Quote:
Originally Posted by Waterwindpowderrock
Agree with everything else, but grey market is not a "scam" it's a way to buy a camera for a significant amount less than you'll find it for @ B&H. I have bought me last 3 bodies grey & found a number of grey's for friends & none of us have had any issues with them. You still have a warranty, you just can't bring it to best buy to get it fixed. btw, paid $920 for my 50D when it was a new release, very happy with it.
Many of the companies in NY will give you an option of grey or US with usually a $150-250 difference in price. Plenty of scams out there in the electronics world, so be careful, but it IS possible to save a few bucks without getting screwed.
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Everything you write is true. I didn't mean to imply that all gray market offers are scams. Poor phrasing on my part.
I was trying to communicate that
many online vendors (especially in NY and surrounding areas) have numerous gray market scams, bait and switch scams and "too good to be true" cheap price scams. A quick search on a site like photo.net will fill you in on the details.
There is nothing wrong with gray market from B&H or Adorama. I would never buy gray market from anyone outside of those two or maybe Calumet or Samys. Another great store I've been using is SLC based pictureline.com. They will likely price match any of the major online stores I've mentioned. And they have great customer service.
As for gray market downsides, the only significant one is repairs. If you ever need a repair, it will likely take much, much longer to go through the retailer than if your gear had a US warranty from Canon or Nikon. As for Nikon--gray market Nikon lenses are NEVER worth the savings. USA Nikon lenses come with 5 year Nikon warranty. Gray market gear (including Nikon lenses) usually only come with 1 year, max.
So if you'd rather save some dough and are buying anything but a Nikon lens, like Waterwindpowderrock writes, gray market might be the way to go.
Good luck!