djmurm

I'm alittle confused on the pricing from different brands of NVR's and IP cameras. I currently use dahua and hikvision equipment. I have a high end customer who was quoted a 16 channel NVR in the $3,000 price range and $800 per 3mp IP camera, brand was not listed. He was thrown off when I was only charging $900 for the DVR and $425 for 3mp IP cameras. He didn't mind the other companies high priced quote. But questioned the quality of my cheaper quoted equipment. Do other companies/installers sell dahua/hikvision to your high end customers? Now, I also recently had some training with Interlogix/truvision. I did like their product but I would need to charge my customers $3000 for 16 channel NVR's and $700 per 3MP camera to make any money. So, my question is, what do these more expensive brands offer? Better remote software, better GUI, more reliable, more clear images, better tech support? I'm just confused by this huge price difference. The cameras seem to be the same manufacture also. I'm I not properly pricing my equipment? Please give me your thoughts and opinions, your comments are appreciated. thanks

Thanks for the reply. Most of my clients are small business owners. Bars and restaurants, retail stores, storage units, offices and some industrial buildings. Proposals using a brand like axis would never land the job with most of my customers, due to cost. Sometimes its hard to get them to buy my products, of course they always research the box systems and want to order the lorex or Samsung all in one systems and have me install it, which I never do. I do agree, Id much rather get a profit on a $500 camera than a $100. But its hard to win a bidding war when your quote is double or triple your competitor and your main argument is that your selling a better brand. I almost need to have a different sales pitch for different customers as far as brands are concerned. Are other companies having luck selling brands like axis to small businesses?

Hello, I'm new to this forum and I have researched some past articles, most were pretty old. I have a business installing mostly AV equipment, residential and commercial. I also install CCTV equipment, maybe 10-20 installs per year and I do service calls for some department stores through a contracting company. So I don't do a lot but I know my way around these systems. I wanted to see how other people are charging for installations. I'm usually pretty good at quoting jobs but I have a quote on a project that is a little larger than usual. Plus I would love some input for my future installs. Its only a 12 camera install but 8 of the runs are up to 1000' and the other 4 around 300'. All the runs will be secured about 30' high which I will be using a ladder or a scissor lift. The company has a lot of things in the way which will be moved be them as I need it moved. So, this could be a real pain in the butt. I will be installing additional electrical outlets also. The system will be a HD-TVI system. Of course, it will be connected to the network for remote viewing. I will also be installing a network bridge to transmit the internet signal from the office where the router is located to the DVR mounted in a lockbox in the warehouse. If anyone sees a problem with this set up please let me know. Any general thoughts on installation cost would be greatly appreciated for this job or for the cctv industry period. The project engineer mentioned he has 3 companies looking at the project so I want to be competitive but the project needs to be profitable. Thank you Dave