For most Royal Gourmet replacement parts, third-party generics from BMMXBI, Uniflasy, MOASKER, BBQ-Element, SafBbcue, and Votenli are functionally identical to OEM at 30–50% lower price. Cooking grates, charcoal grates, heat plates, ash pans, drip trays, control knobs — all of these are commodity parts where the OEM premium isn't justified.
There are three categories where buying OEM is worth the premium: (1) Igniters — third-party igniters have higher early-failure rates (BBQ-Element igniters are reliable; cheaper unbranded ones are not), so spending $5 more for OEM-quality is reasonable insurance. (2) Regulators and gas-delivery components — for safety reasons, prioritize CSA or ANSI-certified replacements regardless of brand; non-certified gas parts can leak. (3) Burner tubes — premium 304 stainless steel burners last 5–8 years; cheap aluminized steel burners corrode in 2–3 years. The 'cheap' burner is more expensive over time.
For everything else — covers, knobs, grates, heat plates, hardware — buy third-party with confidence. Owner reports across BBQ Brethren and Reddit's r/grilling consistently confirm functional parity at significantly lower prices.
The Royal Gourmet brand itself sells parts at retail-markup prices (their parts page is at royalgourmetcorp.com/accessory/Parts), but you'll find equivalent parts on Amazon for 20-40% less. Royal Gourmet's customer service can be slow for parts shipments — multiple weeks per BBQ Brethren reports — while Amazon ships next-day for Prime members. The math favors third-party Amazon for most parts.