Grey imports

[schauff]

Gees Sampie, leave the oke. Freedom of speach my man. At least he is not using "lelike woorde" like you - Gaan was jou mond

[SwissVan]

 

Being in the aviation industry we have a similar situation with regards to aircraft parts, except of course the authorities tend to be more strict and take a very dim view of any parts that are sold as genuine parts but are not actually the real thing and even genuine parts which are re sold as repaired / overhauled by un approved persons. The legislation in aviation dealing with this was mainly brought about due to various tragic events (accidents) resulting in death or injury to innocent (unintentionally ignorant) people. That however is another story but the moral is that there is more to play than just business practices and competition among dealers / importers.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

After reading the whole debate the one thing that stands out that needs to be questioned / answered is the wheels ?without serial numbers? that were confiscated.

1. Were the wheels in question supposed to have s/n?s? Often s/n?s are hidden in obscure places known only to the manufacturer, the bar coded decals may be there purely to be more visible and to make it easy for the shop (if they use a bar coding scanning system) to record the full details of the sale into a database.

2. If yes, why did they not have the required decals / s/n?s visible prior to being sold?

 

Supposing they were supposed to have s/n?s and the s/n?s are ?missing? or never there in the first place, this is good reason for suspicion and imo I would be hesitant to buy them.

 

Only the people directly (both sides) involved can answer this, whether they will do so honestly on an open forum remains to be seen.

 

 

[Poison Ivy]

 

 

Well my penis doesnt have a serial number so does that mean its grey import aswell cause I cant seem to get anyone to cover my warranty now that it doesnt work......

 

 way too much info......

 

 

[Danger Dassie]

So far from this thread one can gather that-

 

 

 

- cyclists suffer from severe 'kinderkak syndrome'

 

 

 

- distributors/importers are ignorant of concepts like supply chain and configuration management

 

 

 

- consumers are ignorant of the importance of serialization

 

 

 

- the industry makes most governmental departments look credible by comparison

 

 

 

Can't wait for the afternoon ride

 

[Tumbleweed]

Wow i am overwhelmed by the response. One thing seems clear though there is huge confusion regarding serial numbers.

A serial number is a unique number that  is assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor.

Serial numbers are valuable in quality control and  part reorder.

Serial numbers are also used as a deterrent against theft and counterfeit products' date=' as serial numbers can be recorded, and stolen or otherwise irregular goods can be identified.

 

It makes sense that products with out serial numbers are not official so are kinda void of the manufacturers warranty.

Unauthorized dealers either knowingly deceive the consumer by telling them that the product is covered by the manufacturers warranty or do the repairs themselves.

Makes you think doesn't it.

But the Choice is yours !

[/quote']

 

 

Well my penis doesnt have a serial number so does that mean its grey import aswell cause I cant seem to get anyone to cover my warranty now that it doesnt work......

 

not enough space?

[BMCfan]

Colonel' date=' have you not heard of Viagra!!![/quote']

 

 @ Colonel

 

ShaunH, i was under the impression that Viagra was blue!! Do you get grey viagras? and if so are they grey imports

[MockTurtle]

nothing wrong with grey products. i struggle to understand why grey imports are 'bad' for consumers who knowingly purchase as grey? if they are willing to take the risk, then why not?

 

it will be harder for distributors to line their pockets perhaps, but i rather the money saved stay in my (the consumer's) pocket.

 

if a market for grey imports for a particular product exists, it only means that the value that is supposedly added by the local channels is either substandard or non-existent (be it service/support/warranty/etc). if anything else, grey imports, or the possiblity thereof, provide a necessary function to keep official distributors honest.

 

note: selling grey products as 'official' is another issue altogheter, so are fakes, knockoffs, etc etc

 

 

[Giant]

Sorry, nothing to add,

But did not want to be the only hubber who didn't contribute to this epic

[American Flyers]

I feel the grey market is not very good because Mavic company spent lots of time and money to make the best wheels and now someone copied and sell good prices. How will you feel if you put lot of time on it and someone copied from you. You will feel piss off.

[Poison Ivy]

i was under the impression that Viagra was blue!!

 

how do you know that

[shaunh]

AF, as far as I understand this thread, there a NO counterfeit products discussed here, only grey or parallel imports. Huge Difference!

[MockTurtle]

 

I feel the grey market is not very good because Mavic company spent lots of time and money to make the best wheels and now someone copied and sell good prices. How will you feel if you put lot of time on it and someone copied from you. You will feel piss off.

 

there is a difference between grey imports and fake knockoffs.

 

for instance, i buy my Canon lenses online, and not through local distributors. that does not mean i buy fake Canon lenses (fortunately professional grade lenses are covered by international warranty) - but it does mean they are 'grey'.

 

in this case the added cost added by local channels does not benefit me in anyway - hence i choose to purchase online - its cheaper!

 

[bruce]

Bruce

 

I respect you and your views but isn't it just as damaging in the long term (and also the short term) to not go grey' date=' because that allows authorised importers to get away with inflating prices and delivering poor service ?

[/quote']

 

Being an authorised distributor does not necessarily equate to exclusivity.  Should a distributor wish to be exclusive, he would have to satisfy the product manufacturer that he can generate the volume of sales that makes sense to the product manufacturer.

 

An exclusive distributor that is inflating prices and delivering poor service is asking to be taken out of the game, and makes himself vulnerable to people sourcing the product through alternate channels.  A product manufacturer that choses a business model that included exclusive distributions has to ensure that his distributors are representing his product properly.

 

I'm not saying these things don't happen, all I'm saying is that I chose not to support a practice that I see as damaging to those distributors who are trying to do things properly.

[Delgado]

I feel the grey market is not very good because Mavic company spent lots of time and money to make the best wheels and now someone copied and sell good prices. How will you feel if you put lot of time on it and someone copied from you. You will feel piss off.

Apparently these are not Fong Kong knocks off's but the real deal!? It's just they weren't imported through the nicely sanitized means of the sole agent....no doubt!

[Willehond]

I feel the grey market is not very good because Mavic company spent lots of time and money to make the best wheels and now someone copied and sell good prices. How will you feel if you put lot of time on it and someone copied from you. You will feel piss off.

 

Take your tongue out of your cheeck, you are going to bite it off!!!!

 

Stop writing like that.  Only CWC are allowed to wite like that cause they sell wheels cheap!

[Delgado]

Bruce

 

I respect you and your views but isn't it just as damaging in the long term (and also the short term) to not go grey' date=' because that allows authorised importers to get away with inflating prices and delivering poor service ?

[/quote']

 

Being an authorised distributor does not necessarily equate to exclusivity.  Should a distributor wish to be exclusive, he would have to satisfy the product manufacturer that he can generate the volume of sales that makes sense to the product manufacturer.

 

An exclusive distributor that is inflating prices and delivering poor service is asking to be taken out of the game, and makes himself vulnerable to people sourcing the product through alternate channels.  A product manufacturer that choses a business model that included exclusive distributions has to ensure that his distributors are representing his product properly.

 

I'm not saying these things don't happen, all I'm saying is that I chose not to support a practice that I see as damaging to those distributors who are trying to do things properly.

Like AVH & Colnago??