Who Really Makes Your Appliances? The 2026 Guide to Relabeled Brands and What They're Worth

So you bought a BlueStar refrigerator for $4,295. The salesperson told you BlueStar was the best.

That refrigerator is made by Arçelik. You can buy the identical unit, badged Beko, for $1,799.

The name on the door is often the biggest cost you pay.

Sometimes the price gap isn't so bad. Other times, you could be paying a lot more without realizing the identical model is much cheaper.

What Can a Cadillac Cimarron Teach You About Relabeled Products?

I ran into the clearest example of this before I ever sold appliances. My marketing class was assigned the Cadillac Cimarron in 1985, a Chevy Cavalier with leather seats and a Cadillac badge on the hood.

I brought my grandfather along for a test drive. He was a lifelong Cadillac man.

He hated it. Those were his exact words, and he never bought another Cadillac.

People are making Cimarron-like decisions with appliances every day, spending thousands of dollars needlessly.

You just don't want to be one of them.

Who Really Makes Your Appliances?

An OEM, or original equipment manufacturer, is the company that physically builds a product another company sells under its own name.

Knowing who builds it is only half the answer. The other half is how often it actually needs service, which we track for every brand we sell in The Most Reliable Appliance Brands for 2026.

Why Do Manufacturers Rebrand the Same Appliances?

The key for any factory owner is keeping the factory producing.

I remember standing in a Sharp TV factory in 1986, watching Curtis Mathes televisions come off the line.

It's more efficient for a factory to run at higher volume, even if that means selling to a competitor.

The competitor gains access to a finished product without the cost of building its own factory.

Many companies can't build every product themselves, so they outsource what they can't. You see this most with premium lines.

BlueStar makes its own refrigerator columns and pro-style refrigerators, but outsources standard refrigerators to Arçelik, badged Beko.

🔍 Read more: 40 Years of Appliances: What Really Changed (And Why Service Matters More Than Brand)

Why Doesn't Relabeling Appliances Work in the Long Term?

Put yourself in the shoes of Whirlpool's CEO. You have a choice.

You could spend money developing genuinely new products. That's always the best long-term strategy.

Or you could sell the same product under different labels with different aesthetics. It's the far more common choice, because it's easier in the short term.

Sam Abdelnour, Whirlpool's longtime Vice President of Sales, was once asked if the company had the stomach to make truly proprietary products for JennAir.

"I don't know," was his answer.

That strategy became so widespread that more innovative companies caught up and surpassed the ones relying on it.

Whirlpool kept focusing on the same base product across Amana, Whirlpool, KitchenAid, and JennAir, while LG and Samsung built more interesting products.

In 1985, when I took that marketing class, this information wasn't available. You couldn't compare products side by side.

Now you can look all of this up online. Compare the specs yourself, and understand what you're actually buying.

Which Appliance Brands Are Relabeled?

Who Actually Makes Your Microwave Drawer?

The drawer is a great design, tucked safely under the counter.

But look closer at the features and price. Sharp makes it for nearly every other brand.

Don't spend $2,000 on that Sharp microwave just yet.

Somehow, Sharp makes the same drawer look better for everyone else's badge.

This isn't always a bad thing. Premium manufacturers like Thermador, JennAir, and Monogram offer rebates, so the microwave ovens are free when you combine them with other purchases.

Are Amana, Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, and JennAir the Same?

The old, independent Maytag was the best company. Their products were solid, and their people were even better.

Until they weren't.

Whirlpool bought Maytag, closed the plant in Iowa, and started building Maytag-branded Whirlpool laundry.

Most Amana, Whirlpool, and Maytag products are similar.

They didn't stop there.

Some KitchenAid and Whirlpool refrigerators and dishwashers are rebranded versions of each other.

KitchenAid adds a power burner and a warming drawer over a base Whirlpool range. JennAir adds even more power and swaps the warming drawer for a baking drawer.

Are Bosch, Thermador, and Gaggenau the Same?

The BSH Group has some genuinely innovative appliances. It also has some real redundancy.

Integrated Refrigerators

Thermador's recently updated refrigerator lineup is built in the same Turkish factory, Arçelik.

Don't be surprised. A lot of appliances are made in Turkey.

Dishwashers

All three brands' dishwashers are built in the same Bosch factory in North Carolina.

That $1,399 Thermador dishwasher is eerily similar to the $1,000 Bosch.

Thermador Emerald 24-inch stainless steel top-control built-in dishwasher versus the Bosch 300 Series. Don't get too upset about the $400 price gap. The Thermador is free when you buy other Thermador appliances.

Cooktops

Most cooktops are similar across every brand. Thermador and Bosch's gas cooktops are a good example, the old Thermador design is now the newer Bosch cooktop.

For induction, the Thermador Freedom cooktop is similar to Gaggenau's, just with fewer features. Gaggenau doesn't even use the word "Freedom."

Freestanding Refrigerators

Thermador and Bosch are identical except for their handles. In theory you buy the Thermador with the pro-looking handles so it matches your Thermador range.

But you can buy the Bosch with pocket handles, not worry about it, and spend a heck of a lot less.

The One BSH Product That Isn't What It Looks Like

Everything else in the BSH portfolio is decent. This one product is the exception.

Bosch still builds its own slide-in ranges. Its freestanding, commercial-looking induction ranges are a different story.

I saw these at a trade show three years ago. Good-looking units.

