the grey market

noun [S] (US usually the gray market)

Definition

› an 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 marketBuying and selling in generalTrafficking and racketeering › 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.Financial investments and the stock market › 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.Advertising, marketing and merchandisingRetailingThe elderlyOld or old-fashionedDescribing people who are old

(Definition of the grey market noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)