Subscriber Discussion

Alternative Distributors To ADI, Tri-Ed Adn Anixter In Canada?

SS
Scott Sheldrake
Dec 24, 2015

Besides ADI, Tri-Ed and Anixter, does anyone know of a Canadian distributor that is any good? Ideally someone who sells HIKVision products.

What spurred this on was our attempt to purchase three HIKVision DS-2DF7286-AEL PTZ cameras (the one with IR) only to find that neither ADI, Tri-Ed nor Anixter had any stock across the country. I find it extremely frustrating because the only real job of a distributor as the middle-man is to keep products in stock and they can't even do that. Why am I buying from a distributor at all if they're just placing orders from a manufacturer and drop-shipping.

In short, we're looking for alternative distributors - anyone have any good recommendations?

Thanks!

U
Undisclosed #1
Dec 24, 2015

Where are you located ?

SS
Scott Sheldrake
Dec 24, 2015
British Columbia (BC) on the west coast
U
Undisclosed #1
Dec 24, 2015

Ask John to sent you my info/email

[Done]

MI
Matt Ion
Dec 25, 2015

Have you tried amazon.ca? Probably get it faster even with the free shipping option.

SS
Scott Sheldrake
Dec 25, 2015

Amazon.ca has really good pricing - I checked and it's actually lower than ADI/Tri-Ed on some other products I've recently ordered. Amazon.ca doesn't have the camera I need in this case however - another person suggested CCTVdirect.ca which I'm checking out now.

I have a feeling our days of using ADI / Tri-Ed / Anixter are numbered. Too many good alternatives out there. Why pay top dollar to a distributor with zero stock? It essentially puts everyone on a level playing field. I'll certainly order from an Amazon seller and save money vs. Tri-Ed if I'm going to wait 2-3 weeks regardless. I used to be more understanding when distributors never had any stock on Axis products, my thinking was that Axis is so expensive and there are so many product lines, I can understand it. But with HIKVision being dirt cheap and these distributors STILL can't keep stock? Ridiculous, they deserve to go out of business.

I'll continue to post what I find to help other migrate away from Canadian distributors.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Dec 25, 2015

Depending on where on the west coast you are (not Vancouver?), Norelco will take your order from Edmonton or Calgary and ship it to you.

I see that there is one unit in Toronto (via en.adiglobal.ca), so I'm not sure if that's just an inventory issue. I've had the guys 2-day me equipment from California (ADI) for an additional $50.

Best of luck, especially this time of year. I will be purchasing a few of those units myself. Hopefully the delay isn't that bad.

Merry Christmas!

SS
Scott Sheldrake
Dec 25, 2015

According to my Vancouver ADI rep they have zero stock in all Canadian branches. Tri-Ed Vancouver says the same. ADI wants to charge $100 to express ship, Tri-Ed is $180, but both still have to first order from the manufacturer (HIKVision) since they have no stock, so it's not clear what that express shipping is even for. I'm looking at 2-3 weeks either way (well 5-6 business days over Christmas/New Years, so 2 weeks minimum).

I wish we could just order direct from HIKVision and cut out the ridiculous middlemen who aren't doing their jobs. There was a recent IPVM post disparaging HIKVision for selling direct to end-users under a different name, which I agree is bad. But how about the manufacturer selling direct to integrators? THAT need to happen ASAP.

U
Undisclosed #3
Dec 26, 2015
IPVMU Certified

But how about the manufacturer selling direct to integrators?

I guess it's every (middle)man for themselves now... ;)

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Ari Erenthal
Dec 29, 2015
Chesapeake & Midlantic

Okay, that's just crazy. A photography store I know is charging $66.50 for UPS Worldwide Saver (1-2 business days) or $39.20 for FedEx International Priority (also 1-2 business days) to BC. The photography store doesn't have that camera in stock either or I'd have said something earlier.

Edited to add: that works out to $2,326.09 CAD via FedEx.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Dec 25, 2015

Try calling Norelco Calgary on Monday and one of their sales staff can tell you what stock they have in Edmonton and Calgary. The have had 20 PTZs in stock at a time before, but I find it's a crapshoot with the higher-end products. It's hard to fault anyone really, Canadians in general don't seem to move a lot of PTZ cameras (at least not Hik).

If you do enough volume (not sure exactly how much), you can absolutely buy OEM Hikvision from California. Norelco does this with some camera lines and it's pretty handy.

I will say that I have gone through this (not with PTZ's mind you) and I keep a stock of the less-used cameras in case of a shortage or emergency replacement. I manage to install enough of these cameras every year that buying an extra one every now and again isn't detrimental to my numbers. Keeping extra PTZs on hand, especially if you aren't selling many, gets pricey.

