Grey Market Vs "company" product

[shredder]

Hey all
I hope this is not the wrong forum to post this thread.
Can anyone tell me what the difference is between a grey market product and a company product, specifically as regards LCD TVs?
According to my limited understanding:
*Both products are "original" in the sense that they are company manufactured using the same process. They both come out of the same manufacturing line. Grey products cost less because they are smuggled into the country and are not taxed.
(Question: Since most grey market products are imported, are they superior in terms of material used as opposed to those products made in hamara desh?)
*Grey market products are more "risky" in the sense that if they malfunction then it is more difficult to get it replaced. Paid repairs can be done from Authorized Service Centre. If anything is going to go wrong with the TV then it will happen during the first 6 months.
However is it the case that the probability of grey market goods malfunctioning is greater??
All this is merely my ignorant conjecture. Someone please enlighten me.
Regards

 

[spirovious]

Price vs Warrenty is the main.

 

[mudra99]

I dont know about the grey market in audio equipment in the US.However,i can tell you about buying products directly from most audio equipment manufacturers selling in the USA.This is from my personal experience here recently.Harman Kardon sells its products ---HK,JBL and Infinity brands through various resellers in the world. What many dont know is that HK sells all their brands through their ebay website via auctions on a daily basis.Because of dealership clauses ,they cannot legally sell the items as new.So they mark them as REFURBISHED and give you the same warranty as the new components.The savings at the auctions are substantially.For example, i bought the HK3390 for $155 plus $12 shipping ,The hk3490 for $ 245 and the HBL l880 speakers for about $ 200 each on two seperate auctions and they were all brand new.However,since i am going to bring them to india with me,the items will not be covered under warranty for 2 years as their warranty is good only in usa for items purchased in the USA.I called the authorised HK/JBL distributor in india to find out what their service charges normally run and he gave me an exhorbitant amount.When i told him what i paid for the receivers and a set of speakers,his first comment was that they are fake and it is not possible to get such price breaks with Harman.When i told him that the HK 3490 listed at $499 retail price was selling at amazon for $345,he said that is less than what they get it for from the company.The dealers in india ,i feel are goughing the audio buffs and i am sure that most of them mark up their products significantly.It is all greed.

 

[shredder]

Price vs Warrenty is the main.

Yes, but does this mean that grey market products are less reliable than their showroom counterparts?? Are they more likely to conk out faster?

I mean, most manufacturers only provide a one year warranty anyway...

 

[odyssey]

Hi
Grey market just refers to anything that is not coming from a manufacturer authorized distributor or dealer. In some cases it can be the same unit smuggled into the country and in some cases it can be an inferior unit or a refurbished/repaired/seconds, etc You really have no way to tell. There is also no hard limit in terms of a time period where you can check if they work or not.

cheers
Sridhar

Hey all
I hope this is not the wrong forum to post this thread.
Can anyone tell me what the difference is between a grey market product and a company product, specifically as regards LCD TVs?
According to my limited understanding:
*Both products are "original" in the sense that they are company manufactured using the same process. They both come out of the same manufacturing line. Grey products cost less because they are smuggled into the country and are not taxed.
(Question: Since most grey market products are imported, are they superior in terms of material used as opposed to those products made in hamara desh?)
*Grey market products are more "risky" in the sense that if they malfunction then it is more difficult to get it replaced. Paid repairs can be done from Authorized Service Centre. If anything is going to go wrong with the TV then it will happen during the first 6 months.
However is it the case that the probability of grey market goods malfunctioning is greater??
All this is merely my ignorant conjecture. Someone please enlighten me.
Regards

 

[spirovious]

Yes, but does this mean that grey market products are less reliable than their showroom counterparts?? Are they more likely to conk out faster?

I mean, most manufacturers only provide a one year warranty anyway...

It depends on luck which will run without hitch.
See when you buy product of certain company(grey or dealor),product will be same of that company(with same region), any can fail,but warrenty can cover it.
Grey product cost less & same can be used for repair if you have bad luck.
Ony pro,service centre can deny to repair as its grey.

