Amazon, clearly frustrated with being unable to source some watch brands directly appear to have resorted to Buying Grey product.

At the time of posting, Amazon is listing (among others) the Nixon 42-20 Chrono in black here.

The tell tale is the “Warranty Offer” that states:

“This watch is supplied with an Amazon EU Sarl Two-Year Limited Watch Warranty”

To the untrained eye this doesn’t sound worrying, but what this really says is:

“This product has been purchased through a broker or other unofficial source. If you request warranty support from the manufacturer for this product, you won’t get it. Nor will they verify authenticity”

While this is not illegal in itself, it does mean the buyer is relying on Amazon’s buying team knowing that the product they are purchasing is genuine. They won’t be able to verify whether or not the Nixon Watches they buy are genuine because they’d have to ask Nixon, and in doing so reveal the unauthorised source they are buying from.

As a footnote, a grey source for a product is typically either an official dealer that sells products to trade customers through the “back door” (meaning without agreement from the licence holder) or a broker that buys overruns directly from the factory. I explained overruns in a previous post.