Canon USA statement on Grey Market Products

[turbguy]

"Information on Parallel or "Gray Market" Products

Canon sells and supports Canon-brand consumer and professional products in the U.S. through Canon U.S.A., which distributes these products through its authorized dealers and distributors. Canon U.S.A. is the only authorized importer of these products in the U.S., and provides industry-leading customer service and support for them. Products distributed by Canon U.S.A. are "localized" to meet the needs of customers in the U.S. market and are engineered to comply with local safety regulations and governmental requirements. As such, these products come with different accessories, manuals, and warranties than the versions intended for sale in other global regions such as Asia. Any Canon-brand products which are imported and sold other than by this method are referred to as "parallel," or "Gray Market," products (collectively, "Gray Market Products").

Hazards and Difficulties Associated with "Gray Market" Products

Customers in the U.S. may find that Gray Market Products do not meet their expectations because they were not intended by Canon for sale in the U.S. In some cases, sellers of Gray Market Products may attempt to localize the products themselves by adding, changing or removing certain accessories from the products, which may result in the following:

• including in product packaging illegal or counterfeit accessories, such as batteries, chargers, and ink tanks, which can cause injury and seriously damage your Canon product;
• an incorrect power cord or adapter which was not provided, or quality checked, by Canon;
• incorrect software or illegal copies of software which may not function;
• poor photocopies of the original manual;
• a fake Canon U.S. warranty, a warranty provided by a third party, or no warranty at all; and
• a device with a serial number which cannot be registered with Canon in the U.S.

Customers should also be aware that Gray Market Products may not be eligible for:

• coverage under a U.S. warranty;
• U.S. promotions, including mail-in and instant rebates; and
• technical support

If you are in doubt about a seller, or whether the products it sells are intended for the U.S., please visithttp://usa.canon.com/authorizeddealers for a list of Canon U.S.A.'s Authorized Dealers. New and genuine Canon products intended for sale in the U.S. can only be purchased from Canon Authorized Dealers in the U.S. or from Canon U.S.A. directly.

To learn more about counterfeit products, please visit http://usa.canon.com/aboutcounterfeits to view important information".

 

[Smile]

With rebate prices I wonder who would import anything into USA?

That said, I wonder how canon bribes the US customs when they sell Pro-100 for 50$ I mean they import it to US for even less price then? But are customs so stupid when parallel the same printer is imported for way more? Or perhaps huge corporations import everything for 1$?

I wonder also who pays taxes VAT when you send something for repair international shipping in mind. The customer usually pays forward shipping only.

 

[The Hat]

Here in the Ireland we don’t have any official Canon dealers (Service Centres) but we do have an office and small website that is all.

The Canon Authorised Services Centres are just private companies that apply for a licence (Like a franchise) to Canon Europe to become an official repair centre.

If you don’t know the name of that company then it’s all most impossible to find the address to bring your printer too, there’s no Canon logo on the outside of these places, I got the address for the one here from Canon.co.uk.

We have a cartel running here where the official price of a Canon product is determined (set) by Canon.ie and no shop or dealer can sell below that named price.

O’ we can avail of some discounts from time to time like up to €50 off a €650 promotion camera or printer with no free cigar or photo paper, basically a lousy service for such a good product..

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Wow, haven't heard of the concept or issues about gray market for years. In the days of film, there was lots of that. Reputable dealers would sell gray market film but identify it as such with clever BS. In other words, anyone with a photographic pulse understood. The reality is that even with color films, the risk was low. Sort of like prescription drugs from Canada. Yeah, got it.

With cameras, a whole lot more was on the line. Bigger money, no warranty.

OTOH, when shouldn't the buyer beware?

 

[3dogs]

In other words:

Wholesale Government, Law, CORRUPTION that we point at Asian commerce and puff up our feathers and dismiss as ignorant commercial practices conducted by a lesser people,
My question is who is LESSER, them for doing it or US for adoptng and improving their commercial practices ourselves???

Oops sorry, forgot to stand on a soap box, don my Foil Hat and say......"GOD BLESS AMERICA, LONG LIVE FREE ENTERPRIZE".........Hrumph!

Free only as long as you stay dim as a TockH lamp.

