Subscriber Discussion

Buying Dahua Direct From China - Great Setup

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Jul 14, 2015

Thought I would chime in with my first contribution to the IPVM site.

I am an integrator based in Australia. For over 12 months I have imported Dahua cameras & recorders regularly, typically $15K - $20K spend every couple of months. I do not import direct off Dahua but another company in China.

The experiance has been a real eye opener for me. nothing but positive. I receive extremely prompt responses to all and any of my queries using Skype. Being in basically the same time zone as China has been advantageous with Skype. Last week I requested a firmware update for a particular camera and recieved it within seconds of the request.

If I order a particular NVR in Australia and it is out of stock with my local supplier, I will have to wait at least 5 days for it to ship via road from another state.

My orders arrive within 3 days from China via air & I have full access to the full suite of DAHUA products and not just the limited Items my local suppliers provide.

So basically i enjoy lower prices & better service/support from my new friends in China. If I run out or need further stock I can source it locally.

Its a great setup but I am unfortunaltely loathe to share the name of the company I deal with given some of the above comments, I would hate for my current avenue to be shut down.

Not being a regular contributor, I could not find a private message function.

NOTICE: This comment was moved from an existing discussion: Dahua - Reliable Source Needed

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JH
John Honovich
Jul 14, 2015
IPVM

This is a very informative comment from the Dahua - Reliable Source Needed discussion that I wanted to highlight.

Good or bad for the 'industry' or for integrators this is what is happening a lot. We know quite a few other integrators who have similar setups with Chinese manufacturers / distributors.

There's definitely still risks and downsides but there's undoubtedly a lot of money to be saved / made for many integrators.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Jul 14, 2015

Once you have that trust and relationship built with the Chinese it really is a good experience dealing with them. They want your business and they work real hard for it.

From a business point of view, better service and saving in excess of 50% for the exact same product in some cases....... Its a no brainer.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Jul 14, 2015

Is shipping cripplingly expensive or is it offset by the drastic savings? What about warranty/RMAs? I'm guessing that Dahua becomes so inexpensive with this method that warranty/RMA is abandoned in favor of "disposable" equipment. Is that a fair statement?

Is there anyone with stateside, particularly Midwest or East coast experience that would car to comment? Australia is one thing, but Chicago may be another in terms of lag time and shipping cost.

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sm
steve merrill
Sep 02, 2015

Give me a e-mail Im in Iowa stevemerril@t-s-i-inc.com

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Jul 14, 2015

Air frieght is relatively expensive but the savings are huge, espicailly with the NVRs. I have had 2 - 3 cameras go faulty in the past year, I do not worry about warranties etc they turn into dummy cameras. I am comfortable with the fail rate given the amount of cameras we have ordered.

Air frieght can be as high as 8% of the order cost.

I am considering a larger order via sea frieght once the AUS dollar rises a little to make it really worth while. The past 12 months has really been a process of making sure I can trust the people I am dealing with , hence the small orders. I am well and truly past that point and am prepared to make larger orders via sea.

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