Gray market question

Skorri

I called Canon with the serial number for a used mark iv and asked them if they could tell me if that body ever went through an authorized Canon dealer or if the body was off the gray market. They said they couldnt tell me that. If Canon doesnt know or wont tell me, how do I know?

ziggy53

Grey market cameras, and other photography related items, appear to be just like the licensed copies in every respect. They are not crippled or deprived in their functions or even the box contents, "except" that they do not carry a standard manufacturer's warranty for the country of purchase.

The reason is that, unlike licensed copies of camera bodies, etc., grey market bodies are not imported by authorized channels (aka, middle-men). While this is absolutely legal, the lack of warranty coverage may be a purchasing concern, and even a serious aggravation if you need to file a claim for repairs (which will not normally be covered by the manufacturer.)

If you want to save some money, a grey market body may still be a good purchase, if you purchase from a vendor that allows the additional purchase of a third-party warranty. The total combined purchase cost (grey market body plus third-party warranty) may still be under the cost of an "authorized" and factory warranted copy.

So why can't Canon, or most manufacturers, tell you up front whether a particular body is grey market or not by the serial number?

I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe it's because there are no "special" serial numbers set aside for grey market goods. The retailer selling the grey market goods is simply purchasing from the manufacturer directly and without using an authorized "importer" for your country. In effect, the retailer "is" the importer, but they are an importer who does not have any authority to offer factory warranty service. Factory warranty service is assigned by the authorized importer, not by the dealer nor by the factory itself.

Any authorized dealer should have a clear notification of the product status for each product; generally that will be either US or grey market status in this country/market (USA).

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Your best defense against accidentally purchasing a grey market, un-authorized and un-warranted, copy of photographic merchandise is to purchase through an authorized dealer for your country. In the USA my recommendations are B&H and Adorama. Both of these dealers have US versions (with US warranties) and grey market versions (without a manufacturer warranty, but generally with their own warranty), and they both generally offer third-party extended warranties as well.

If you should need to file a claim later, if you purchased from either Adorama or B&H and if you purchased the US version (which are very well marked on their respective sites), then you should get a factory warranty for the item. Both of those companies are extremely good at after sale remediation too, so if there are problems they will go to bat for you.

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Finally, here are the B&H and Adorama links to their respective grey market policies:

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

http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=FAQ#GreyMarket

Skorri

Ziggy, thanks for taking the time to explain that. I have a better understanding of Gray market cameras now.