Please define: "Grey Market"

[wayne_eddy]

I have heard the term used a few times on the forum ...

Can anyone clearly define the term and the reason for it's use?

Is there other (shade/ colour) terms for ranges "in the market"

Perhaps it relates to Black Market in some way?

[Longwatcher]

Grey market items are simply items that have been imported legally , but outside of the normal manufactures chain for that particular country. They often do not have warranties that work directly with the manufacturer, but they do still have warranties, you usually just have to send it back for repair through the company you bought it from.

Almost forgot to add: the reason to get Grey market is it is cheaper, the reason to not get grey market is the time it will take to get it repaired under warranty and the locations you can take it to are limited.

link to BH's explaination:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home O=productlist.jsp&A=getpage&Q=GreyMarketStatic.jsp

Link to Adorama's explaination: (near bottom)
http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=FAQ

and a final bit of trivia: I bought a pair of 550EX flashes a couple years ago at the same time. One was US one was gray market. There was no difference, except one had a warranty card for US in it.

hope that helps,

[lakiluno]

If you buy two flashes, then which ever one fails, your covered!

[Wilt]

If you buy two flashes, then which ever one fails, your covered!

You must be expert at altering serial numbers!

[Longwatcher]

Since neither failed yet and they are way past warranty it is a moot point.

And interestingly enough the import one actually tends to work slightly better for some unexplainable reason.