Buying, selling, and trading is a complicated business in today’s consumer world. Legitimate businesses go through time-consuming, costly legal processes to sell their products. However, there are many who would take advantage of this system and try to profit at your expense. You can protect your business and your brand by carefully monitoring your processes for manufacturing and taking advantage of secure product destruction for inventory that is obsolete, expired, recalled, or defective. This service can prevent your products from winding up on the gray market.
Understanding the Gray Market
Goods may be sold through various distribution channels. While there are authorized, official venues that protect businesses and consumers, there is also the gray market, in which goods are distributed through an unauthorized or unofficial channel. Some of these products are genuine, usable products that have been tampered with or diverted so that they can be sold through unintended imports. Lastly, products that have expired or been damaged, returned, or recalled may end up on the gray market.
Regarding demand, there will always be consumers willing to buy from unofficial sources for a reduced price. Some shoppers may purchase them because they can get a genuine name brand item at a more affordable cost.
For the vendor, the gray market is a way to capitalize on the time, efforts, expense, and authority of a genuine business and its workers. Gray market vendors may engage in this illicit and potentially illegal practice because of the potential for their own gain. Sometimes these vendors are even employees of the company from which they steal products to sell under the table.
How Products End Up On the Gray Market
Genuine and usable products can end up on the gray market because they were tampered with and can’t be sold legitimately, or perhaps they were diverted and imported through unofficial, non-trackable channels. For instance, a hotly contested product that is not yet available for sale may be diverted and sold illegally on the gray market before its official release date.
Recalled products, returns, damaged products, expired products, etc. are more likely to be sold on the gray market if they are improperly managed by the business itself. As examples, if recalled products are stored in a warehouse, or if a returned and unsellable product is tossed into a dumpster, they are now easily accessible. This makes it all too convenient for a current employee or watchful individual to steal and sell them on the gray market.
How to Protect Your Business Through Secure Product Destruction
Businesses should have well-oiled processes with plenty of regulation, analysis, and accounting to ensure that their products are never diverted or illegally imported. Leaks in the supply chain occur because process adherence is not carefully mandated and internal controls are not tightly regulated. Strict policies can protect otherwise vulnerable businesses from losing profit, authority, dependability, and exclusivity.
Finally, businesses should rely on secure product destruction. Employee theft and consumer theft are much less likely when businesses have outside organizations handle the disposal of their old, recalled, or damaged products. Cal Micro Recycling offers a high level of security with equipment that can shred or destroy nearly any product. We provide customized, secure product disposal and destruction to guarantee that your merchandise will never be found on the gray market. Our product destruction services can be used for obsolete products, recalled goods, defective products, and other products that are no longer wanted or needed. Our secure destruction services for businesses, manufacturers, and government agencies, provided with an official Certificate of Destruction, can give you peace of mind and ensure that your products will never return to the market.