What is the deal with these? where are they coming from? Obviously ppl are buying them for the lower price, but taking the risk with no warranty. Recently, I was tempted to buying a 40d for $750 in cash, but the lack of warranty was a huge concern. Spending about $170-$200 more from an authorized dealer was worth the piece of mind. Mind you, this was even more tempting when the 40d was a bit more expensive and the savings was about $350!

 

Dude, don't look for incredible deals on things like SLRs. I would count 'gray market' or 'B stock' etc in this group. Buy from a reputable place such as B&H. That's my 2 cents.

 

B&H sells grey market items as the norm (you have the choice to buy "imported" or US market items), if something were to happen to it, you would have to send it to them so they could send it in to be fixed.

They sell the "imported" items because they do a hell a lot of overseas business, either buy mail or they purchase in person and take the items back the their country were the warranty is good.

 

uh.. WTF?

what about Adorama?

 

Don't know, never really bought anything from them.

 

Definitely +1. What I was saying, I was very tempted.... but not worth the risk! Authorized dealer ONLY.

 

Exactly. For me, it doesn't matter if I buy a US market item or a grey market item, because I bring it into Canada anyway. Lenses have an international warranty and I had no problems getting my 10-22 serviced which was purchased from a dealer in Australia.

I would only buy bodies from a local shop who used the proper distribution channels because the warranties on bodies are usually only good in the country you bought it from.

 

It's not like they hide it.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/acurazinedan/2868673516/" title="Untitled by AcuraZine Dan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2040/2868673516_12058de1d8_o.jpg" width="767" height="422" alt="Untitled" /></a>


They sell both as well.

 

ok so I don't get it. "USA" = gray market at B&H?

I have seen "gray market" listed on Adorama, what about the ones that aren't listed as such?

 

imported would be grey market for the USA customers AFAIK.

 

 

oh ok I misunderstood jupe's initial post, I thought he meant that when you buy something from B&H, by default ("as the norm"), it is gray market.

 

Not according to the warranty card I just checked. Only the US and Canada share a warranty.

 

Weird. What about lenses purchased from outside the US? I'm almost positive the warranty card stated it was an international warranty. The focus switch stopped working a month after I got the lens and I had it turned around in 2 weeks from your office. No charges, no questions...

 

Did you present a receipt?

I'm guessing they didn't look into the serial number.

 

The lenses have a pink strip across the top that say International Warranty. Bodies have gray strip that say Limited warranty.

 

Yep, I sent a receipt with it. It was an authorized dealer, but it was from an Australian shop.

Actually, I managed to poke a tiny hole through the body of the lens a few months ago just to the left of the focus switch, so I might want to get that fixed one day. Of course it won't be a warranty item, so I'm expecting to pay for it. The lens works fine and I've just covered the hole with some gaffer's tape for now.

I have a feeling it would probably cost more to fix than the lens is worth though...

 

As I understand it from experiences in the watch world, dealers need to sell a certain # of units to maintain their status as an 'authorized dealer'. So in some cases, they'll order more units and sell them off to these grey market dealers at a much lower profit, just to maintain 'authorized dealer' status.

That's my understanding of where many of these items come from. They're usually first quality, just no warranty. Buyer beware of course.

 

Have you looked up on your local's Craig's List? I just picked up an XTi with a two year extended warranty for 500$ today. Great camera.