Buy locally vs "over seas"

[REyewitness]

Just a simple poll to see why and how people decide where to make dash cam purchases.. Let's get the poll going

 

[jokiin]

Chinese domestic market versions are not always the same so sometimes comparisons are not equal

 

[BobDiaz]

I chose to go through a local (as in the USA) dealer. Saving a few dollars wasn't worth the pain of trying to get things fixed overseas. I consider the extra cost an "insurance" payment.

 

[GJHS]

I am buying local as well. The Mobius is made in China, that I can not choose. I can choose to support local shops that stand behind the products and keep local jobs.

 

[niko]

If local seller has good reputation, then I don't mind buying locally if price difference vs buy directly is not big, I consider paying extra as @BobDiaz said "insurance payment", but very important thing is to make feedback research about this local re-seller, to read his warranty / after-sales policy etc. There has been few cases where buying locally does not give much peace of mind if help needed because of re-seller "cheeky-policy".

 

[jokiin]

If local seller has good reputation, then I don't mind buying locally if price difference vs buy directly is not big, I consider paying extra as @BobDiaz said "insurance payment", but very important thing is to make feedback research about this local re-seller, to read his warranty / after-sales policy etc. There has been few cases where buying locally does not give much peace of mind if help needed because of re-seller "cheeky-policy".

equally important is to make sure you give feedback, good, bad or otherwise

 

[Sabe]

I would buy locally, but at the moment we don't have any serious seller of dash cams. Some do sell but they don't have any idea what they are selling, in another words, they sell crap at high price.

 

[jokiin]

I would buy locally, but at the moment we don't have any serious seller of dash cams. Some do sell but they don't have any idea what they are selling, in another words, they sell crap at high price.

That's certainly a valid point, many don't even have local sellers and often ones that do offer nothing to make you want to shop with them anyway, every new product category has those that come along just hoping to make a quick buck

 

[bn880]

Nice poll.

I would buy locally if the prices were reasonable and if I wasn't able to fix many (not all) issues myself.

The exact comparison right now between the official DoD Canada outlet LS430W and the Chinese supplier is: DoD $339CDN (shipped+taxes) - China $190CDN (shipped and no taxes) = $149CDN. So this example is actually a no brainer; do you want to buy a camera that's worth $190 with barely any warranty and add $149 for insurance/warranty? If you do... my honest advice to you is to start taking some risks to save some money. (if you are buying more than one camera, you have more incentive to not get insurance, as eventually you can just buy another camera if one breaks horribly)

Some other local retailers started carrying the cam since at better prices, so then it becomes more of a question to consider at $80 difference on $190 camera.

Edit: Also with local retailer you receive the camera much faster, that's another possible incentive.

 

[grholme]

Hi Gang.
Because my second Dashcam died on me, the incentive for me to buy locally has increased substantially. The variety of choice may not be as vast as buying internationally but at least I'll have recourse. For example, if I purchase from BestBuy and also get the Replacement Insurance policy then if the unit dies it will cost me nothing to replace it. Because Dashcams are relatively new to the general market, the manufacturing behind them is still mostly embryonic and experimental. They will only know how good the units truly are when exposed to real world (ab)use, not lab test conditions.
So far I had the ill luck to have had 2 misfire on me .. A Blackvue which I really liked a lot( it lasted 7 months), the other was a DOD LS400W which barely lasted 4. As someone mentioned above , I feel it is not worth my time and effort to play email tag with suppliers and pay for shipping back and forth.. That will make it as expensive as if i bought locally and the level of frustration is quite high.
I am going to purchase one locally where I will have some sort of a guarantee and I will not be stuck with no Dashcam, limited or no support, and out of pocket.

However!

I know Jokiin has a unit coming out which I will certainly take a chance on because I consider the risk will be minimal,, he enjoys a good reputation here, participates in the forum and knows what we're looking for. Even if there are birth issues, I'm sure he'll stand by his product. That I don't mind taking a chance on even if I can't get locally. Its a matter of confidence..
So there you go. I just refuted the argument I presented in my first paragraph.. heh heh heh . I'd make a lousy lawyer.

