gray market

American  

noun

1. a market operating within the law but charging prices substantially below list prices or those fixed by an official agency.

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Etymology

Origin of gray market

First recorded in 1930–35; gray ¹ ( def. ) (in the sense “indeterminate or intermediate in character” + market ( )

Example Sentences

There are also questions about how people are obtaining the peptides they want in a regulatory gray market.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

They also contended peptides would be more safely dispensed by regulated compounders than on the gray market — the argument now being made by the Alliance for Compounding Pharmacies.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026

These dangers are the fruits of the gray market, not of legalization.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

The agency will have to choose whether to formally authorize some of these products, to allow the current gray market to continue, or to attempt a broader crackdown.

From Slate • Sep. 24, 2024

There were also dark secrets people didn’t much talk about, along with a gray market of gossip that could spread the ill-informed rumor as fast as any IM or text network.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel