I think it's pretty much the Dell business model with other shortcuts. You can have high quality and lower quality frames built in the same factory so I don't assume that "built in the same factories" means much.

My guess is what they do is take fairly generic frames and vary the component mixes and the paint schemes. The component mixes are determined in part by what's available at a discount due to overproduction, last years models, etc.

None of this is really bad per say. I guess one question i'd have is how durable is the finish on a BD frame? Do people who buy BD frames really care about that? If they don't they might have a frame with all sorts of paint chips but still tell you they're happy.