 

[grholme]

@bn880.
The price is actually $269.00CDN not $339. 00 CDN Refer BestBuy, Staples,
Other than that, the rest of your presentation is good
Glenn

 

[jokiin]

Because Dashcams are relatively new to the general market, the manufacturing behind them is still mostly embryonic and experimental.

a lot of manufacturers do what fits the price target unfortunately and that takes its toll

They will only know how good the units truly are when exposed to real world (ab)use, not lab test conditions.

absolutely true, best test you can have is to have it in the hands of end users, all the lab tests in the world could never cover the variety of scenarios like real word usage

I know Jokiin has a unit coming out which I will certainly take a chance on because I consider the risk will be minimal,, he enjoys a good reputation here, participates in the forum and knows what we're looking for. Even if there are birth issues, I'm sure he'll stand by his product. That I don't mind taking a chance on even if I can't get locally. Its a matter of confidence..
.

appreciate the vote of confidence, I don't have a local distributor for Canada just yet, I do have one for the USA though, once we release we'll be doing some promotion for a short period (you could even win one) and will be doing a rebated deal for a short period through this site (subject to DashCamMan approval) at a heavily discounted price

 

[bn880]

@bn880.
The price is actually $269.00CDN not $339. 00 CDN Refer BestBuy, Staples,
Other than that, the rest of your presentation is good
Glenn

I was talking of DoD Canada outlet. That's the price 339 shipped with taxes. (Bestbuy Staples etc have only had them more recently.)

Even if you consider staples for example, the price is $305. You have to add taxes.

That's 305-190 = $115CDN difference on a $190 camera.

Canada Computers has a better price but often their warranty support is bad (they won't exchange etc. I've had some very bad experiences with them)

 

[REyewitness]

I was talking of DoD Canada outlet. That's the price 339 shipped with taxes. (Bestbuy Staples etc have only had them more recently.)

Even if you consider staples for example, the price is $305. You have to add taxes.

That's 305-190 = $115CDN difference on a $190 camera.

Canada Computers has a better price but often their warranty support is bad (they won't exchange etc. I've had some very bad experiences with them)

OK for example we sell DOD LS430w at $236CAD tax included, we charge shipping at around $20 (that's 3 day service tracked and insured) we can also do regular mail at cheaper shipping.
Sell locally and support the 1 yr warranty, plus field questions and do a function test prior to shipping.

 

[REyewitness]

equally important is to make sure you give feedback, good, bad or otherwise

This is always a issue! Negative feedback will always be found, however when people are happy they tend not to say anything.

 

[bn880]

OK for example we sell DOD LS430w at $236CAD tax included, we charge shipping at around $20 (that's 3 day service tracked and insured) we can also do regular mail at cheaper shipping.
Sell locally and support the 1 yr warranty, plus field questions and do a function test prior to shipping.

Yeah this is quite good, only 68.5 dollar difference for the warranty and faster delivery etc. between you and the Chinese market version. (I actually wasn't aware of your prices and store when I purchased mine)

However of course warranty shipping would take a little from ON to BC, but for people in BC/Alberta this is quite good turn around time wise.

 

[REyewitness]

Ontario is 4 business days. We rarely have returns for warrany as we do a quality check before shipping, most questions we find are user error.

 

[jokiin]

This is always a issue! Negative feedback will always be found, however when people are happy they tend not to say anything.

human nature unfortunately, the happy customer tells nobody, the unhappy customer tells everybody

 

[GJHS]

This is always a issue! Negative feedback will always be found, however when people are happy they tend not to say anything.

Funny enough, I learned that years ago working for a bank. If they don't like it they are bound to tell 100 people. If they love it, 5 people.

 

[REyewitness]

Maybe having a reduced cost with pay per use warranty? Or a cheap price with limited warranty with option to purchase full no hassle type warranty at sale might work better???
Opinions welcome!