LaurenT Loc: Northern California

Today my husband and I were on a group photo excursion. On this excursion, one of the gentlemen attending worked in some sort of position that dealt with returning Canon or Nikon cameras to their companies for repair. Evidentially, he has been in this type of business for many years, and seemed quite knowledgeable. In the course of our conversation, we were discussing the fact that a licensed Canon dealer cannot sell an item “cheaper” than anyone else. If there is a $100 discount, it is in all stores who sell Canon, not just one. Which has seemed to be accurate, from my own observations. However, I did mention to him that a couple of months ago, I found a Canon 100-400 L II lens at Adorama for $1799.00, which I thought was a great buy, especially when B&H was selling the same lens for $2199.00. In fact, I purchased the lens from Adorama. To my horror, the gentleman responded that it was probably grey market. I almost fainted. How can this be? I have never heard a word about Adorama selling grey market items. Then, he went on to say that B&H also sells grey market items. That comment almost gave me a heart attack, as I have purchased not only my Canon 5DMarkIV from them, but several lenses as well. I then asked how can a consumer tell if you are getting a grey market item? His answer, you can’t, unless you send it into the company’s repair center, and they won’t touch it.

I figured I would come here with my question, I know Hershel from B&H is a member here, and monitors posts. Has anyone else either heard, or know first hand, that Adorama or B&H sell grey market items? I’m really hoping that the answer is “no”, but I will say, the gentleman I was speaking to has been working in the camera business for years, and not in the retail end, but in the repair. It makes me wonder???

jcboy3

Yes, they do sell gray market. Sometimes, they are not as clear about it as some would like. But they do have an acknowledgment on their web site:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/HelpCenter/USGrey.jsp

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

I purchased a grey market 5D IV and had no problem registering it with Canon. As for the warranty and why I bought grey market, I've never had a problem with any new Canon DSLR I've purchased, never. I figured the odds were in my favor so I saw no real reason to pay more for a warranty I would probably never use. I don't recommend this course of action to everyone because it is gambling. I just have faith in the quality of the product that Canon manufactures and so far have not been let down. Now if Canon USA offered a 5 year warranty instead of a 1 year warranty, maybe it would be a different story.

kaitoo212 Loc: From CA living in NYC

Thank you for posing the question.
I have never even heard of this term, does it mean it's used and or doesn't have a warranty to purchase with it since it is used?
Daniel

tandemrider

Check out my comment in the topic "Hypothetical Question regarding Sales Practice" in the forums. I am not the op. My comment is on page 4 under "tandemrider". I don't have an issue with purchasing grey market equipment as long as I know at the time of purchase that that is what I was getting and paying for.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Kaitoo212 - With sincere respect since you have only recently joined this forum, issues regarding the purchase of “grey market” items have been and will continue to be discussed here forever. May I suggest that you Google the term in as many forms as you can imagine and settle down for lots of reading? That subject alone will take you thru the coming winter and well beyond. It is not a simple, obvious topic like whether the Packers will win the Super Bowl. Of course, we all know they will (relax sports fans from other regions, I’m just kidding!). After you have exausted that topic, Kaitoo, you can turn your attention to others like “exposure”, “composition” and the dreaded “mirrorless”. Best regards and happy shooting, Ralph

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

If you click on "Search" at the top of the page and type in Grey Market you will find a number of threads on the subject.
B&H offers an USA option on the sidebar of their web page that, if selected, will only display only non grey market products.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Yes, B&H, Adorama do sell Grey market but list the items as IMPORTED

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

To save you a lot of reading, grey market is a product not intended by the manufacturer to be sold in the US. It is not different or inferior, just not for US distribution. It is part of how manufacturers protect their licensed dealers. Most manufacturers will not warrant or repair grey market items.

BebuLamar

Since the OP already bought the lens how can she verify if it's US or gray?

PeterBergh

To add some specifics: Nikon won't repair grey-market items; Canon will, but at full cost.

LaurenT Loc: Northern California

Thank you for asking, is it possible to verify after the purchase?

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Try contacting Canon. They will give you better answers than the guesses and speculations you get here.

LaurenT Loc: Northern California

Great idea! Sometimes it’s the most obvious that we miss.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Yes, they usually call them "imported models" and clearly label them as such in the ad. But the main difference between honest retailers such as B&H and Adorama and the naughty guys like 42nd St photo and 6th Ave is that the latter tries to pawn off the grey market products as "USA Models" by listing a "1 year USA Seller Warranty" or something similar - you see this all the time on ebay and sometimes on Amazon. By default, B&H, Adorama and other honest retailers will not openly advertise grey products in newspapers or in the store. So if you go to the Nikon table at B&H for example (I was there yesterday), all the models are genuine USA distributor models. BTW grey market products are identical to USA models - only differences are usually language in the menus (changeable), documentation (which you can get online anyway), and possibly the power cords/adapters.