Grey Market Menace: What Copycat Brands Don’t Know

There are basically three kinds of markets in the business world – the real market (original), the grey markets, and the black markets. Unlike the black markets, the grey market is very legal and well recognized. As a matter of fact, the grey market is a multi-billion dollar market of its own. When we say multi-billion, we are not just referring to single digit billion. This doesn’t stop the fact that the players in the grey market are just copycat living off the glory of the real market. There’s just no simpler way to put it.

In the double edge safety razor world, there seems to be a whole lot of copycat brands. A good example is what has been done with the Vikings Blade original design and artistry. Vikings Blade is one of the top manufacturers of today’s double edge safety razors. A quick search on Amazon will see it has hundreds of positive reviews and ratings from satisfied customers. With the success of this brand, other copycat brands have started capitalizing on the fame and glory of the Vikings Blade.

A good example of these copycat companies suing the design of the Vikings Blade are Smoothere, eBetter, Bigfoot shave, and Jtrim. If not for the change in name of the brand, they look like an exact replica of the Vikings Blade. What these copycat brands fail to realize is that you can only fool some people some of the time. A true Viking that has used the Vikings Blade would easily spot the difference. Vikings Blade offers a lifetime warranty because of the quality of materials used in its construction as well as the sharpness of the blades. It’s not surprising that these brands do not offer any impressive warranty on any of their products.

Should You Buy Grey Market Products?

While so much negativity has been said about grey markets, it's important we understand that the market is not illegal. As a matter of fact, the market is a multi-billion dollar market - not many markets can boast of this. The market is better called a parallel market because that's exactly what it is. This doesn't mean the products sold have approval from the manufacturers. Such goods are usually sold by distributors not authorized by the manufacturer.

For instance, a product that is not being sold in a country can be brought in through gray markets and sold at a cheaper price. Such goods are not illegal to be sold in the country; they just happen to be available through a channel not recognized by the manufacturer of the product. This is where grey markets differ from black markets.

While these grey market products usually come at a cheaper price, it is important to know that they do not share same quality as the original products. By buying these inferior products, you don’t only encourage grey market activities, you are aiding in ripping off profits from the original manufacturer. This is because they do not make any profit from any sales in the grey markets. Grey market products are easy to identify. A good example is copycat brands like eBetter, Jtrim, Smoothere, etc. trying to copy the VikingsBlade.