Originally posted by Adam Those would be considered grey market and are more likely taken from lens kits.
I added a question mark. Seems that the thread title alone was throwing a lot of people off...
Thanks for all your responses. Still new to the Pentax world (almost exactly 1 year), sorry to create a stir. Yes, I talked to the Pentax Webstore and they confirmed - I just assumed that was the same as RICOH. I suppose not.
And the seller had decent feedback on eBay itself but if you google the seller store's name, there are a lot of negative reviews (on BBB, Yelp, etc).
In any case, I got the lens today. It is part of a kit (as the seller disclosed upfront in the eBay listing) so it came in a plain white box. It looks brand spanking new and DID come with a hood. Also the operating manual and a card with its serial number. Haven't tested it yet (just plugged the camera's battery into the charger) but will do so later today. So far I don't feel terribly displeased with this transaction. Shipping was quick, I got a $496 lens for $297. No warranty but I can live with that..I have the other WR kit lenses in case this one goes south.
Cheers!