Are these battery grips the real deal?

[Mach1320]

Pretty basic question, on ebay i am seeing MB-D15 grips for a fraction of the price you see by the common stores. Some are claiming to be brand new and "genuine" but as we all know if it seems to be too good to be true it is.

Am i looking at outright fakes or grey market ?

 

[JonA_CT]

Post a sample listing.

My best guess is Gray Market...or, it's possible they are US versions that people are selling below MAP, and eBay is the only place they can really do that.

 

[480sparky]

"Fraction of price" = fake.

 

[JonA_CT]

"Fraction of price" = fake.

I read over that part, haha.

 

[Overread]

There isn't a huge amount of profit wriggle room in a lot of camera gear; so if you are seeing items marketed as official; but priced way lower than major stores then chances are they are fake.

Some might be grey imports; which in themselves are not illegal, but can have restrictions on warranty cover (eg for nikon they have to go back to the country of origin if you want a warranty repair done); or might only have a store warranty cover rather than manufacturer.

There are also 3rd party options that won't be official, but should mount to the camera; some are great, some are good, some are bad so do due diligence and research to find the good choices.

 

[Braineack]

$25 grip crew checkin' in.

but I was buying a Chinese brand. didn't know they had a gray market for the grips.

 

[jcdeboever]

Theres a lot of bogus ebay listings going on lately as well. If I could see the link, I could verify

 

[Mach1320]

The majority are around $100, here are a few examples - aside from the too good to be true price what are the obvious giveaways of a fake on this sort of stuff ? If this was commonplace grey market i'd be fine with that potential risk on something like a grip.

New MB-D15 Multi-Power Battery Pack Grip for D7200 D7100 EN- EL15 & A for Nikon | eBay

NEW MB-D15 Multi-Power Battery Pack Grip for NIKON D7200 D7100 EN- EL15 & AA | eBay


Genuine MB-D15 Battery Grip Holder MB-D15 for Nikon D7100 D7200 camera EN-EL15 | eBay

New MB-D15 Multi-Power Battery Pack Grip for D7200 D7100 EN- EL15 & A Nikon U.S. | eBay

NEW MB-D15 Multi-Power Battery Pack Grip for NIKON D7200 D7100 EN- EL15 & AA | eBay

I could go on all day... i just grabbed these quickly.

 

[480sparky]

........what are the obvious giveaways of a fake on this sort of stuff ? ..............

If it sounds too good to be true..... it probably is.

Buy from reputable dealers if you want the genuine article.


No one, and I mean NO ONE, is going to sell genuine, US-warrantied $308 MB-D15s, factory new, for just a c-note. It just ain't gonna happen. Nikon controls their supply chain and prices far to well to let several thousand go out their door for fifty bucks each.

 

[astroNikon]

Adorama is selling new ones for $239.

Remember the D7100/D7200 is not the most recent camera anymore, so prices have dropped. Although $100 is a bit on the cheap side to be real.

 

[Mach1320]

Hmmm, I wonder if Nikon would be able to verify a serial number. eBay is incredibly biased to a buyer and most of these sellers are forced to accept refunds. I’m kinda curious about being a Guinea pig for $100

 

[Mach1320]

Also after looking at some pics on eBay closely I’m noticing a couple things that I think prove fakes. Battery contacts being silver, a couple pre owned offerings look to be gold and also the coloring of the lock on the side, some are green and others white but some ads show both in the same photo set so I’d assume they’re showing real parts in some photos are were too stupid to notice the small details before posting

 

[480sparky]

Hmmm, I wonder if Nikon would be able to verify a serial number. eBay is incredibly biased to a buyer and most of these sellers are forced to accept refunds. I’m kinda curious about being a Guinea pig for $100

What happens if the $100 fake damages your camera?

 

[Peeb]

I bought a super cheap knock-off battery grip for my Nikon. It was poor qualitiy and didn't fit very well but I did get it to work.

I was suspicious that I would not care for the extra size/weight associated with the grip and I ended up being correct so in my case it worked out to be a good investment.