Gray Market and Your Opinion

[saltysupply]

I hear alot about the gray market and want to know what exactly it is all about....Being in retail myself everyone has the right to sell what they want without being called a "fake" etc. and warranties are always covered by the manufacturer and we don't repair anything, is this something to attempt to protect the brick and mortar stores from being called to expensive?

Leisure pro sells their products almost 50-100% cheaper than my local stores which means the local stores are marking their stuff up 100%++, I would dream to have markups as high as some of these stores. Does this have something to do with it as well...hopefully this isn't a touchy subject.

I have bought from leisure pro multiple times and have to say they are top notch!

 

[ClayJar]

Leisure pro sells their products almost 50-100% cheaper than my local stores which means the local stores are marking their stuff up 100%++

You are assuming that LP and "authorized resellers" get their product at the same price. It takes no stretch of the imagination to assume that LP most likely picks up product for less than the ARs, as that's rather the entire driving force behind a strong price-driven grey market.

(There are other types of grey markets, of course. The grey market for iPhones and the grey market for importing out-of-region DVDs into the US are both scarcity-driven grey markets. They exist not due to pricing concerns but rather due to supply limitations.)

Anyway, I believe there is a place for a grey market, but at the same time, I believe that purchasers electing to use the grey market should be fully informed of all that entails.

I advised one person to buy a Gekko from a non-authorized reseller. Considering his budget and diving plans, the length of the warranty and the likelihood of needing warranty service was not sufficient to justify the cost of buying authorized. It was simply logical for him in his particular circumstances to wager the price of a grey market Gekko. If the computer fails while it still would have been under warranty had it been authorized, he will lose his wager, but if it lasts at least through the would-have-been-covered-by-warranty period, he comes out ahead. (Of course, if the Gekko was unreliable and likely to need frequent service, that would tilt the balance away from the grey market. If the warranty was better, that would as well.)

 

[Clanggedin]

My brother tried to purchase a Poseidon Odin from LeisurePro. They twice sent him used gear in very used and dirty reg bags, when he was told he would be receiving new gear.

We decided not to deal with grey market dealers any more after that ordeal with LP. YMMV

 

[ClayJar]

LP is basically attached to Adorama, eh? If only there were a scuba version of B&H instead.

For you non-photographers who have never heard of B&H (I've yet to meet a photographer who doesn't know B&H), they sell both US-warranty and grey-market items. You can choose the US version of a Canon lens or the cheaper grey-market version right on the same search results. (My L glass is all US, while my little EF 50mm f/1.8 II is, of course, grey market.)

 

[saltysupply]

You are assuming that LP and "authorized resellers" get their product at the same price. It takes no stretch of the imagination to assume that LP most likely picks up product for less than the ARs, as that's rather the entire driving force behind a strong price-driven grey market.

(There are other types of grey markets, of course. The grey market for iPhones and the grey market for importing out-of-region DVDs into the US are both scarcity-driven grey markets. They exist not due to pricing concerns but rather due to supply limitations.)

Anyway, I believe there is a place for a grey market, but at the same time, I believe that purchasers electing to use the grey market should be fully informed of all that entails.

I advised one person to buy a Gekko from a non-authorized reseller. Considering his budget and diving plans, the length of the warranty and the likelihood of needing warranty service was not sufficient to justify the cost of buying authorized. It was simply logical for him in his particular circumstances to wager the price of a grey market Gekko. If the computer fails while it still would have been under warranty had it been authorized, he will lose his wager, but if it lasts at least through the would-have-been-covered-by-warranty period, he comes out ahead. (Of course, if the Gekko was unreliable and likely to need frequent service, that would tilt the balance away from the grey market. If the warranty was better, that would as well.)

That is true, smaller stores probably won't get that larger discount, but for instance LP still gets their aqualung stuff but aqualung says they do not deal with LP because they are gray...now why would they still allow them to sell it....

Also like you said most of the stuff I buy is higher end so im willing to take that chance that it will last a long time and save $300. Not to mention don't you have to pay for repairs after the warranty anyway which is generally only 12 months....bleh

 

[Gombessa]

Considering I bought nearly everything used, I have no problem with gray market in regards to quality or lack of manufacturer warranty. It's a judgment call based on your personal level of comfort and peace of mind.

 

[saltysupply]

can't you always get your equipment serviced from the manufacturer no matter where you bought it?

 

[saltysupply]

for a price of course, but considering how much you save its worth it as long as you are buying quality equipment.

 

[tridacna]

Why oh why can people not read the archives? Two threads in one month. I keep checking dates to see if they were started on April 1. Alas not. Here we go again...

 

[shoturtle]

Gray Market goods really are not fake, it is the method that the seller gets the product. Some get it from the same disturbers as authorized seller, but are sold at greatly reduce price do to the sear volume that gray market buyer is buying. So the gray market seller can past off the savings. Another way is when a manufacturer or distributors want to close out a product, the gray market seller buy in bulk. I do not to many LDS will buy say 200 mares dragon bc in one shot. So the buyer of 200 vs. 10 should get a better deal on ther order. With the emerging of bigger Internet Scuba shops some authorize sell can sell are prices close to the gray market sellers. So gray market seller get their stuff form a foreign country like Canada, but they products are still the real items. And the distributor there may have a better pricing policy then here.

So this comes back to the new business models that the web has created. The ones that do not learn to embrace it generally get left behind. We are getting global, like it or not, we need to change to keep pace with it. I personally do not like globalization, but that is the world we are in now.

Some manufacturer will honor warranties even if they are gray market. European comes to the US to buy Olympus digital cameras in the US, because they a way cheaper here. If they break back in Europe, Olympus Europe will still fix it at no cost, they just send them the blank warranty card that came with the package. They then bill the camera factory for the cost of the repair. It really depends on the company with gray market and warranties.

Side note:
LP is actually my LDS and every product I have brought from them have been new. Also I really have no worries about warranties, they will fix or replace it, I just have to drop it off at the store. Honestly how often does a quality piece of scuba gear break under two years. The cheaper stuff may not last, but a good stuff normally will last.