gray market
1
6.3
- noun
- /ɡreɪ ˈmɑrkɪt/
- US
:
mercado gris
- As it stands, grey market cars are one of many unique niches in the auction.
Examples
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Indeed, a non-standard/matching VIN and unknown miles are pretty much par for the course for any grey market car.
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Personally, I would buy from an authorized dealer unless the grey market price is at least 30% below.
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Also, assuming that everyone interested in buying a grey market vehicle is an 'expert' is way off the mark.
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A month ago, I posted this article regarding the grey market Bimmer.
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My father bought an early 80s BMW 735 grey market.
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When I sold a grey market 1977 Mercedes 350SE a few years ago, I had several emails from folks who asked me whether it was a diesel.
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As someone who has traveled the country liquidating 10,000 vehicles a year and even bought grey market cars, I can't say I have ever seen anything quite like this.
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Unfortunately, the most misrepresented car I have encountered is one that I bought—and it was a grey market German car, with a busted odometer, to boot.
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The year/VIN issue is caused by eBay's listing code, which does not acknowledge the existence of grey-market cars in the US, and forces sellers to list the car as from a year before 17-digit VINs became mandatory in order to enter a VIN of a different format.
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Many collectors are willing to buy rare items from the gray market if they can find them at a lower price.
How Authorized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an unofficial or indeterminate market' is directly inferable from combining 'gray' (intermediate/indeterminate, implying not fully official) with 'market' (place of trade). This adjectival metaphor is common cross-linguistically (e.g. Spanish 'mercado gris'), so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably deduce the MWE's sense.
Etymology
Gray market uses the color gray to show something between black and white, so a gray market is not clearly official or clearly illegal. Imagine goods sold through sellers the maker did not approve, often cheaper and sometimes without a warranty; that image explains why it means 'an unofficial market' for products.