Transshipping and Gray Market Goods

• Published in: Dealerscope Vol. 56; no. 9; p. 54
• Main Author: Ramsey, Todd
• Format: Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia CT Lab Global Media 01.08.2014
• Subjects: Aftermarket parts; Alliances; Brands; Commodities trading; Consumer electronics; Internet; Inventory; Manufacturers; Online sales; Retail stores; Shipments; United States > US
• ISSN: 1534-4711

Transshipping goods and the existence of a gray market are controversial topics in the aftermarket car electronics business. It proves convoluted when you peel back the layers of the onion in open discussion. Many industry folks paint both topics as the same thing or with a broad brush that blames Internet sales, when they are different scenarios for different stakeholders. Mike Dixon of Audio Logic in Hollywood, FL, has been in business 32 years and is a retailer for brands like Audison, Hertz, Kenwood and JL Audio. Dixon says he can afford to walk a few customers who are shoppers of transshipped goods looking for a similar deal. Overwhelmingly, independent retailers in the US felt that gray market goods were far less of a problem for them than transshipped goods that originated from a US destination and were resold unauthorized.