What is the grey market

Mayo · Jan 6, 2013

Ok.. What is the difference between the gray market and the USA version? Everywhere I read its saying that there is no difference. Just price and warranty. Most of the articles are telling me that the same factories build them. Same assembly line, same workers, same specs... So what am I missing here?

480sparky · Jan 6, 2013

The biggest difference is warranty & service. Buy gray market gear, and most likely you won't get either.

snowbear · Jan 6, 2013

New products without the USA warranty, so you have to have service done by the seller/dealer. I have no experience with them, but have been told they are no different from the USA products, though one of the manufacturer's web site warns against them. If you're buying from a reputable dealer, like Adorama or B&H, I wouldn't think it would be a problem.

Josh66 · Jan 6, 2013

It's made in the same factory by the same workers. Gray market stuff is intended to be sold outside of the US. That usually means there will be no warranty inside the US, but better shops will offer their own warranty, or you can buy a third party warranty.

I mostly buy Canon stuff, and with Canon, there is very little price difference (like, $10) so I just buy the US version.

Basically, if you ever needed warranty repairs/replacement, you would have to deal with the shop you bought it from instead of the manufacturer.