Grey imports (a.k.a. 'gray imports') refers to retailers
or sellers importing goods through distribution channels which, while
they may be legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the
original manufacturer. In contrast, a black market refers to imports of
goods that are illegal in themselves and/or distributed through illegal
channels, such as the selling of stolen goods, certain drugs or
unregistered handguns.
Frequently this form of parallel import occurs when
the price of an item is significantly higher in one country than
another. Smaller retailers buy the product where it is available
cheaply, often at retail but sometimes at wholesale, and import it
legally to the target market. They then sell it at a price high enough
to provide a profit but under the normal market price. This can
obviously benefit local buyers, and weed out the greedy distributors
that charge excessive margins, but sometimes there are good reasons for
higher local prices that people may not be aware of.
I think most people would not be interested to hear
about how this can be unfair to local business, so instead I thought I’d
discuss how this may affect you, if you buy from a local ‘grey
importer’, instead of the authorised distributor. Buying something
yourself directly from another country as a little different, as you’d
probably be aware of the risk and issues involved and willing to wear
it, although some of these points may still apply.
I’ll use my own experience with importing table tennis
robots as an example, as it covers most of the issues involved. As a
disclaimers I should disclose that OOAK shop is the distributor for
Newgy in Australia, and I got motivated into writing this because we get
question about why our prices are higher compared to Ebay and some other
shops. I’m certainly not trying to push people to only buy only from
authorized distributors of their country, as this is totally your
choice, but I would like to make people aware of some of the risks of
not buying through them, and also explain why comparing prices directly
is not always fair, as you’re not buying the same thing.
Electrical issues: Electrical goods bought from
another country will often be designed for different voltages or have a
different plug. Although a universal power supply might be used, you
would still need an adaptor.
The legitimate importers pay for providing the goods with the correct
plugs and power supply for the country, and also ensure that their goods
comply with electrical safe regulations, eg. “I-Tick”, “CE”, etc, which
must be marked onto the power supply. There is a cost, time and effort
involved in this, which the importer must bear, which is for the benefit
of the buyer. Every country has their rules on what they regard as safe,
and just because a power supply can handle the voltage, and an adaptor
can make the plug fit, does not mean it’s safe or legal.
Warrantee and support: Any seller/retailer can
offer a warrantee, but only the authorised distributor can offer a
factory backed warrantee. In the case of Newgy, the distributor bears
all costs and responsibilities of the warrantee, which means they’re
expected to buy and stock (locally) the full range of spare parts, and
be able to offer technical advice. Obviously this needs to be factored
into the price. Other importers can make their own terms and would
generally not stock parts, and you’ll have to rely on their word and
their support and accessibility to spare parts.
Customs duties and taxes: The local distributor
imports all the goods, which means import duties and taxes (GST) has
been paid. Although most retailers of reasonable size will probably do
this as well, it is quite common for sellers from Ebay for example, to
ship the goods from Asia directly to you. If all goes well, this is
fine, but if there are problems, you’ll have to resolve them since you
are the recipient. Also customs may inspect the goods and expect you to
put in a declaration, which means you’ll have to do the paperwork.
Marking the goods as a ‘gift’ does not automatically get you off the
hook (customs people are not stupid and know that most seller will mark
their parcel as gifts to avoid charges), and the value of the goods is
what they deem the value to be, which may be more than the amount that
you paid.
Latest Models and upgrades: Most manufacturers
make improvements to their robots over time, and fix common
issues/problems to ensure they don’t happen in future units. Buying
through the larger retailers you’ll probably get the latest model, but
from a small and unknown seller you may get an old model. If
improvements are made during the warrantee period you may be entitled to
an upgrade, or may get a discount to upgrade to a better system. If you
buy outside the authorised distributors you’re unlikely to get this.
Level playing field: So hopefully you can see
why a higher price from the authorised distributor may (in some cases)
be justified, and the extra cost may be of value to you. Another thing
to consider is that the smaller seller often do not declare their income
(for tax purposes), so they may pocket the full profit without having to
pay tax on it. Now I'm NOT urging you to buy only from the authorised
distributor as you have total freedom in who you buy from, but I do
think the points above should all be carefully considered in making your
decision.
If you don't know much about the seller that you're
considering buying from, these are the sort of questions you should ask:
Questions to ask:
- Is the power supply genuine, with electrical
approval and a plug suitable for your country's standards?
- Where is the parcel shipped from, and who handles
the customs paperwork if the parcel is inspected? Who pays the
customs duties and taxed if required?
- What are the terms of the warrantee and who do I
deal with? Do you have access to all spare parts, and where are they
shipped from?
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