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What is the Grey Market?
What is the Grey Market
The grey market refers to the sale of goods through distribution channels that are in some way unauthorised by the initial manufacturer, either through a murky supply chain, sales without manufacturers permission, or from more sinister origins such as counterfeits or theft.
Grey market products can harm a brands reputation by not complying with sales and product standards set by the manufacturer. This could mean a lack of warranty and support for the end-user or more drastic repercussions, such as security breaches.
In IT, it’s important to know exactly where your product comes from. Grey market purchases may offer desirable prices especially to those with stretched IT budgets, but the implications surrounding their security cannot go unnoticed. Sometimes, a grey market product will merely be a producer of counterfeits that aim to use the reputation of a brand for their personal gain, but it has been well documented that pieces of counterfeit hardware can be created by cybercriminals to function as backdoors into a network allowing them to access valuable data from the victim with the intent of holding it ransom or to sell the information on for further criminal activity.
Avoiding the Grey Market
The grey market spans almost every industry from fashion, to technology, to vehicles. Purchasing counterfeit shoes may only result in an un-comfy walk, but when it comes to electronics buying cheaper grey market products can result in far more dangerous consequences.
It’s best to avoid these products at all costs. If a product has a price that appears too good to be true – it likely is. Be sure to check the validity of a retailer before making a purchase, and make sure they are an official distributor of the product.
Grey Market Prices, Cisco Guarantee
If the grey market is tempting because of its lower price range, look no further than Cisco Refresh. Here at Chulo we are an official Cisco partner, providing all remanufactured goods at a fraction of the retail price. Check out our online store, or get in touch with a Chulo specialist and maximise your IT budget today
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