Maybe a dumb question, but what is gray market?

[Ratpack]

I am looking at a lens on Adorama and they have two listed and one is gray market. The price of the gray market lens is cheaper which is good for my pocketbook, but what does the gray market mean?

 

[tinksdad]

Definition: The grey market (or gray market) refers to the flow of new goods through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended by the manufacturer or producer. Used or pre-owned goods are just that: used. Only new products fall under the legal, accepted definition of grey market.

Some dealers will get products from other dealers going out of business, from overseas locations that are not authorized by the manufactors. You can save money on these deals, but usually no warranty will be offered for the product. It there is a problem, you're usually on your own.
Lenses don't have that much difference in price to give up the warranty, or at least not to ME.

 

[jann1033]

there was a thread about this a few months back and i seem to recall a few stores will provide a warranty for grey market that matches the manufacturer warranty for non gray market so you might want to check around for that...otherwise i wouldn't buy it either

 

[Groucho]

Yeah, it means that it's not bought through a US distributor, it's imported from a foreign distributor. With a fairly reputable place like Adorama or BH, it's unlikely that they're junk unloaded from someone going out of business.

Also, those two give you pretty much the same warranty as the manufacturer (maxing out at a year, though, I think), except that if there's a problem, you go through them, not the manufacturer. For some, that may be an advantage... there are always horror stories about dealing with warranty repairs for pretty much any company.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

How manufacturers handle warranties on gray market goods varies. I've heard (although never tested) that US Canon honors the warranty on gray market goods the same as if it went through US distribution. I've also read horror stories from people that bought Hondas in Canada and tried to have work done on them at dealerships in the US.

In some cases, you may also have some differences between a gray market item and a normal distribution item. Using cars as an example again, my father bought a Toyota in Canada back in the early 80's. It was almost the same as a US model, but the speedometer and odometer were in kilometers. With cameras, the Canon Rebel XTi is probably the same, but it may be labeled a 450D instead.

 

[Geoff_M]

As previously mentioned, "gray market" equipment is product that is acquired by the seller through means other than use of the authorized importer. Camera manufacturers set local prices on their equipment based on a number of factors: local market conditions, rate of foreign exchange, the local overhead of the in-country sales and support staff along with their marketing costs. Give all of this it's easy to find great "deals" off-shore. Some US retailers take advantage of this and find wholesalers/retailers in other countries and purchases lots of product from them and then have it shipped to the US and then sell it at a price that undercuts the price of product acquired from the American subsidiary.

As mentioned, there has been an aggressive move by camera makers to "fight" gray market product as the problem has worsened. Too many people like to go to their local camera store, figure out what they want, and then go order the gray market version from B&H on-line to save some $$$. The fighting back consists of things like:
- Refusing to honor the equipment for warranty repair through the in-country service center. You may be able to get a warranty repair, but you may be told to ship the equipment back to Japan.
- Refusing to repair the equipment... period. Even for a price XYZ Co., USA won't touch it. Again, you'll be told to ship it back to Japan from a quote from them.

Nikon is firmly in this camp. The info on Canon is contradictory. Some reports indicate that Canon USA will except gray market warranty repairs, other reports I've seen say they won't. However, I did note that the reports that say they won't are generally more recent than the ones that they do. But without a doubt, the market trend is to try and push back the gray product.

To me, the possible hassle isn't worth the cost savings. If I need help with a product post-purchase, I sure as shooting ain't going to get much support from a mail-order outfit (either the legit NYC stores nor the Brooklyn "scam artists"). With US product, I can call the local support operation worry free. I've had Nikon USA fix two of my dSLRs free of charge out of warranty due to a known problem with earlier copies of the bodies. They were shipped there and back ASAP. There's no doubt in my mind my experience would have been not as pleasant if the bodies were "gray".

 

[puddleduck]

Be very careful with gray market cameras, etc. I am looking at either an XTi or a 30D, 40D if it comes out before I get ready to buy and the low prices are very tempting to me since I don't have a money tree growing in the backyard, sadly enough when I was at the store, I picked up the bills tree by mistake. I decided to research the companies a little bit since I was trying to convince myself that a warranty wouldn't be a problem as if any cost of fixing the camera would be offset by the lower price. What I found out though was that instead of low prices you got a lot of headaches. You have to literally pay for everything, batteries, manuals, software, etc. These are things that you normally get for free when you buy the camera. The accessories are priced out of this world and the shipping fees are simply outrageous. One guy I read about encountered a $1000+ shipping charge. I couldn't make this up! It was not uncommon for the credit card bill to have extra charges totaling in the hundreds of dollars. I decided right then that I'll just need to save a little longer and not try to get something for nothing. Use this link to check out an online store or simply google the store name and opinions. That's what i did and found the horror stories REAL fast.
http://www.resellerratings.com/

 

[MarkBarbieri]

While it is true that many unauthorized dealers are crooks, some gray market resellers are very good merchants. B&H clearly labels as "import" anything that is sold from a non-US distribution chain. What you get is generally the same as if you bought the normal version. The difference is typically in the warranty coverage. It's up to you to decide whether the warranty risks justify the cost savings.

 

[ukcatfan]

Some credit cards offer extra protection when a purchase is through them. I wonder if they have a stance on gray market items. My guess is that they would not honor it either, but who knows.

Kevin

 

[MICKEY88]

good stores that sell gray market stuff, usually either offer their own warranty or a mack warranty for the item...

 

[Geoff_M]

It's certainly true that some perfectly good merchants, like B&H, carry clearly labeled gray market products... and it is possible to get third party service on those products, there's still possible downsides. For starters, anything you need relating to the equipment will have to be gotten from the retailer. If you like B&H's level of post-purchase "technical support", then gray might be for you. If you don't want free "silent recall" repairs/upgrades out-of-warranty from the manufacturer, then I'd consider gray. Also, another comment about store warranties for gray market product, if the camera retailer goes belly up (unless it's a Mack warranty, or similar), so does your warranty. The only gray camera I purchased in my life was an F5 from a major retailers in California. Del's Camera always had the largest ad section in Shutterbug magazine, and I purchased from them. A couple of years after the purchase they went "poof". The camera came with a "Del's Warranty", and that went "poof" too.

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

Another point you should take into consideration is that most manufacturers rebate programs do not include gray market items. Nikon is a prime example. Any rebates or price savings only pertain to US Warranty items not import. In may cases these rebates make the US version of the product less expensive than the gray market product.

Jeff