The Disadvantage of Grey Market Camera Gear
Questions constantly arise regarding disparities between retail store pricing ( like Danella Photographic ) and internet pricing. It is fairly simple to explain if the subject is broken into two component parts.
There are a certain number of totally bogus web sites that advertise equipment at 40 to 50 percent less than the average price. These web sites are run by con artists who may blatantly try to steal your credit card information and never deliver the requested products, or these same sites will try to sell you a camera body separately, and then add on the cost of the battery, the charger, the software and the other associated accessories that the manufacturer originally packaged with the camera.
These incredible “low ball “ pricing sites should be filed away with the information that the foreign fellow gave you in an email where he needs a safe storage bank account for his money. He will send his fortune directly to your bank account – as soon as you give him your account number and PIN.
The second area of pricing confusion involves grey market products. Simply stated, “grey market” means that the item is not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, because the manufacturer’s licensed or authorized agent or representative did not import that item into the USA and did not sell it to the retailer to sell it to you. As an example, Nikon will not repair under warranty or out of warranty any grey market product that is sent to them if it was not imported by Nikon USA. The problems that can arise with owning grey market equipment are obvious. The repair paperwork shown below is an actual packing slip received from Nikon USA. The camera was brought in for repair by a customer who did not purchase the equipment from us. Nikon returns the camera unrepaired. Warranty work is also not available on grey market equipment.
When you purchase your new camera equipment from Danella Photographic, it is sold with full factory USA waranties. The accessories are complete and included in the price. Every customer is given full training and unlimited in person counter support, telephone support and email support. Digital SLR camera sensors are cleaned free of charge for the life of the camera. We handle warranty issues.
There’s no grey area here. We’ve been working in black and white or color for over 30 years.
April 15th, 2007 at 11:53 am
The low ball pricing scams and the grey market are two good reasons to support local business, and in addition to those reasons, I would much rather take my business to local retailers like Danella Photographic who will spend those extra minutes to explain their camera gear and how it will suit my personal needs and interests. Try getting that kind of excellent, one-on-one service from an internet store. I make a conscious effort to support local businesses because I hate large scale chain stores and huge retail giants. Sometimes it is unavoidable, and being an underpaid, overworked graduate student, it may be cheaper, but when Summer comes around, you will find me at a local Farmer’s Market instead of a Hannaford supermarket purchasing food. I appreciate the service and expertise I receive from local business owners. The Internet can be a shady place…what a relief to have stores lake Danella’s!