Then I checked the oven and asked, who's making this for you?

A smaller oven cavity is the hallmark of an Italian brand. Smeg, the Italian manufacturer, makes Bosch's freestanding induction ranges.

Are GE, GE Profile, Café, and Monogram the Same?

About 30 years ago, our GE rep showed us the new Profile line.

"Hey Ron," I asked, "what's the difference between this new Profile and the better GE stuff we sold last week?"

I'm not very well liked in this industry.

Profile was GE's better stuff, just relabeled with a new name and a new price point.

Look at the GE Profile and Café counter-depth French door refrigerators. The GE Profile is a 36-inch, 22.1 cu. ft. unit in fingerprint-resistant stainless steel. The Café is a 36-inch, 22.2 cu. ft. unit in matte white.

Pretty similar. Most people buy the Café for the color and the accents.

The French door Café is eerily similar to the more expensive Monogram.

Here's what's weird about Profile and Café: the dishwashers don't follow the same pattern.

The GE Profile and Café 24-inch dishwashers look just as close on paper.

The Profile is quieter and less expensive than the Café. But it has no color.

The Café double-drawer dishwasher is actually Fisher & Paykel's double-drawer dishwasher.

That makes sense once you know Café and Fisher & Paykel are both part of Haier.

Is SKS Just a More Expensive LG?

LG differentiates its brands better than almost anyone else in the industry.

The old LG Studio line is becoming LG Signature, which makes the current lineup harder to track.

SKS has taken over as LG's top tier. Its most innovative technology goes there first, with very little overlap into LG Studio.

LG generally does this well. It gives better features to the higher-end labels, with only some overlap.

Take the SKS and LG Studio 30-inch wall ovens.

Both have speed cooking on top and steam-assist functionality. The SKS Oven/Microwave Combo Wall Oven runs $6,999. The LG Studio version runs $3,499, less than half the price, with the same core features.

Are Electrolux and Frigidaire the Same?

We haven't sold Frigidaire and Electrolux in a while, but these two lines still make the point.

Electrolux 36" gas range: $4,499+. Frigidaire Professional 36" gas range: $5,199+.

Frigidaire, the less premium name, actually costs more here. It also has one more power burner.

The refrigerators tell the opposite story.

The Electrolux ERFC2393AS and the Frigidaire Gallery GRFC2353AF are both 22.6 cu. ft., 36 inches wide, 70 inches tall, same fresh food and freezer split.

I have no idea why the Electrolux costs $950 more for the same capacity and dimensions as the Frigidaire Gallery.

Does Samsung Relabel Its Appliances?

Samsung doesn't outsource much.

Dacor is the high-end company Samsung bought in 2016. Its built-in refrigerator is really the old Samsung built-in piece from years ago, just repackaged.

Do Premium Appliance Brands Relabel Too?

Viking

Viking builds all of its cooking appliances, ventilation, and grills in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Its dishwashers are outsourced to Beko. Its refrigerators are now outsourced to Fhiaba, an Italian manufacturer.

To Viking's credit, they're looking at restarting refrigeration production in Michigan.

Sub-Zero / Wolf / Cove

Sub-Zero doesn't sell freestanding refrigerators, so it has no reason to outsource for a lower price point.

To its credit, Sub-Zero has been in-sourcing more of its manufacturing, not less.

Its Scotsman ice maker will be Sub-Zero-built starting later this year.

The steam oven is made by V-Zug of Switzerland. I have one in my own kitchen, and it's genuinely good.

Microwaves are outsourced to Sharp as well.

Miele

Miele is a family-owned company based in Germany.

It manufactures most of its products to the component level in-house, including stoves, dishwashers, laundry machines, and steam ovens.

That's why Miele's M Touch is so unique in the industry, it's built in-house in their German factory.

Built-in refrigerators, as we've said, are made in Turkey. Freestanding refrigerators are built by Liebherr.

How Can You Tell if an Appliance Is Relabeled?

Most companies relabel somewhere in their lineup. Look at the specifications when comparing models.

If a refrigerator has identical capacity in the refrigerator section, or in both the refrigerator and freezer sections, it's probably relabeled.

The same goes for wall ovens. If two wall ovens from different badges share the same control panel and identical oven specs, they're relabeled too.

🔍 Read more: 5 Questions to Ask Before Buying Kitchen Appliances

Should You Stay Away From Relabeled Appliances?

Probably, but not necessarily.

My dad's Café refrigerator has an interesting control panel with a hot water dispenser. I like it. But the Profile costs less without that feature.

What you want to do is use that to your advantage.

The Thermador dishwasher costs $400 more than the identical Bosch, but it ends up being free in a package.

Use the rebates to your advantage on the premium side, Thermador, JennAir, and Monogram, and get a free microwave drawer.

In certain cases, the price gap is way off for absolutely nothing. That's where you're buying a label with no features.

Know you can buy it cheaper. Check the features and the rebates first. Stay away from egregious upcharges that come with no added value.

Then again, you might want to pick a different store if your quote is full of overpriced relabeled appliances, where you could have spent 30% less for the same appliance under a different label.

🔍 Read more: The Best Luxury Appliance Dealers in Massachusetts (2026)

Additional Resources

Looking for more help on appliances? Get our free Appliance Buying Guide with the 10 most frequently asked questions, their answers, features on the major brands, and advice for the best buying strategies. Well over 1 million people have read a Yale Guide.

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