Finally

[qman 0]

HI

 

I want to share something good that just took shape over here with me with all of you.

 

After a lot of work, I finally got some investment capital from some silent partners so that I can do what I've been planning for some time now.

 

We want to be the BIGGEST distributor of DVR'S in the U.S.

 

The only thing that sucks is that I cannot touch the cash for anything else, only to pay myself an adjusted rate

 

We just bought www.dvrdistributor.com, .net, .biz, and .do for the next 10 years.

 

We want to start with overseas manufacturers, since the US guys want to charge an arm and a leg for their products, I've thought that it's best to get everyone else but them, start making the numbers in sales, and then let THEM come to us and give us the prices we want. I know it's not going to happen overnight, but hey, when there's a will, there's a way.

 

If anyone has any suggestions of what companies I should look at, let me know please, but honestly, I want to carry them ALL,(EXCEPT PICO200 CRAPWARE), now, here's my dilema, if you guys have suggestions, please share them, I always take the suggestions of the fine individuals from this forum seriously.

 

Should I be Dealer only, or market to both Dealers and End Users? (of course that prices will be different)

 

 

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help.

[AVCONSULTING 0]

I'd start out by getting to the ISC show in Las Vegas since almost every DVR card supplier of any importance will be there. You can evaluate the available products and also start striking deals. It is at the end of March.

As far as end users or consumers I really wouldn't want to get involved in selling them raw boards since the customer support would be prohibitive since you would be dealing with all the problems inherent of someone trying to build their own computer and integrating it with the board. Best to stick with wholesale on the boards. Probably have a separate wholesale area that is password protected for cards only. I know there are card guys selling to end users but I think your margins would be low and the maintainence high. Selling complete DVRs and embedded DVRs would be best for end users. I think your idea of becoming a DVR specialist is great since too many sites are camera oriented with DVRs as a sideline. I had toyed with the idea after I sold my distributing company but dropped it mainly out of my selfish desire to lead a lazy life and not wanting to start a new company again. I wish you great success with your new endeavour and will follow it with interest.

[qman 0]

Well, I was thinking about heading over there, are you going?

 

Maybe we can hook up, since you know a lot of people already, you can maybe introduce me to certain manufacturers.

 

guys, I'll need everyone's e-mail address so that I can send you something.

 

PM them to me

 

Thanks!

[cctv_down_under 0]

In regards to choosing between retail and Wholesale here are some tips.

 

I started doing reatail (while the margin was good) and it was great, until the market became competitive and I had done so many reatail jobs that due to sheer numbers of cameras out there, I was spending 4 out of 5 days doing incidentals, like, moving cameras, replacing items, trianing new staff.

 

It got to a point where I had no time to sell, therefore I switched to wholesale, which again was great and the support was limited, however I started with cheaper products to make a name for myself and get under the other guys prices, this bit me badly, because then I had a whole lot of faulty cameras and support and RA became an issue again, then I switched to only good gear and this made sales harder as it is hard to educate the end user the difference between say, two 480 TV Line cameras.

 

The market also got very competitive and prices dropped, we had some issues with faults on the DVR boards too that cost us an arm and a leg with advanced replacements.

 

Now I have another problem, my manufactorers have very stiff competition now that they did not have before, so now they feel that they need to to sell to anyone they can, for example, Geo whiped all of its exclusive distributors deliberatly, so they could sell direct and they also want as many people to see the product because they intend on listing their company on the stock exchange.

 

We have only one trade event here in Australia and now they will be having a stand there of their own, right next to us, needless to say we are not impressed and this is why I will shift to Standalones. Like I said there are pot holes for Retail and for Distribution, however I truley think there will be very few PCI cards in the next 6 months and many more standalones and because these are fairly maintenance free, wholsale should require less support and therefore more people will do it.

 

I think Retail has a longer life span than Wholesale but I am not going to switch just yet.

[qman 0]

OK, thanks for the advices

 

what about manufacturers that I should contact right now?

 

 

DO you know of any who sends samples with a bill, so that I don't have to pay for something I'm not going to keep if I don' t like it?

 

I got a couple, but need more

 

Thanks!

[cctv_down_under 0]

Not many manufactorers will do that, there are two options, you can usualy ask them to refund a payment made for a sample and send it back, however it usually costs too much in freight, which is why i have so many other brands of cards in my wharehouse.

 

The second option is to cheat, this only works if someone else is already distributing in your country and they would probably offer the same thing, this way you get to test it locally before paying too much to freight it, this will also work with surrounding countries.

 

I hope this helps