Forward shipping vs grey import

• 

  p1 ama on 22/11/2017 - 21:15

  +1

  Well "Grey Imports" are literally the same thing as mail forwarding. If X only sells in China, how do you think it gets into your hands? Someone has to buy X from China and then on-sell it to you. That person can be your relative who buys it locally then ships it to you, a grey importer who buys bulk lots and sells them by the warehouse, or a small-scale mail forwarding service who simply redirects the package to you.

  At the end of the day, they all come from the same production line, are made by the same people from the same components. Personally, I would just buy wherever is cheapest. My hunch is that with these cheap phones, if they break, you just buy a new one. If you care about warranty or longevity, get something with a brand and buy it here.

  • 

    witsa on 22/11/2017 - 21:32

    don't the grey importers buy it in bulk to save on costs too? That's why you never know which country they're coming from.

    Otherwise if they were just buying it off the street like your relative, wouldn't they give you the manufacturer warranty details?

    • 

      Broke-Ken on 22/11/2017 - 21:38

      I think you're getting the terms mixed up, "grey imports" covers everything which is imported into the country not by the manufacture themselves.

      If you use your relative/friend/mail forwarder, and then get it sent to you, then that's considered a grey import. Local branches of the brand will not cover it under warranty, you will need to ship it back to country of origin to get it repaired, whether it's the "seller" you brought it from or the friend who bought it for you.

      • 

        witsa on 22/11/2017 - 21:50

        sure I agree both cases they are "grey imports"

        I guess I'm talking about buying it off a "grey importer" - so someone like gearbest, kogan, dwi etc.

        They don't offer the manufacturer warranty when you buy it from them. In fact, they don't even specify where the phone will be coming from. Whereas if you bought from your overseas friend, you still get the manufacturer warranty, it's just your responsibility to get the phone sent back and forth to the country of origin.

      • 

        p1 ama on 23/11/2017 - 10:34

        @witsa: I'd honestly rather take Kogan warranty than some Chinese street shop warranty though.

        Either way, if you're interested in warranty, just get a phone here and save yourself the headache. I use grey imports, but only when I'd be perfectly happy just shelving it or fixing it myself it things go wrong.

      • 

        witsa on 23/11/2017 - 11:25

        @psterio:

        Same. I feel like Kogan has enough brand name recognition to be semi-legit now. But this wouldn't be a Chinese street shop warranty.

        Say, I bought an OnePlus 5t - i would be buying it off their website and getting it sent to either a mail forwarder or a friend in HK or US, then sent to me.

        If there's a problem, I'd have to deal with OnePlus 5T in the country of origin and have to arrange for phone sent back overseas in the case of repair.

        I'd get it here but a lot of phones like the One Plus 5T isn't available here or it's heaps more expensive (I remember buying an LG G4 back in the day, and it was $800 at JBs or $400 grey import).

      • 

        p1 ama on 23/11/2017 - 11:47

        @witsa:

        If there's a problem, I'd have to deal with OnePlus 5T in the country of origin and have to arrange for phone sent back overseas in the case of repair.

        Kogan will do exactly the same thing - send it back to the same company.

• 

  HighAndDry on 23/11/2017 - 11:22

  Biggest difference is:

  Grey imports: You can return to the seller and they'll ship to the manufacturer for warranty repairs.

  Forward-ship: You'll have to ship the product back to the manufacturer yourself for warranty repairs.

  • 

    witsa on 23/11/2017 - 11:29

    Yeah, except I don't think grey imports have the manufacturer warranties. I think the grey importer have their own "warranty" program which can basically be as dodgy as they'd like because there's no consumer protection. That's why you hear of stories of grey importers having terrible after sale service - if they could just relay the unit back to the manufacturer, they'd just do that. But they're wearing the cost of any repairs.

    • 

      HighAndDry on 23/11/2017 - 11:30

      Of course they do - it just depends on the manufacturer (and where they're based) what the warranty is.

      • 

        witsa on 23/11/2017 - 11:38

        yeah? well if that's the case, why do the grey importers only offer their own in-house warranties and even their own repair centres?

      • 

        HighAndDry on 23/11/2017 - 11:48

        @witsa: Because of the ACL - but the grey importer isn't the manufacturer and can only do so much.