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| Self portrait by Robert Crooke |
| Gray market blues: Robert Crooke likes his new Sigma lenses -- but where's the four-year coverage that comes with EX glass? It disappeared, as did the real serial number. |
Robert Crooke thought he was getting a bargain. After all, both a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG Macro and a 70-200mm f/2.8 APO HSM DG for $1,300 is a pretty good price. And this Fort Lauderdale, Fla., wedding photographer needed the new glass quickly, since he had a big job coming up.
"But when I opened the boxes, I had a feeling that something wasn't right," says Crooke. The usual warranty papers weren't there. And the four-year warranty that comes with Sigma's pro-level EX lenses was important to him.
So he contacted the lens maker's U.S. headquarters. He was shocked to learn that the serial number on his 70-200mm didn't exist.
Crooke was a victim of the latest wrinkle in the constantly shifting -- and sometimes shifty -- world of gray-market photo gear.
"We got three or four calls like that in one day," says Thomas G. Sobey, marketing manager at Sigma Corporation of America.
It turns out, the serial number on Crooke's lens had been altered, and since it no longer matched the number on the warranty card, the scoundrel who changed the serial number had pulled the card out of the box.
"Whoever did it went to a lot of trouble," Sobey says.
Why change the serial number? So that the manufacturer couldn't trace the source of this gray-market lens.
For decades, photographers have been offered savings on equipment that comes to the U.S. through channels other than the official distributor. By playing the shifting values of local currencies, buying huge quantities, and keeping their overhead low, enterprising traders around the world long ago figured out how to make a buck through the back door.
They buy the equipment for resale in their local markets, but actually ship it to the U.S. and undercut the prices of gear brought in through authorized channels. When companies such as Sigma see a flood of gray-market products, they trace the serial numbers and clamp down on the exporter. To avoid this, someone in the gray-market chain adjusted the serial number on Crooke's Sigma.
Gray-marketing isn't illegal. That's what makes it a gray -- not black -- market. The cameras and lenses sold on the gray market are identical to their U.S. counterparts. About the only differences could be in paperwork and power cords. As Sobey puts it, "Lenses are global products."
That's why such giant stalwarts of photo retailing as Manhattan's Adorama and B&H sell gray market as well as authorized products.
"The whole point of gray is to offer the customer a lower price," says Jerry Deutsch, director of marketing at Adorama. "But it is a very small percentage of our business."
At both Adorama and B&H the gray-market items are mostly lenses and 35mm cameras; they shy away from gray-market digicams, since there's rarely a price advantage. These retailers typically sell gray-market Canon and Nikon lenses for 3 to 6 percent below official imports. And the distinction is very clear. On the Adorama website, they're labeled "gray market," and what that means is spelled out in the site's FAQs. B&H publishes "USA" and "IMP" prices for the same product. Here, for instance, is what accompanies the Nikon lens prices:
USA = Imported & Warrantied by Nikon USA (AF lenses include one-year warranty plus four years extended service coverage)
IMP = Imported & Warrantied by B&H (not qualified for Nikon USA rebates & warranties)
That's the rub -- the warranty. Camera and lens makers can argue that they aren't required to cover items bought through unauthorized dealers (and certainly not anything with an altered serial number). Sigma and Tamron address the issue on their websites (in the FAQs at www.sigmaphoto.com and at www.tamron.com/lenses/how_to_buy.asp).
Adorama and B&H avoid this issue by providing their own warranties on their gray-market items.
"We want people to feel comfortable and confident with products they buy from us," says Henry Posner, director of corporate communications at B&H.
"When weighing the decision to buy gray-market goods, the most crucial factor is the place you buy them," says Adorama's Deutsch. "Once the store's return policy expires, a reputable store will stand behind you. Others will hang you out to dry."
If the seller isn't up-front about selling gray market, the buyer may not discover it until there's a problem. At that point, some camera and lens makers are lenient and will service gray-market products that are under warranty; others take a hard line.
"The first consideration is for the customer," says Eliott Peck, VP/general manager of sales of Canon USA's Consumer Imaging Group. "We judge these on a case-by-case basis and try to be reasonable."
Says David Lee, senior vice president at Nikon Inc., "We offer an extensive warranty and support program for USA-designated models. Customers who need help identifying or verifying a model can call our customer service line, 800-645-6687."
To make gray-market products less attractive, some companies offer special U.S.-only programs. For instance, Sigma lenses typically come with a one-year warranty. But EX glass bought through official U.S. channels has four years of coverage. The paperwork is right in the box.
That's what set off the alarm for Crooke. He believed he was getting a U.S. lens. After all, when his Google search led him to the Royal Camera website, there was no mention of the missing warranty. The words "gray market" were nowhere to be seen. So he assumed it was the usual U.S. program. Perhaps a tip-off should have been the $350 three-year extended warranty Royal Camera offered on the same page. (Other retailers sell similar extended warranties for under $40.) When he talked to a Royal rep, the gray market issue never came up. Put simply, Crooke assumed too much.
When he discovered the truth about his lenses, he tried to return them -- repeatedly. "Every time I called, they kept trying to give me some money back, but they said they could not and would not take the lenses back. Eventually, they sent me four-year extended warranties."
The service contracts were from an independent repair company, not Sigma. "It was the oddest purchase experience I'd ever had," Crooke says. "And I learned a lesson."
Maybe three lessons: 1. Assume nothing. 2. Don't try to Google your way to a bargain. 3. Get advice; Pop Photo's Checkrated Program Manager Harold Martin is a good source. Call him at 212-767-6048 or send him an e-mail at checkrated@hfmus.com (include your mailing address and phone number in any e-mail).
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