 

[odyssey]

spirovious
one clarification - the warranty need not necessarily be the same. There are times when (dont know about TVs) B quality electronics are sold by the manufacturer in bulk to liquidators. These often make it to ebay and other sites through online dealers that specialise in this. Often, the manufacturer does not provide any warranty on those products as they are "liquidated" at ridiculously low rates. A service center can in principle refuse to service any product that is not sold through the authorized dealer, many however will try to repair them and charge for it, after all they can make some money off of it.

cheers

 

[venkatcr]

When i told him that the HK 3490 listed at $499 retail price was selling at amazon for $345,he said that is less than what they get it for from the company.The dealers in india ,i feel are goughing the audio buffs and i am sure that most of them mark up their products significantly.It is all greed.

Mudra, we have discussed this many times on the forum. It is not correct to compare US prices with the prices in India. There are a number of issues - dealer/distributor margins, transportation costs, customs, etc., that go into making prices. In addition, the volume of sales also matters. One analogy I always love quoting is that of Michelin who was very hesitant about India as the total annual offtake here was less than their one day production.

Cheers

 

[sqvare]

*Grey market products are more "risky" in the sense that if they malfunction then it is more difficult to get it replaced. Paid repairs can be done from Authorized Service Centre. If anything is going to go wrong with the TV then it will happen during the first 6 months.

Getting past the first 6 months doesn't mean you're out of the woods...

With my LCD TV, the problem first occurred within the first 4 months, then continued to recur for 2 years. Two in-warranty panel changes later, the problem persists with the 3rd panel (now out of warranty), and the issue's been escalated to the company's Head Office, because I refuse to pay for another new panel that, just like its ancestors, is doomed to die as well. I may still get screwed, but if I'd bought off the grey-market, I'd probably already have been screwed several times by now!

 

[avidyarthy]

The savings at the auctions are substantially.For example, i bought the HK3390 for $155 plus $12 shipping ,The hk3490 for $ 245 and the HBL l880 speakers for about $ 200 each on two seperate auctions and they were all brand new.However,since i am going to bring them to india with me,the items will not be covered under warranty for 2 years as their warranty is good only in usa for items purchased in the USA.I called the authorised HK/JBL distributor in india to find out what their service charges normally run and he gave me an exhorbitant amount.When i told him what i paid for the receivers and a set of speakers,his first comment was that they are fake and it is not possible to get such price breaks with Harman.When i told him that the HK 3490 listed at $499 retail price was selling at amazon for $345,he said that is less than what they get it for from the company.The dealers in india ,i feel are goughing the audio buffs and i am sure that most of them mark up their products significantly.It is all greed.

Give you an example........ for HK AV 133 and JBL 5.1 speaker combo, was offered best price of 50K, cables and installation included from the authorised outlet in Delhi (C.R Park) ...... approx $ 1100.

 

[S.P.KRISHNA]

Hey all
All this is merely my ignorant conjecture. Someone please enlighten me.
Regards

Sir,
It is better to be ignorant in these cases and blindly purchase from grey market. Its all depends on your luck . Even if there is a problem with the product purchased with warranty you will be made to run from pillar to post by the dealer and manufacturers in this country and you will end up with expenses incurred equal or near equal if the same is repaired out side.That is my experience .

Regards

 

[shredder]

Sir,
It is better to be ignorant in these cases and blindly purchase from grey market. Its all depends on your luck . Even if there is a problem with the product purchased with warranty you will be made to run from pillar to post by the dealer and manufacturers in this country and you will end up with expenses incurred equal or near equal if the same is repaired out side.That is my experience .

Regards

Righto Sir,
What you are saying does make a lot of sense. No use naively believing that the company is going to take the onus on themselves if anything goes wrong during warranty period. In fact, if they see some money then they may actually get their backsides in gear.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I have only bought one fairly expensive item on the grey market --- my camera.

Although I knew the shop to have been around for a while, which is a good sign if they are offerring you shop warranty only, I decided to assess the purchase this way:

--- Would I buy this item second-hand at this price?

--- Would the savings, compared to the white market price, be worthwhile.

I decided yes to both questions, and that I would consider it like a second-hand purchase. Five years on, and I am still happy

 

[sanjay0864]

There is absolutely no difference between products sold in the grey market and by official company channels. The only difference is the one year warranty that is legally required for products sold officially in India, ofcourse getting the warranty in most cases is quite a painful task anyhow. As for all this nonsense, that you have a higher chance of getting a used/refurbished product in the grey market is nothing but bullshit spread by company dealers. The fact is, that there is as much a chance of you getting a used/refurbished from official dealers as there is from the grey market, the deciding factor is only the integrity of the seller involved. In fact the chances of getting a used/demo product thru official channels is far greater than thru the grey market. Almost always all products on display/demo in official stores are later sold and that too as brand new.

