alt Hacker News> Imagine, for example, needing to pay $1000 to replace an oil filter because you needed to buy the official John Deere oil filter and have the John Deere technician drive out to install it and flash the tractor to start up with the new filter.
>That's what John Deere was up to.
Is that an actual price and the actual process?
Replies
cogman10 • today at 12:08 PM
Price no, process yes.
John Deere hasn't been insane enough to soft lock their oil filters. But they do soft lock about everything else they can.
https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/17/43...
Even in other industries it is common that spare parts and consumables have a very high margin (while the initial purchase has a much smaller margin or in some cases is even subsidised).
The most well known example is probably printer ink/toner. (Razors is another often quoted example.) But this applies to car parts too. I needed a new small plastic clip to my Dacia. I was quoted 100 SEK (about 10 USD) for that. I 3D printed a sturdier version that will last longer for less than 5 SEK in materials (less than 0.5 USD).
From that you can estimate the approximate margins many companies have for spare parts. Of course being able to prevent cheaper third party parts will seem enticing if they want to maximise shareholder value. And this is why we need regulation.