Grey Market From Reputable Seller?

jhelms

What's the main difference in buying something from a grey market / authorized dealer that is outside the USA?

(clarification - not talking about the 'brooklyn' dealers selling all the 'included' items separately, but buying a new camera from a real authorized retailer).

Richard

jhelms wrote:

What's the main difference in buying something from a grey market / authorized dealer that is outside the USA?

(clarification - not talking about the 'brooklyn' dealers selling all the 'included' items separately, but buying a new camera from a real authorized retailer).

Main difference is warranty service. Read the fine print carefully and make sure that you will be covered where you are likely to be. Another issue is customs duties. Your savings can evaporate quickly. I'm a little curious where you are finding prices lower than in the US. I live in Europe and always try to buy when I am visiting the States because prices are much lower there.

Tee Why

Many reputable sellers like B&H and Adorama sell grey market lenses and it's basically an item bought from a non US distributor from what I hear.

It's the same item that was made in the same place but since it didn't come in via the US distributor, the US distributor is not obliged to offer any warranty.

Generally, the store offers a comparable warranty via a third party repair source like Mack repair services. I hear from some members that at least Canon seems to do warranty work as long as the receipt is from a US vendor. When I took my camera in for service, they just checked the sales date and that seems to be about it.

Not sure about Nikon's approach to grey market though.