About Grey Market

"What is a grey market seller?

A grey market 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.

What is an authorised seller?

As an authorised seller we are authorised directly by the brand/distributor to sell products. This ensures that all of our products are authentic and come with a full manufacturer warranty. "

- Watch Nation

"Luxury watches traded on the gray market circumvent more traditional sales channels. Most brands in the luxury goods sector seek to maintain as much control as possible over the distribution of their products. In the watch industry, manufacturers traditionally deliver their timepieces to licensed dealers and jewelers, so-called official retailers. In theory, these are the only parties permitted to sell the watches in their stores and online shops.

These dealers are often required to accept large orders of watches including less popular models in a single shipment, meaning they often have to sit on excess inventory. Occasionally, they sell their extra inventory to other dealers, who don’t have a licensing agreement with the original watch manufacturer. These dealers, in turn, are able to sell the unworn watches at large discounts via their own sales channels, e.g., their own shops or online platforms like Chrono24.

These so-called gray market dealers frequently source watches from abroad. This offers several advantages; for example, particular models are less popular in certain locations and some countries have lower VAT, meaning it’s profitable to purchase a watch abroad and import it."

-Chrono24, 02/24/2020

"The luxury watch industry manufacturers sell their timepieces to official distributors across the globe. These distributors sell the watches to authorized luxury watch retailers who sell the goods to retail clients. However, these authorized dealers often have excess inventory and they may reach out to grey market dealers with offers to purchase that inventory in bulk at discounted prices. This makes grey market dealers popular among watch collectors. While these dealers pose a problem for a luxury watch brand, the availability of luxury timepieces is a huge advantage for consumers."

-Watch Exchange, 03/08/2024

"A grey market dealer is a retail operation (whether online or brick-and-mortar) that sells goods outside of the official distribution network. Therefore, a grey market watch dealer is a business that buys timepieces from sources other than the watch brand manufacturer and sells them via its own retail operation that is not controlled by the watch brand.

Conversely, an authorized dealer (also known as ADs) buys directly from the watch brand (sometimes via an official distributor). An AD is contractually bound to follow the price lists, inventory management, marketing strategies, and sales channels set out by the brand. In short, the price to pay for direct access to new watches through the official channel is giving up sizable control of retail operations.

Grey market dealers are entirely legal entities that play a significant role in the watch industry; however, because they don’t belong to the official authorized network, they are often unfairly judged as being “less than” authorized dealers – when in fact, the opposite is true in many cases. Compared to ADs, grey market dealers are not only generally leaner, more flexible, and more innovative but they are also guided by market prices rather than the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) list."

-Luxury Bazaar