What is "Gray Market" ?

[PART-1] Generally, a manufacturer works with a single importer who can sell and support their products in a given region. The importer usually has local dealers and distributors who resell the imported products; this is called a "distribution channel". Gray Market refers to merchandise that is imported and sold by methods other than these normal channels. For local safety regulations and certifications (F , !, "#, etc.$ and government re%uirements a manufacturer provides special packaging (manuals in the appropriate language, power cables designed for the local receptacle, etc.$ and product engineering designed to meet local codes. &anufacturers also have service and support agreements with the authori'ed importer. Gray &arket items are not designed to be sold in a particular market and cannot be supported by the authori'ed importer because they may not meet mandatory safety and certification codes. (ecause these items are not designed for a particular market they may not function properly, or the authori'ed importer may not be e%uipped to provide service, support or software. )ith the opening of international borders and the use of the *nternet to sell goods, Gray &arket e%uipment has become e+tremely common in the photographic and consumer electronics markets. &any different types of e%uipment are brought into ,orth -merica for sale without the proper documentation and ". consumers do not always know what they are purchasing. (ecause the resellers/ cost is less they can sell Gray &arket items for less. "nfortunately this price savings is only on the initial purchase; because service and support is more difficult to obtain it may end up costing the consumer more in the long run.

Who is the authorized importer of iko! "#uipme!t i!to the $%A ?

,ikon *ncorporated ".- is the sole authori'ed importer of ,ikon orporation of 0apan for photographic devices. ,ikon *nc. ".- pays shipping into the ".-, import duties and ta+es, and provides service, support and downloads for these products. ,ikon *nc. ".- ensures that the products they import are fully certified and safe for use in the ".- market. ,ikon *nc. ".- cannot provide service, support or downloads for products that have not been imported by ,ikon *nc. ".-.

&o' do ( k!o' if my

iko! produ)t is "Grey Market"?

*f the deal was 1ust too good to be true, it probably was. 2ne of the first indicators that a piece of ,ikon merchandise might be Gray &arket is if the price is considerably less than most other resellers. -dditionally, a genuine ,ikon *nc. ".- product will include an 2wners/ &anual and )arranty 3egistration card in !nglish. *t will also include power cables (if applicable$ designed for ". style plugs. -ny other language on the printed material or wrong cables indicates a Gray &arket item. -nother indication of a Gray &arket product would be photocopied manuals or manually created software 4/s. ,ikon *nc. ".- always provides professionally printed or duplicated materials with genuine products.

What does o'!i!* a "Grey Market"

iko! produ)t mea! to you?

,ikon *nc. ".- cannot provide any technical support or warranty service on Gray &arket items. -dditionally ,ikon *nc. ".- cannot perform any fee5based repair work on Gray &arket items.

6lease do not contact ,ikon *nc. ".- for help with any Gray &arket products. 6lease contact the reseller or importer of your Gray &arket items for warranty and service information as well as software updates and downloads.

+oes o'!i!* a "Grey Market" iko! produ)t mea! ( do!,t ha-e a 'arra!ty? ,o7 -ll ,ikon products come with a warranty by the manufacturer. The designated ,ikon service center will always repair "in warranty" ,ikon products and perform "out of warranty" repairs. *f you own a Gray &arket product it will need to be returned to the reseller or importer for service. 3efer to your reseller or to the warranty cards included with the product for service contact information.

WHAT IS A GRAY MARKET?

[PART-2]

- *rey market or *ray market, also known as parallel market, is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthori'ed, or unintended by the original manufacturer. The term *ray e)o!omy, however, refers to workers being paid under the table, without paying income ta+es or contributing to such public services as .ocial .ecurity and &edicare. *t is sometimes referred to as the underground economy or "hidden economy." The two main types of grey market are imported manufactured goods that would normally be unavailable or more expensive in a certain country and un-issued securities that are not yet traded in official markets.

Sometimes the term dark market is used to describe secretive, unregulated (though often technically legal) trading in commodity futures, notably crude oil in !!". This can be considered a third type of #grey market# since it is legal, yet unregulated, and probably not intended or explicitly authori$ed by oil producers. Description %rey-market goods refer to #legal goods# which are sold outside normal distribution channels by companies which may have no relationship with the producer of the goods. &re'uently this form of parallel import occurs when the price of an item is significantly higher in one country than another. This situation commonly occurs with electronic e'uipment such as cameras. (ntrepreneurs buy the product where it is available cheaply, often at retail but sometimes at wholesale, and import it legally to the target market. They then sell it at a price high enough to provide a profit but under the normal market price. )nternational efforts to promote free trade, including reduced tariffs and harmoni$ed national standards, facilitate this form of arbitrage whenever manufacturers attempt to preserve highly disparate pricing. *ecause of the nature of grey markets, it is difficult or impossible to track the precise numbers of grey-market sales.

%rey-market goods are often new, but some grey market goods are used goods. + market in used goods is sometimes nicknamed a %reen ,arket. )mporting certain legally restricted items such as prescription drugs or firearms would be categori$ed as black market, as would smuggling the goods into the target country to avoid import duties. + related concept is bootlegging, the smuggling or transport of highly regulated goods, especially alcoholic beverages. The term #bootlegging# is also often applied to the production or distribution of counterfeit or other-wise infringing goods. %rey markets can sometimes develop for select video game consoles and titles whose demand temporarily outstrips -surpasses, exceeds. supply and the local shops run out of stock, this happens especially during the holiday season. /ther popular items, such as dolls can also be affected. )n such situations the grey market price may be considerably higher than the manufacturer0s suggested retail price. /nline auction sites such as e-*ay have contributed to the emergence of the 1ideo %ame %rey ,arket.