古语说：“物以稀为贵”，应该没几个人不赞成吧。越稀有的东西，就越被人追捧，人们想要得到它的愿望也就越强烈。古时候，外邦进贡的稀罕玩意儿只有皇室贵族大臣们有机会把玩。到了现在，进口商品随处可见，只要有钱，你就可以拥有。没钱？那你可以去买grey product（水货）。

A parallel import is a non-counterfeit product imported from another country without the permission of the intellectual property owner. Parallel imports are often referred to as grey product, and are implicated¹ in issues of international trade, and intellectual property.

Parallel import（平行进口商品）指的是未经产品知识产权所有人允许而从别国进口的非仿冒品（真品）。此类商品通常被称为“灰色产品”（即我们所说的“水货”），在国际贸易和知识产权领域颇有争议。

Companies, either the manufacturer or the distributor, set different price points for their products in different markets. Parallel importers ordinarily purchase products in one country at a price (P1) which is cheaper than the price at which they are sold in a second country (P2), import the products into the second country, and sell the products in that country at a price which is usually between P1 and P2.

产品制造商或分销商对产品的定价是因市场而异的。平行进口商们通常在一国用当地价格（p1）买进某商品，该买入价是低于该商品在第二国的售价（p2）的，商品被进口到第二国后的售价通常会在p1和p2之间。