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I concur. If I bought a camera lens in New York and it came with a Malaysian manual and a warranty that's not valid in the US, but it's a genuine Canon lens, th
by myself248 6y ago
I concur. If I bought a camera lens in New York and it came with a Malaysian manual and a warranty that's not valid in the US, but it's a genuine Canon lens, that's gray market.
But if I buy a similar lens from the camera shop down the street, and it was originally sold in the US and the warranty is still valid in the US etc, it's a USED lens or a second-hand lens, but there's nothing gray-market about it.
I think you're spot-on here; sources quoted in the article are misusing the term gray-market to simply refer to second-hand parts, which are something completely different. They want to make pre-owned parts sound just as shady, but the're not -- the first-sale doctrine would like a word.
- Godel_unicode 6y ago> but it's a genuine Canon lens How do you know this? More to the point, how does an amateur buying their first lens ever know this? My friends and I used to buy surprisingly good deal products on Craigslist and see how long it took to determine if they were fakes or broken. It was always one or the other.
- myself248 6y agoI've found a reputable local shop that I trust. In addition to a lot of new stuff, they sell used gear (possibly on consignment?), which means they've got some experts who'll do valuation on it. They have a largely professional clientele and a reputation to uphold, so I think they're trustworthy. I'm sure I could take a lens to them and have it checked out for a few bucks, or have them broker a sale between me and another private party. Knowing what I'm getting has its own value, and I'm not opposed to paying someone for their time and expertise. tl;dr: I don't, personally, know that. I trust someone else to know that.
- Godel_unicode 6y agoSo it sounds like we agree then; the second hand market can be quite dodgy and you need expert help to be sure you're not being ripped off.