This whole Canon printer rebate thing puts me in mind of a Matabele (african (Rhodesian) native) monkey trap.
Hardshell gourd hollowed out after drying (looks like a light bulb) open at the end of the long neck. Strong leather thong attached to the neck and a pole attached at the other end of the thong.
Pole is firmly implanted in the ground.
Handfull of maize (corn) put in the bulbous base and left where the monkeys hunt for a free feed.
Monkey, being very clever!!! works out that there I food inside and quickly figures to reach in and grab a free hand out..........
Tries to withdraw the hand, still full of booty.........full hand now too large to get out of the narrow neck, monkey too smart to let go of booty gets frantic and the rest is ........monkey for dinner that night.

Pole long enough to hold the monkey at a safe distance, thong to keep the gourd just off the ground and the pole to beat the life out of the monkey!

And folks ask and bemoan the fact that the rebate is not offered in Europe.........

I will prop on the soap box wearing the tin foil hat, watching the mugs pass by gloating at their cleverness and free booty.........

Same happens in Australia, one would think we would learn from the bad experinces encountered by others.......sadly NO we want to do the same but better, because we are smarter............... hrumph!!

 

[Smile]

Here in the Ireland we don’t have any official Canon dealers (Service Centres) but we do have an office and small website that is all.

Same here in Lithuania.

The Canon Authorised Services Centres are just private companies that apply for a licence (Like a franchise) to Canon Europe to become an official repair centre.

Same here, also private companies get money from Canon not for repair work they do but just get money for a year. That's it. Same money is used to buy replacement parts, for salaries etc. So you can see why private companies do not want to repair anything - they spend their precious money otherwise they keep.

We have a cartel running here where the official price of a Canon product is determined (set) by Canon.ie and no shop or dealer can sell below that named price.

O’ we can avail of some discounts from time to time like up to €50 off a €650 promotion camera or printer with no free cigar or photo paper, basically a lousy service for such a good product..

Now that's strange, a "cartel running here" - you mean you have no "consumer rights" institutions in Ireland? One competitor doesn't cut throat another to sell cheaper? Then it sound way worse than it is here.

But I agree, most of the stuff I buy is from Germany, because it is cheaper even with shipping included. Ebay helps, as Germany is very bad on e-shops etc. Price comparison sites also helps.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

@3dogs: You bring up a metaphor I think of very, very often watching human behavior. People just cannot give up what they hold true despite all the objective evidence otherwise. Often, like the monkey, it is fueled by greed. The US State Department used to issue warnings about not traveling to Nigeria to collect the illegal gains of the grieving widow. Probably don't need to what with the dangers of even being in Nigeria at this time.

"If it's too good to be true, it probably is." Greed shuts off that warning we all learned as kids.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

"Information on Parallel or "Gray Market" Products

Canon sells and supports Canon-brand consumer and professional products in the U.S. through Canon U.S.A., which distributes these products through its authorized dealers and distributors. Canon U.S.A. is the only authorized importer of these products in the U.S., and provides industry-leading customer service and support for them. Products distributed by Canon U.S.A. are "localized" to meet the needs of customers in the U.S. market and are engineered to comply with local safety regulations and governmental requirements. As such, these products come with different accessories, manuals, and warranties than the versions intended for sale in other global regions such as Asia. Any Canon-brand products which are imported and sold other than by this method are referred to as "parallel," or "Gray Market," products (collectively, "Gray Market Products").

Hazards and Difficulties Associated with "Gray Market" Products

Customers in the U.S. may find that Gray Market Products do not meet their expectations because they were not intended by Canon for sale in the U.S. In some cases, sellers of Gray Market Products may attempt to localize the products themselves by adding, changing or removing certain accessories from the products, which may result in the following:

• including in product packaging illegal or counterfeit accessories, such as batteries, chargers, and ink tanks, which can cause injury and seriously damage your Canon product;
• an incorrect power cord or adapter which was not provided, or quality checked, by Canon;
• incorrect software or illegal copies of software which may not function;
• poor photocopies of the original manual;
• a fake Canon U.S. warranty, a warranty provided by a third party, or no warranty at all; and
• a device with a serial number which cannot be registered with Canon in the U.S.

Customers should also be aware that Gray Market Products may not be eligible for:

• coverage under a U.S. warranty;
• U.S. promotions, including mail-in and instant rebates; and
• technical support

If you are in doubt about a seller, or whether the products it sells are intended for the U.S., please visithttp://usa.canon.com/authorizeddealers for a list of Canon U.S.A.'s Authorized Dealers. New and genuine Canon products intended for sale in the U.S. can only be purchased from Canon Authorized Dealers in the U.S. or from Canon U.S.A. directly.

