what exactly is the "grey market"?

robmyers

robmyers

Active member
what exactly is the "grey market"? i've bandied the term around myself on occassion to answer the innocent questions of the tech-un-savvy. i hear it every time i call a merchant and we're haggling a price twords the sweet spot. it's obvious that it's somewhere between the "white" and "black" markets. but what is it? after downloading the pdf for the DVX-100 manual in 2003, shooting with it in afghanistan for a landmine doco in 2004, and just wrapping a music video for thievery corporation whilst never moving the knob from 24p in 2005, i feel i can (mentally if not financially) justify buying my favorite vid camera. but why should i spend $3,100 at B&Hphoto when i could get it for $2,600 at UScamera1, or - how can this be!?! - $1,580 at AMphoto?
 
Because those places will scam you. Plain and simple. I have heard stories of not all the accessories being supplied, like the battery, and then they charge huge prices for the accessories. Also, they will sometimes charge you more for shipping than they need to. Also, B&H will support you after you buy the camera, if you have to warranty it, they can sometimes help out. Just look at the reseller ratings of B&H compared to any of those other places.....
 
(If you don't know what it means, why are you "bandying" the term to the "tech-un-savvy"?)

B&H is an authorized dealer; you know you will get a new camera meant for the US market new in a sealed box with all the accessories and add-on marketing items. It will be covered by a US warranty. B&H typically offers prices among the very lowest of authorized dealers.

If you buy from a scan operator like A&M, none of the above is guaranteed; nor will you likely end up getting the full camera package for less than B&H's price.

There used to be a long sticky thread on this, but it doesn't look like it survived site conversion.
 
There is the white market (authorized resellers), the gray market, the black market (stolen goods) and then there's another market: the lying scumbag bait-and-switch thieves, who quote outrageously low prices because they have NO INTENTION of ever selling you the camera at that price. Instead they will lie and delay (all the while possessing your credit card number and already having charged you), then they will call you and say "oh, that's out of stock, it'll be six months before we get any more in, do you want to buy the US model for just $3499?"

They're lying thieves.

Now, back to the gray market: gray market goods are those that are not sold by authorized resellers. Panasonic (and pretty much all the manufacturers) have contracts with certain resellers which give those resellers the right to buy the product directly from the manufacturer, and resell it. Examples are EVS, B&H, Abel Cine Tech, Birns & Sawyer, etc. They buy from the manufacturer, and therefore you WILL get a warranty, and you WILL be eligible for all rebates, freebies, goodies, etc. The authorized reseller is bound by contract to behave to certain standards (including selling the product brand-new, sealed in the box, including all accessories, etc.) Think of them as new-car dealers.

But gray marketers have no relationship to the manufacturer. They're more like used car dealers. They buy their cameras wherever they can get them -- used, refurbs, under-the-table from an authorized reseller, or imported from some other country. These products may or may not include everything in the box -- after all the reseller has *no* relationship to Panasonic, and is under no obligation to honor any similar terms. They can pull all the accessories out and sell you just the camera if they want, and make you pay extra for the manual, the battery, etc. After all, they are *not* a Panasonic dealer, they're just a store that happened to buy a camera from somewhere (we don't know where, but we know it definitely wasn't from Panasonic), so now it's their property and they can choose to sell it however they wish. It may or may not have a warranty. If they bought it from an authorized US reseller, the US warranty should be intact, but if they bought it from Canada or Japan or someplace else (trying to take advantage of currency exchange rates) then it most definitely will *not* have a warranty in the USA. You could choose to send it back to the country of origin for warranty service, but that's not likely going to prove to be economically feasible. Also, it probably won't have the goodies that come in the bundle from the authorized reseller (in the US, that includes Magic Bullet Editors, the DVX Book/DVD and a $300 rebate). Those items are not offered by other countries (although New Zealand does include the DVX Book/DVD).

Gray marketers may sell for less (or they may rip you off), but it seems unlikely that they could sell authorized USA product for less than an authorized dealer. It seems like the gray marketer's profit margin comes from taking advantage of currency exchange rates; when buying US-authorized product they'd have to buy it from a US authorized reseller, and the US resellers all pay the same price so... how could a gray marketer legitimately sell it for less, when they inherently have to pay more for it?
 
I got screwed with a gray market dealer. I saved a pittance, but now I don't have a warranty. Which has become an issue since my headphone jack is messed up. I'm sure that what I saved won't compare to what I'll have to pay to get it fixed....plus whatever happens next.
 
Hi Rob, if you'd like an honest bid for your business, please email me at rush@evsonline.com. Our DVXuser discounts on the DVX and other accessories, may be worth your time.:cheesy:
 
Rush said:
Hi Rob, if you'd like an honest bid for your business, please email me at rush@evsonline.com. Our DVXuser discounts on the DVX and other accessories, may be worth your time.:cheesy:
Click to expand...

Listen to this man. He's a trustworthy individual who is also a joy to deal with.:thumbsup:
 
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