PS: If it were not for the grey market, the greedy and ineffecient companies selling in India would be selling their products for even much higher prices than the already obscene prices that they charge for their so called 'official' products. What a sham.

 

[adder]

well in the case of sony lcds that you are refering , there could be a difference in features i.e the grey version may come with a built in DVB-T tuner or have a ethernet IN(in the case of 09 models),if you find a sony lcd starting with KDL in the grey market it will mostly have a built in DVB-T tuner,where as the indian KLV version dosn't have them.

 

[shredder]

well in the case of sony lcds that you are refering , there could be a difference in features i.e the grey version may come with a built in DVB-T tuner or have a ethernet IN(in the case of 09 models),if you find a sony lcd starting with KDL in the grey market it will mostly have a built in DVB-T tuner,where as the indian KLV version dosn't have them.

so the grey market one is actually better?

 

[Bull]

@shredder

>> Can anyone tell me what the difference is between a grey market product and a company product, specifically as regards LCD TVs?
IMHO, the grey product class is union of two disjoint sets:
1. Those products, which miss the quality benchmark of manufacturer, by a slight margin; and manufacturer releases them into market indirectly( not on his own warranty, of course)
2. Those products, which are cheaper in another country than in native country; and are imported without paying the official custom duty( otherwise cost would be same)

>> Since most grey market products are imported, are they superior in terms of material used as opposed to those products made in hamara desh?
>> Yes, but does this mean that grey market products are less reliable than their showroom counterparts?? Are they more likely to conk out faster?
A grey product, in general, in imported in huge lots, which means there is a huge demand for it e.g. Sony LCDs, Apple etc. The challenge here is not whether product quality is superior, but more importantly whether the person selling to you really imports or is getting via indirect manufacturer route discussed above. Also, Sony in S'pore and Malaysia( from where LCDs could come) provides three and two years warranty respectively on LCDs( IMO).

What Thad-E-Ginathom gives above is also great

 

[adder]

the product quality will be the same,in the case of lcds in grey market one finds mostly sony lcds,they are bought from S.E asia countries thailand or malyasia where they manufacture them,even sony india officialy imports from those two countries.
in india the custom duties on lcds are around 33% since sony is a direct import its subjected to the full tax of 33%,where as samsung and lg assemble their lcds in india hence only the lcd panels are taxed at 5%.
so in the grey market selling these tvs doesn't make sense,where as selling sony makes sense since there exists a huge price difference without paying the taxes.

@shredder
well the grey market is better since its cheaper,about the KDL version,well only some grey dealers sell that for the same price.

 

[ajay124]

Distributor prices can be 30-50 % higher for most products.What one get in return for the extra money is a 'warranty' which provides an illusionary peace of mind.If something does go wrong with the product in most cases the buyer will find that the distributor has NO setup for repairs.All that the distributor will do is replace the part and in most cases will charge you the full amount for the part again.THER ARE VERY FEW FREE RIDES IN WARRANTIES GIVEN BY INDIAN DISTRIBUTORS.The customer pays a premium to get these phoney warranties and then pays again if something goes wrong within the warranty period.Good relations with the vendor can help a little bit when a replacement under warranty is required.As for approaching the original manufacturer abroad all you will get from them is please contact the indian distributor blah...blah...blah.In cases where the distributor provides a phoney looking bill and claims there are no warranty documents and that the date of purchase is the only warranty then even he maybe selling grey market stuff at a hefty premium...

 

[dali]

Buying the products from the distributors is waste of money. If you are buying a LCD buy it officially , but if you are buying a Amplifier or speakers grey market is the best way to go. I have never heard a Marantz amplifier die in 3 months, never heard a Bryston die in 2 months. All the mid end and hi end manufacturers will definitely have a quality control and if the product does not work after 3 months means there should be mistake in our side.
Getting a Fake product from Grey is Bull shit and these distributors are ripping us. I recently purchased a 5.1 speaker package for my friends officialy only because there was no great price difference.