To learn more about counterfeit products, please visit http://usa.canon.com/aboutcounterfeits to view important information".

Not sure why this propaganda is posted on this forum. Also, there is some confusion in this message because there is a big difference between grey market and counterfeit.

In my quick reading of this I think they are trying lump grey market and counterfeit in the same basket.

Remember grey market products are made by the same Canon factory that makes the regular US sanctioned products. This essentially identical product which Canon USA, for mostly financial reasons, decides to label "grey market" and then conducts a publicity campaign against it.

Somewhat disingenuous, possibly dishonest, by Canon's marketing or legal department.




RS
who you gonna believe "Me or your lyin' eyes"?

 

[stratman]

@Roy Sletcher:

Not disingenuous or dishonest but a legitimate marketing/pricing/profit structure that is similar to that for cameras and, to an extent, pharmaceutical drugs.

I don't hear the non-USA folks griping about how Americans can have larger costs for medications than other parts of the planet for the identical medication.

Which would you rather have, hypothetically, you subsidizing American's printers or Americans subsidizing your life saving medications? (The "you" in this case is generic for non-American and not Roy Sletcher specifically.)

 

[3dogs]

@Roy Sletcher:

Not disingenuous or dishonest but a legitimate marketing/pricing/profit structure that is similar to that for cameras and, to an extent, pharmaceutical drugs.

I don't hear the non-USA folks griping about how Americans can have larger costs for medications than other parts of the planet for the identical medication.

Which would you rather have, hypothetically, you subsidizing American's printers or Americans subsidizing your life saving medications? (The "you" in this case is generic for non-American and not Roy Sletcher specifically.)

Gray Market is a term used here by the big brands too, in pharmcuticals its a tad politer, 'generic' is used.
Either way it boils down to the same thing. There is a cost to produce a good, each item has a real unit cost when it is sitting in the Manufacturers warehouse ready to be shipped. From then on each cost added increases the final price. Applied fairly that is OK, BUT when the Manufacturer starts to set retail prices based on what it belives the particular market is prepared to pay, that is to me, dishonest. To America, that is free enterprise......you cant have it both ways.
For me the dishonesty comes with the final price paid by the consumer in each Country. Regionalising etc are costly evidence of blatant dishonesty on their part. They say they are conforming to local rules...........so an item that is not electrically safe to sell to an American/Australian consumer is OK to sell to an Indian consumer???? Is his/her safety not important?? Quit playing games mr. Manufacturer, one standard, plugs, volts and the like have no real bearing on this its a red herring.

As to us outside not commenting on how the US folks are ripped off, we are just being polite, we do not feel your pain because in purely philosophical terms, you (the nation as a vast whole) bring it on yourselves.........the pursuit of the American brand of 'free enterprise' and ' the land of the free' seems to outsiders to be blind to the downside of it all, and the damage that causes both inside America, and outside too. Sadly, 'we' the little people, individuals, are mostly powerless in this, that is I fear the 'how' of it. The upside on the other hand is (to me) BIG, I can write what is herein and not be tossed in prison, tried for treason, worst we suffer is from each other via censure or disagreement.

In health and pharmcuticals Ausralians have no cause to love the American model. Our right wing Government hold up the example of your Health System and says we should dismantle subsidized Health Care BECAUSE Amerca does not have it.

On the Gray Market, we are no better either, we do offer SOME token Consumer Protection, but do NOTHING about blatant gouging.

Intersestingly we look to the cost of health drugs in the USA and drool as it is so low compared to our costs, same for MOST things.

I did a MASTERS in Logistics and Distribution Management, what i took from that is, if one set a modest return to the Manufacturers and Distributors prices would tumble, as would waste, and 'the trough' into which many have their snouts, but those that do protect their booty with misinformation and propaganda.

Gray Market is growing faster than mainstream (protected) sales worldwide and the big brand houses are on one hand trying to stem the flow eg. Internet sales, and on the other hand selling to the Gray Market sellers as fast as they can....duuh!

My peers shake their heads at the youngies, saying they are letting things go that should not be lost....I'm not so sure that they are........there is a backlash.........but it is being conducted in a way that is VERY different from ours.

Rant over, feel much better now...........what had this to do with printer knowledge? Plenty I say, we refill, repair and work around anything and everything we can, we may differ greatly in many things, but deep down there is, i think a sense of "fair play" and a Pirate sense of adventure........viv la gray market