Place Making Online

In case you have ever shopped for the computer parts, you may have already come across an acronym comprising of 3 letters-OEM. This means Original Equipment Manufacturer. It is commonly tagged on the software or hardware that are not very expensive as compared to the original products. This may leave you wondering whether to purchase oem optics or if there a catch that will leave you in trouble. One thing that will realize is that these can differ from the retails products and the differences can be quite big.

The meaning and legality of OEM

Like we have already noted, OEM Optics usually stands for the Original Equipment Manufacturer.  It is worth noting that that acronym is not about who sells the product as to who the product is supposed to be sold to. The OEM software and hardware are usually packaged to be redistributed to the companies that work in building systems. These companies are usually original equipment manufacturers.  It is for this reason that the OEM products are usually sold in some generic wrapper or box rather than the retail packaging. These should not be stored on the store shelves.

This is the reason that you find that majority of OEM products are not sold in the majority of retails stores. The online stores do not care much about the retail packaging but they are usually happier to stock these items and resell them to the customers. The online retailers realize that there are many customers who are searching for the lowest price that is possible.

There are some concerns from consumers on the legality of OEM. It is worth noting that these are completely legal. However, they come with some attached stipulations that you need to accept prior to buying.

Similarities between OEM and VAR

Even though OEM are very similar to the value-added reseller, these usually refer to a situation where the company brands a product using its own name, providing it with a support, warranty and even license for the product. However, you should note that the term OEM is a misnomer as OEMs aren’t the original manufacturers of products. Instead, they customize original products.

OEM examples

After a manufacturer of a product such as the computer graphic or a scope lens cap, they will create two or more other versions of the product. The Japanese optics companies will distribute one version direct to their retail market using their brand names and offering the necessary support and warranty. Another version of the scope lens cap may be distributed by the OEM of the manufacturer as well as the other channels of distribution. In most cases, the OEM products match the quality of their retail version. However, the warranties can be different from the manual and the bundled software may not exist. The connectors and cables necessary for the installation may not be included. At times, this may involve huge quantities of a product that may be purchased by an OEM for the purpose of producing the pre-built system en masses.