The next time you buy a laptop or a camera online, you'll need to do more than just check the price and the specifications. Make sure you read all the fine print as well, to make sure that you're buying a product covered by warranty. In a bid to combat grey market sellers who undercut the prices of products that come through proper distribution channels in India, many manufacturers are taking harsh steps against online stores.
On February 19, Lenovo warned users that Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart are not authorised resellers of the Chinese manufacturer's products, and also issued an advisory with a list of all authorised stores and genuine partners. "E-commerce websites like Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon India are not authorised Lenovo resellers. We encourage you to check your warranty entitlements when you buy from these websites," Lenovo said in the advisory on its website.
Snapdeal said it takes "utmost care" to list products only by those sellers who have the necessary authorisation to sell these products." Customers can rest assured that all the products including Lenovo and Toshiba products which are available on Snapdeal.com are genuine and eligible for warranty," a Snapdeal spokesperson said.
Nikon might have been the first brand to take up this issue though - in a blog post in September last year, the company stated: "Please note that Flipkart (Flipkart Internet Private Limited) and Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Private Limited) are not our authorised partner/dealer in India for Nikon Products." Toshiba has also issued a similar statement, and now, so has Canon. Canon has stated that they will give incentives to people who buy their cameras offline, such as a 15-month warranty in lieu of the more standard 12-month warranty that will be given to people who buy their products online.
A growing ecosystem
A Flipkart spokesman said the site connects thousands of sellers across India to millions of buyers and helps the traders scale their business at a fraction of the selling cost. "In a lot of cases, these small retailers have seen a month-on-month growth of 40 percent in their business after listing on our marketplace."
According to an Amazon spokesperson, "Amazon.in is a marketplace platform that enables Indian merchants to sell products to customers across India. Merchants on Amazon.in independently decide price of their products. Amazon.in assures that its merchants list genuine products with manufacturer warranty. This applies to all brands. Amazon.in also extends A to Z guarantee on all products offered by its merchants. Customers of Amazon.in enjoy 100% purchase protection on products bought under the A to Z guarantee."
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