the grey marketnoun [ S ]
uk/ˌɡreɪ ˈmɑː.kɪt/us/ˌɡreɪ ˈmɑːr.kɪt/mainly UK US usually the gray marketan unofficial but not completely illegal system in which products are bought and sold:
The store sells designer clothes and shoes sourced from the grey market.
Compare
black market
buying and selling of a company's shares before they are available officially:
First dealings in the company's shares will start on the grey market on 27 March and formal trading begins on 2 April.
people over about 50, considered as a group to which products can be sold:
Motorbike manufacturers are selling to the grey market as much as to younger people.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Buying & selling - general words
- all-you-can-eat
- barter
- black market
- bottom
- brokerage
- channel
- cold-calling
- desk research
- first refusal
- high street
- hock
- market share
- pawn
- pay
- supply and demand idiom
- trade
- trade route
- trading
- transaction
- under the counter idiom
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Trafficking & racketeering
Stock markets
Advertising and marketing
The elderly