When a brand or retailer has excess inventory, it might approach grey market dealers with offers to purchase that inventory in bulk at deeply discounted prices. Simply put, this non-authorized side of retail provides the brand or retailer with the ability to clear excess or old inventory.Īnd the grey market has been around for many decades, long before the Internet. Grey market retailers are not part of that authorized retail chain, but they still manage to obtain and sell new timepieces. The distributor then sells the watches to authorized retailers, who sell the watches to retail clients. The classic authorized retail channel works this way: a brand manufactures watches, which are sold to official distributors throughout the world. It allows brands and retailers to clear slow-moving inventory when all − especially collectors − might be better served if brands tailored production more closely to consumer demand.Īs it pertains to the fine timepiece industry, the grey market is a store (online or brick and mortar) selling brand-new watches, but it is not part of a brand’s authorized retail channel. The grey market serves a purpose that, in my humble opinion, is detrimental to any brand involved and the industry as a whole. The truth is that the grey market exists because the brands themselves not only allow it to happen, but in many cases directly feed it. The following is a broad description of the grey market, how and why it exists, and what (if anything) could be done for a brand to eliminate – or at least minimize – its presence.Īnd let me be clear from the get-go: this is not a rebuke of online stores, grey market dealers, or the many people working on that side of the industry. Most recently, my post A Cautionary Tale on Buying New Watches Online was met with quite a few comments, quite possibly leaving more questions than answers. You will be able to find us located on the brands’ websites, and they would verify this if you were to contact them.Friends, colleagues, and clients have posed many questions about the grey market for fine timepieces over the years. We only used OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts for our watches, which guarantees optimum levels of performance and reliability. Grey market sellers may have also used unofficial/inferior parts if they have serviced the watch themselves prior to it being sent out. Grey market sellers often advertise watches on their websites without having the stock, where as we always have the watches that we advertise in stock, which means that we are able to fulfil your orders. This is because a grey market seller cannot provide you with any genuine authentication. A brand provided warranty will cover you to a far greater extent.Īnother issue with buying goods from a grey market seller is that authentic items are often mixed with counterfeit products. Only authorised dealers such as ourselves can provide you with a validated original warranty and a brand certificate card. Grey market sellers will often provide you with a warranty from a third-party company which does not cover you to the same extent as the manufacturer would. The danger of purchasing goods from a grey market seller is that you do not get the same level of buyer protection as you would from purchasing from an authorised seller if it may face an issue with its performance. What is the danger of buying from a grey market seller? This ensures that all of our products are authentic and come with a full manufacturer warranty. WatchNation will not price match against any Grey Market Seller.Ī grey marker seller is an unauthorised watch dealer that do not acquire their products directly from the brand itself, which means that they are not officially authorised to sell the product.Īs an authorised seller we are authorised directly by the brand/distributor to sell products. The following active online sellers are considered by WatchNation to be Grey Market Sellers and are not recognized by Seiko This is something that is very applicable to the watch industry, due to an influx of what are commonly referred to as Grey Market Sellers. There is an old adage that states – if something is too good to be true, it usually is.
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