Cons for buying Gray Equipment

[msvirick]

I see in the posts and ads that gray equipment are about 20 to 30% cheaper than the North American warranted products.
What are the perels of buying gray equipment?

[BobbyC]

The only real peril is of you need warranty work. I buy gray lenses from B&H because they can provide the warranty in house, never had a problem.

[ssim]

I bought a gray market camera once and it ended up needing warranty work. After weeks of bickering back and forth (the vendor told me that the warranty was valid) I just ended up paying for the repairs.

My suggestion would be to evaluate what the chances of whatever you are buying needing service in the warranty period. I have never had to send in a lens off my 35mm equipment for warranty work.

[CyberDyneSystems]

The much larger peril is the vendor itself!

The issue of manufacturer support takes a back seat to the actual theft that some of these vendors will do to you.

Some of the vendors who advertise in magazines are quite literally criminals. I am not exagerating.

The number of ways that they can rip you off is staggering,. but it includes things like shipping part of a shipment,. for which you sign,. and then later discover that one of the items is missing,.. you call them,. they agree and insist that they will ship it right away,. it was a mistake,. they are allready working to fix it,. then the item becomes out of stock,. they are stalling to keep you from calling the credit card company,. next thing you know they have no intention of ever shipping,. and claim they did,. credit card company is no help,. as you waited too long,. and your only recourse is to try and sue in civil or small claims with an out of state vendor!

Be VERY Carefull!

Don't buy from one of the "Brooklyn 7" (actually there are more than 7,.. but they are infamous to say the least and they all seem to be located in Brooklyn)

Go to this site;

http://www.resellerratings.com/

...and run a search on the reseller you are considering.

It is quite frighteneing what comes up.

Do yourself a favor and buy from either a local reputable store or buy from B&H.

Can you tell I've been burned? :(

[Greg M]

If you buy Canon gray market products you take no risk. Canon USA still gives you the same warranty that a US product gets. All you need is a receipt showing the date of purchase for warranty work during the first year after you bought it. It is Nikon who penalizes you for not buying the US version. They won't ever work on gray items even if you want to pay for it.

Actually if there is no rebate available then you are better off to by gray because most of the time you get a 3rd party warranty which you could use after the Canon warranty period runs out.

[CyberDyneSystems]

If you really want a save a few bucks on Grey,. but do it from B&H or Adorama... DON"T RISK IT FROM THE SCAMMERS!