Audio-Technica ART 7

s it really true that 2juki products are "gray market"? What does that mean, in this context? The phrase arose back in the 80s, when certain foreign cars could not be imported into the US, because they did not meet our then new requirements for emissions and etc. Some privateers imported such cars and converted them within the US to meet spec or as near to it as they could get away with. The parent companies would not honor the warranty on such cars, because they couldn’t vouch for the longevity of components in cars that were modified. Nothing like that is going on here.

As someone into watches, I can tell you that "grey market" applies to all kinds of commodities that are sold otherwise than through authorized dealers. Some manufacturers are very strict about not doing warranty work on their goods unless it is first established that the good was sold through an authorized dealer. Recently (last five years), Omega has really stepped up their efforts to thwart any unauthorized dealers from selling their watches. With watches, it was common for grey market items to be sold with the serial numbers scratched out. The dealers would sell the watches at far below msrp (which is typically 40-60% above the cost to the retailer) but with notice to the customer that the serial number was removed and that any warranty work would be with the dealer and not with the manufacturer. Authorized dealers are told to sell at MSRP and that their dealership will be revoked if they sell out of their territory or at less than MSRP. I have first-hand experience that ARC and DeVore do the very same thing.

So 2juki is not an authorized AT dealer, or so I gather.  Where then would he source his product?  Does he obliterate serial numbers?

The source of gray market products is easy.  As lewm has written, " I bought it in Tokyo. There is no advantage to buying in Tokyo; price was about the same as eBay. 2juki has a good reputation; I would not hesitate to buy from him."

So a dealer in Japan gets them at a low wholesale price and sells at low retail price.  The US distributor buys at the low wholesale price and marks it up considerably and sells at a high retail price.  He can get the high retail price because he provides service of various kinds and some people feel that is of value.

The Japanese retailer can also buy extra quantity at a low wholesale price and sell it through his gray market distributor friend to US consumers, like through ebay, for a low retail price.  Simple.

@lewm

So 2juki is not an authorized AT dealer, or so I gather. Where then would he source his product? Does he obliterate serial numbers?

He’s not an authorized dealer of anything, his prices are lower than recommended prices and nearly all his stock is a grey market produsts. Fake serian numbers, no support from the manufacturer. I’ve been told by a very well known US distributor, i have checked a serial number of my cartridge, i didn’t tell the distributor where i’ve bought my cartridge, but he noticed fake serial number and suggested it’s from 2juki, he was right. Some manufacturers are mad on him!  

It’s not necessary means that his stuff is defective, many buyers are happy, but not the manufacturers and distributors. The trade off of his low price is no warranty, no support, no service, nothing which every buyer can get from official distributor and manufacturer.

Has anyone had warranty issues with 2juki?  My guess is that if you bought from him, had a problem within the warranty period, and then sent it back to AT/Japan (perhaps through 2juki), the warranty would be honored by AT/Japan. Whereas, the same warranty would likely not be honored locally (in this case referring to the US distributor).  This does not mean that 2juki is shady or that he is selling defective or subpar merchandise that he sells with any attempt to deceive.  The irony is that the US distributor almost certainly sends returned items back to the very same place in Japan for repair or replacement. (A lot of this is conjecture on my part. If someone actually has had the experience of being told that his cartridge is not warranteed by AT at all, because of purchase from 2juki or other foreign vendor, I stand corrected.)

For example, my defective Koetsu Urushi, purchased from an authorized dealer in Tokyo, was replaced by Koetsu in Tokyo, after I sent it back to the dealer with evidence of the warranty.  The difference may be that my dealer was also a bricks and mortar store, in Akihabara.