Risks Associated with Buying a Chinese Version Hikvision Camera

[mooney]

Hi There,
I am new to the forum. I am looking to buy a whole bunch of the DS-2CD2532F-IWS 2.8mm camera, however I am unsure where to buy it because of the huge price disparity between vendors. Anixter and Tri-Ed are both authorized Hikvision distributors and they can sell this camera to me for $240/ea. A reputable US-based vendor has offered to sell it to me at $240/ea but Hikvision NA has told me they won't support cameras purchased from unauthorized distributors, including this one. I found the same camera on ebay for $140/ea from a seller with a great reputation for selling Chinese versions of Hikvision cameras. Again Hikvision NA won't support them because they are from the Chinese market. However this vendor has told me they have stockpiles of the equipment in the US and can have it to me in 2 days. They said any support issues I have with the camera and I will deal with them directly and if they can't fix the issue they'll replace the camera with a new one for up to 3 years after the time of sale. They did say I shouldn't upgrade the firmware because if I do it will revert back to Chinese firmware which is a concern. However at the quantity I am looking to buy, buying from the gray market will save me thousands of dollars, however I am unsure if it's worth the savings given the risks.

Would appreciate your comments, opinions, advice, and whatever else you'd like to offer.

 

[Del Boy]

Have you read any of the threads on this forum? Not only has this been gone over thousands of times but you have clearly summed up things from your point-of-view perfectly and the answer from everyone should be... it's up to you. You know the risks and the reward.

Personally would buy from @milkisbad and get local support. Hikvision support for most of us isn't worth anything, whereas a local seller (whether chinese cam, international or oem) is worth their guarantee and support.

PM milkisbad or check out Nelly's and check out a few more threads.

 

[gpower07]

or buy from hunt electronic for 130$ wih 3 year warranty. OEM Hik cam.

Have you read any of the threads on this forum? Not only has this been gone over thousands of times but you have clearly summed up things from your point-of-view perfectly and the answer from everyone should be... it's up to you. You know the risks and the reward.

Personally would buy from @milkisbad and get local support. Hikvision support for most of us isn't worth anything, whereas a local seller (whether chinese cam, international or oem) is worth their guarantee and support.

PM milkisbad or check out Nelly's and check out a few more threads.

 

[zero-degrees]

Hi There,
I am new to the forum. I am looking to buy a whole bunch of the DS-2CD2532F-IWS 2.8mm camera, however I am unsure where to buy it because of the huge price disparity between vendors. Anixter and Tri-Ed are both authorized Hikvision distributors and they can sell this camera to me for $240/ea. A reputable US-based vendor has offered to sell it to me at $240/ea but Hikvision NA has told me they won't support cameras purchased from unauthorized distributors, including this one. I found the same camera on ebay for $140/ea from a seller with a great reputation for selling Chinese versions of Hikvision cameras. Again Hikvision NA won't support them because they are from the Chinese market. However this vendor has told me they have stockpiles of the equipment in the US and can have it to me in 2 days. They said any support issues I have with the camera and I will deal with them directly and if they can't fix the issue they'll replace the camera with a new one for up to 3 years after the time of sale. They did say I shouldn't upgrade the firmware because if I do it will revert back to Chinese firmware which is a concern. However at the quantity I am looking to buy, buying from the gray market will save me thousands of dollars, however I am unsure if it's worth the savings given the risks.

Would appreciate your comments, opinions, advice, and whatever else you'd like to offer.

1. Are you comfortable with IP cameras?
A. If "Yes" goto Line 2.
B. If "No" goto Line 5
2. Are you comfortable with basic networking? IP addresses, Subnets, routers/switches, port forwarding?
A. If "Yes" goto Line 3.
B. If "No" goto Line 5
3. You appear to intend to buy 20+ cameras based on your "Thousands" savings comment.
A. If "True" then spend 5 minutes combing though this forum and find a US supplier that will save you thousands anyways.
B. If "False" and inflating your numbers then goto Line 5.
4. If you think I'm being an ass.
A. Don't ask questions that show you've spent zero time looking around the forum.
B. Don't ask questions that you spell out your own answers to.
C. Don't ask questions that expect someone else to do all the work for you.
D. Goto Line 5

5. Buy from a US vendor with in house tech support that you can call 100 times to ask redundant questions to - see the site Sponsor Nelly's Security - they will be perfect for your project and there tech support is amazing!


*Disclaimer: A lot of helpful people are here in the forum to help - however lately there have been a handful of new members asking very open ended questions. Many of these questions are pointless, factless, or filled with false information. The main boiling point though is exactly what Del Boy said - this has been covered 100's of times and did not warrant another OP post. I'm sorry, I'm being a dick, but damn there have been a ton of these posts lately, so my apologies. We're all here to help, but you have to be responsible and do some research on your own first. Welcome

 

[mooney]

DelBoy & Zero Degrees, After registering I parsed the Hikvision camera forum in search of this camera model number and also parsed the sticky posts (where most forum boards posts such frequent and repetitive Q&A) looking for previous threads on similar topic. I found none using this search so I posted. Thanks for your responses.

 

[Del Boy]

You must have missed them, so I've copied some links for you.

Sticky: https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/4036-Custom-Firmware-Downgrader-5-3-0-Chinese-to-5-2-5-English

Sticky: https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/3474-Hikvision-5-2-5-amp-5-2-8-Full-English-(INC-DAYS-OF-WEEK)-mtd-Hack

Sticky: https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/3408-HIKVISION-mtd-Brick-Recovery-Guide

https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/8326-DS-2CD2032-I-Bricked

https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/7720-Aliexpress-cameras

https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/8315-New-member-longtime-reader

https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/3257-Discontinuing-language-solutions

I blame @Mike for not keeping an up-to-date FAQ for those trying to avoid import duty/taxes and want free help from the members here if it goes wrong. It's almost like he does this for free too.

Btw, I'm not n00b bashing, just that you haven't read the posts and you are asking whether we should approve your purchases from China to avoid tax etc and if sending them back to China is feasible for you. That is your choice to make, no one else can make it for you.

If you have some specific questions to ask them we are all happy to help.