grey market Nikon camera/lens repaired by any service centers?

haring · Apr 12, 2015

Have you ever sent grey market Nikon camera/lens to be repaired by any non Nikon service centers?

I know the disadvantages of having/buying a grey market Nikon lens/camera. Nikon doesn't offer any repairs or technical support. My question: DOES Nikon supply parts to non-Nikon authorized repair centers? I have heard that lot of grey market Nikon owners use nikoncamerarepair.com for repair. Have you used them? nikoncamerarepair.com does repair grey market lenses but I am wondering whether Nikon supplies them the required original Nikon parts?

I am planning to buy a lens. The price difference is $500 between the grey and the authorized lens.

Thanks so much!

BrianShaw · Apr 12, 2015

Imported by some mechanism other than the official U.S. distribution network. Real Nikon but not part of the official distribution process. Often costs less but generally doesn't get the normal Nikon support.

APUGuser19 said:
I'm in the US. What's a gray market camera? Is that like swiped, appropriated, filched, stolen?

eng1er · Apr 12, 2015

APUGuser19 said:
I'm in the US. What's a gray market camera? Is that like swiped, appropriated, filched, stolen?

Gray market merchandise is stuff that does not come with a USA warranty which makes it cheaper. That's how all the NYC places used to offer such cheap prices back in the day. Since the remaining places like B&H have gone legit, and retail pricing has basically equalized for electronics, you don't hear about gray market stuff as much any more. But there are still plenty of (often shady) places out there selling gray market merchandise.

mrred · Apr 12, 2015

I still buy lens for my F100 and F6 that are still current models. I'm in Canada and I typically buy from B&H. If I need warranty, I just send it back to them to take care of.

haring · Apr 12, 2015

I am talking about current cameras and lenses. They are thousands of grey market products offered for sale.

mrred · Apr 12, 2015

So was I.

Sirius Glass · Apr 12, 2015

BrianShaw said:
Imported by some mechanism other than the official U.S. distribution network. Real Nikon but not part of the official distribution process. Often costs less but generally doesn't get the normal Nikon support.

eng1er said:
Gray market merchandise is stuff that does not come with a USA warranty which makes it cheaper. That's how all the NYC places used to offer such cheap prices back in the day. Since the remaining places like B&H have gone legit, and retail pricing has basically equalized for electronics, you don't hear about gray market stuff as much any more. But there are still plenty of (often shady) places out there selling gray market merchandise.

It is a way for the distributor, who may not be the manufacturer, to maintain sales control in a country, the US for example, and allow them to fix the price higher than the market would normally support.

summicron1 · Apr 12, 2015

haring said:
I am talking about current cameras and lenses. They are thousands of grey market products offered for sale.

easiest thing is to call a shop and ask. I suspect they can buy the parts you need. The main difference is, as noted, lack of warranty. Authorized dealers often cannot even touch gray market cameras, part of their contract with Nikon.

But an independent shop, shouldn't be an issue.

MattKing · Apr 12, 2015

Check with an independent repair technician whether Nikon restricts parts sales to authorized repair facilities only. Many distributors/manufacturers do.

benjiboy · Apr 13, 2015

Nikon will no longer sell spare parts to independent repairers or the public as of 13th July 2012 Dead Link Removed. Not only Nikon but other importers also keep the serial numbers of all the equipment they officially imported on their data bases and won't even service grey imports if you offer to pay them, which it's why it's advisable to ensure what you buy has the official warranty for your country, because what appears cheap can end up end up very costly.

AgX · Apr 13, 2015

summicron1 said:
Authorized dealers often cannot even touch gray market cameras, part of their contract with Nikon.

So when you bought your stuff out of the official channel, but moved to another country/continent and have a repair issue (even with long gone warranty) you might have to sent your stuff back home for repair.
I never thought of this special implication.

benjiboy · Apr 13, 2015

summicron1 said:
easiest thing is to call a shop and ask. I suspect they can buy the parts you need. The main difference is, as noted, lack of warranty. Authorized dealers often cannot even touch gray market cameras, part of their contract with Nikon.

But an independent shop, shouldn't be an issue.

But an independent shop, shouldn't be an issue.

No not true, Dead Link Removed

ronnies · Apr 13, 2015

AgX said:
So when you bought your stuff out of the official channel, but moved to another country/continent and have a repair issue (even with long gone warranty) you might have to sent your stuff back home for repair.
I never thought of this special implication.

I believe this is not counted as a grey import. You might have to prove it though.

As has been stated elsewhere, Nikon still supply local repair shops in Europe due to European law. I'm also of a view that it's not Nikon that are the culprits here but NikonUSA and Nikon Canada which seem to be seperate companies and not Nikon subsidiaries. I may be wrong of course.

Ronnie

benjiboy · Apr 13, 2015

I can assure you it's so in the U.K I used to handle all the customer repairs for group of ten camera stores and Nikon U.K wouldn't do either warranty repairs or paid ones even on equipment they had not imported.

Mainecoonmaniac · Apr 13, 2015

From my understanding..

BrianShaw said:
Imported by some mechanism other than the official U.S. distribution network. Real Nikon but not part of the official distribution process. Often costs less but generally doesn't get the normal Nikon support.

It's the same camera, but not for the U.S. market. Is it possible that Nikon sells the same camera, but price them differently? Very similar to meds sold in Canada vs the same med sold here in the U.S. They'll charge what the market will bear.

tkamiya · Apr 13, 2015

AgX said:
So when you bought your stuff out of the official channel, but moved to another country/continent and have a repair issue (even with long gone warranty) you might have to sent your stuff back home for repair.
I never thought of this special implication.

I actually had a conversation with Nikon's support about this issue. Nikon is concerned about where the equipment was purchased and the product purchased was intended for THAT country. So if you are visiting Japan (for example) and purchase a camera. You have a receipt issued in Japan and an International Warranty. You come to US for example. Your warranty is honored in US. This is different from ordering from a store in Japan from US and having it shipped. It is also different from buying "gray market" product from a domestic vendors.

Gray market is a product for a specific country purchased outside of that country.

I also asked about used camera. I have to either prove 1) equipment was purchased in Japan, OR 2) equipment was initially purchased in Japan by someone (who need not be identified) and I purchased it from a used camera dealer in Japan from US and I can prove it. I was reminded, that original warranty is NOT transferable to me, so this will be an out of pocket repair in case of latter.

From sound/tone of the rep, there are lots of 'gray area' when it comes to used cameras. The rep also indicated that policy may vary depending on the product. My advise is to contact Nikon and get the answer in writing prior to purchase.

My local and independent repair tech told me, it is impossible for him to buy parts from Nikon. He stocks large amount of non-functional parts camera. Nikon wants him to be trained by Nikon, purchase expensive tooling and instruments, and sign a contract to become an authorized repair facility before he can buy parts. He says it is not feasible for a small shop like his.

Just passing alone what I heard.

BrianShaw · Apr 13, 2015

That would not surprise me at all.

Mainecoonmaniac said:
It's the same camera, but not for the U.S. market. Is it possible that Nikon sells the same camera, but price them differently? Very similar to meds sold in Canada vs the same med sold here in the U.S. They'll charge what the market will bear.

benjiboy · Apr 14, 2015

BrianShaw said:
That would not surprise me at all.

This is a common retail practice not just in photography even with different areas of the same country, multiple outlet retailers sell the same products "priced to the market" in different areas.

grey market Nikon camera/lens repaired by any service centers?

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