unfortunately for consumers it is very difficult for us to tell the difference, since the box and everything except the model number will be identical.