Gray Market?

[imrsalas]

Sorry for the ignorance. I am relatively new to Digital SLR and am slowly building my equipment. I have a Nikon D60

with kit lenses and am looking at expanding my lenses and getting a flash as well as a diffuser and even a flash

trigger so that I can set up the flash away from the camera. What I am seeing in eBay and other sites is that they

are selling items which are new, used, refurbished and even "GRAY MARKET." Can anyone enlighten me on what

exactly does gray market mean and what are the impications of getting gray market equipment. I would really

appreciate the assistance in this matter.

[matthew_newton]

Gray market means that it is imported in to the country and not originally marked for sale here. You are not going to have a warranty and it may be missing documentation (probably not). The practice is not illegal in the US to the best of my knowledge (so long as tarrifs, etc are paid, if not then it is black market). Generally this is a lower cost item because it is acquired in a cheaper market and imported or acquired as excess manufacturing and bought in bulk and resold individually and may not have a warranty (which reduces the cost, manufacturers factor expected warranty repair costs in the price of an item they sell).

[imrsalas]

Thanks Matthew for the insight on Gray / Black Market equipment. Now I can make a more intelligent decision when I purchase equipment for my camera.

[brucecahn]

Just to confuse things more, some grey market equipment does have a guarantee. A manufacturer usually has a contract with one or more importers to import and sell his product in a certain country. What grey market means is that it was imported by someone else. It is the same product. It often does not have a guarantee, but sometimes does. Ask.

[ted_springer]

Sometimes grey market products aren't as good as the real deal as a result of worse quality control and sometimes different

materials used. I would do a search in photo.net for the lens you are considering just to make sure people haven't had any bad

experiences with the imported version.

[imrsalas]

Thanks Bruce & Ted...I will make sure that before I purchase any gray market equipment, I ask to see if there are any warranties or guarantees. Currently I am looking at getting a flash...I am still undecided whether I will get a Nikon SB-600 or another make. I need to do extensive research before spending on this...the flash wont be used that much I think...but you never know...thanks nonetheless for all the insights.

[Tom Wiggins Photography]

I have a simple answer, it's nice to save money, but I only buy my camera equipment from reputable companies, no “Gray Market” for me. I buy most of my equipment from B&H Photo in NYC, they offer great customer service.

[tom_raymondson1]

Buying from B&H, you still have to decide between U.S. and grey market. Here's the link for their take on the difference:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/USGrey.jsp

[gary_watson]

Ted needs to ditch his urban legend that gray market items are substandard junk intended for sale to ignorant consumers in developing countries. What utter crap!

[JDMvW]

It used to be that the difference between gray (grey) market and official import was often very large. Nowadays,

mostly the prices are not all that different as a percentage of total cost. Typically in the USA, the "warranty"

on gray market will be provided by the vendor, so is not the same as the official factory warranty. It just comes

down to a judgment of how important the warranty is to you.