These Amazon deals are so good, they HAVE TO be gray imports – but should I care?

As part of my role as Guides Editor on Digital Camera World, I regularly check and update buying guides, and, as well as ensuring they are up to date with the best products, I keep an eye on the prices our automated price-hunting tool serves up. Like any ‘intelligent’ piece of tech, it can sometimes get things wrong – by listing an optional lens hood rather than the lens it fits on, for example.

My process involves checking the retailers we link to, to ensure that the products we list are, indeed, the products the buying guide refers to. Alarm bells usually start ringing when a product is available for substantially less from one retailer than the others our system suggests. Of course, in a competitive market, retailers try to undercut each other by offering discounts from time to time. But more often than not, their competitors react, matching or even bettering prices.

I’ve recently updated a slew of buying guides for the best Nikon lenses, and I noticed, time and time again, that Amazon (in the UK, at least) seemed to be selling some Nikon lenses for a lot less than anyone else. For example, the Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S macro lens was listed at £696 on Amazon, but £999 everywhere else. The Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S was an even bigger bargain, just £1,660 at Amazon, but £2,499 at every single other retailer. It may well be that other camera brands are seeing similar steep Amazon discounts.

A closer look at the Amazon listing reveals that these products aren’t actually sold by Amazon, but come from a variety of resellers. In addition to selling its own goods, Amazon is a ‘marketplace’ website, allowing other stores to use Amazon as a shop window and handle the transaction, but you’re actually buying from a completely different company. And at these sorts of prices, I have to assume that these are ‘gray market’ products.

This means that they are not official UK stock and are not distributed by Nikon UK. However, they are genuine Nikon lenses made in the same factory, only they're destined for a different market. And some goods are simply cheaper to buy in some corners of the world than others. Gray market resellers take advantage of this and buy their stock from overseas, importing it themselves. It's frowned upon by the manufacturers, and reputable retailers who buy their stock through official distribution channels are unhappy about it, but it's not illegal. The main concern for consumers is that products bought this way are unlikely to be covered by any manufacturer's guarantee.

But should that bother you? And what happens if the lens develops a fault?

I messaged a couple of companies to find: “I assume that this is a gray import at this price, as it's far cheaper than I've seen it elsewhere. Can I check whether this is covered by Nikon UK warranty, or what happens if the lens develops a problem?”

The responses were similar, and to the point, along the lines of: “The warranty is 2 years, covered by our business. Normally, no issues occur, but if one does, we will solve the issue.”

Of course, you’d only ever find out whether a warranty is worth the paper it’s printed on in the unlikely event of the lens developing a fault. So, should you be tempted? Well, I'd say it's definitely a case of ‘buyer beware’. You may be saving hundreds, but if things go wrong, you may well have an uphill battle on your hands to resolve it.

So with Amazon Prime Day just around the corner, proceed with caution!