U
Undisclosed #3
Dec 25, 2015
IPVMU Certified

I see ElvesSupply is showing them in stock, they are in Minnesota, I'm not sure if they have any restriction to shipping to Canada. I've used them for small stuff only but they ship fast.

According to NORAD, Santa should be in your area in a few hours, maybe the Elves could pull some strings??

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MI
Matt Ion
Dec 25, 2015

We're in the Vancouver area as well, we get Dahua stuff from Nelly's in Tulsa and Vigil NVRs from 3xLogic in Colorado... and right now the dollar is a real killer. When a $1000 order is costing us $1400 even before shipping, brokerage, duty, etc...

U
Undisclosed #3
Dec 25, 2015
IPVMU Certified

So what's your cost in Canadian dollars for a DS-2DF7286-AEL sourced in Canada?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Dec 26, 2015

My cost is about $2100 CAD including GST

U
Undisclosed #3
Dec 26, 2015
IPVMU Certified

So this one from Elves would work out to around $2300 give or take a loonie?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Dec 26, 2015

Shipping and duty would probably be charged on top of the $2,300.

MI
Matt Ion
Dec 26, 2015

Don't forget brokerage fees, if you're not handling that yourself. One year my sister-in-law sent Christmas gifts from Chicago... about $200 worth of stuff in total. UPS brokerage fees were on the order of $75. Sometimes I think they just pull numbers out of their collective ass.

SS
Scott Sheldrake
Dec 27, 2015

They absolutely do pull numbers out of their collective ass. I refuse to use UPS for exactly this reason - Fedex is bad too, but not on the same level. Here are my two worst experiences with UPS :

#1 - Ordered an EV charger worth approx $2000. UPS wanted $425 in brokerage fees, so I refused to accept delivery. On the prospect of having to return the item to the shipper, they voluntarily lowered their BS fee to $90. I refused delivery again on principal, then they went as low as $10. I was floored.

#2 - Axis shipped me a warranty replacement IP66 RJ45 module (worth $50?) - UPS wanted $105 in brokerage fees, so I refused to accept delivery. When UPS called I explained to them and that I shouldn't be paying any brokerage fee or taxes on a warranty replacement part. The following week they delivered it anyways without a signature and then sent me an invoice for the $105. As you can well imagine, I absolutely lost my mind with rage. In the end, they deleted the invoice.

Moral of the story : Avoid UPS for all border crossings, unless you have no choice and it's a large item that you know ahead of time is coming ($10k+) it's worth it to do the paperwork with customs and act as your own broker. You've got to go to customs, but then UPS can't legally charge you any extra fees for that shipment.

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U
Undisclosed #3
Dec 27, 2015
IPVMU Certified

I refused delivery again on principal, then they went as low as $10.

Did you refuse on principal at $10 as well? My principals are somewhat elastic.

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SS
Scott Sheldrake
Dec 27, 2015

As a matter of fact, I did. I told them to ship it back to USA as I wasn't going to pay anything. In the end the shipper dealt with it and it got delivered without any brokerage fee (well, at least none paid by me) it just added a month to the delivery. UPS knows they have most people over a barrel as they want/need that item so they just pay it.

SS
Scott Sheldrake
Dec 27, 2015
Up until last month our cost was around $1450 CAD, but since the USD is getting stronger and/or CAD getting weaker our cost is now around $1800
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jk
justin kozak
Dec 26, 2015

Have you tried to contact the inside/outside sales person at the distributor you buy from and have a conversation about the product sets you use, your expected usage time frames, and negotiated a stock package and price based on your needs?

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SS
Scott Sheldrake
Dec 27, 2015
The problem is that it's hard to predict demand. We keep lots of stock on items we use all the time, but less often used products, and/or expensive products we don't keep as much stock in. Isn't this the job of a distributor? When we have more HIK DS2DF7286AEL's on hand than Tri-Ed has in the entire country, there's a problem. Yes I realize that a distributor is going to have the same argument : it's difficult to predict demand, but their job, their ONLY job is to have a supply buffer. Otherwise why are we using them? I had this same issue with a supplier who sells 2GIG products. We needed 5 2GIG-TAKE units and the supplier only had 3 nationwide. Meanwhile, our company alone keeps 4-5 of these in stock at any given time, so we literally have enough stock to be a nationwide supplier. I asked about 2GIG-DW10 door contacts and again we had more stock than the supplier did nationwide. They only had 23 units to serve the entire country. If distributors can't do their ONLY job, which is to be the middle man and keep products in stock then why are we using them at all? Here's a call for everyone to band together and post alternatives to traditional distributors. Once I have a decent list I'll create a new post about it for reference.
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Avatar
Michael Budalich
Dec 29, 2015
Genetec

Hello Scott,

Have you looked into Synnex? I know they sell Hikvision in the USA but I'm not sure about Canada. I just looked at their line card and I do not see it on there.

At any rate, this is one other disty to consider.

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