The 2021 Thermal and Night Vision Thread

[Anon]

Is it priced in euros? A google calculator says 800 euros is 939 US dollars, 800 pound is 1100 bucks...like someone else was saying earlier about pulsar, so much of the thermal manufacturers seems a little shady..

[imyomama]

Is it priced in euros? A google calculator says 800 euros is 939 US dollars, 800 pound is 1100 bucks...like someone else was saying earlier about pulsar, so much of the thermal manufacturers seems a little shady..

i guess that's what was bothering me .. it was $800 for the tm25-384 .. so even if in euros ...$939 us dollars is still way cheaper than $1795 ... for the same thing! so while it seems they are providing us affordable technology, we could actually acquire the same technology outside the US for 45% less..

[bowaddict40]

i guess that's what was bothering me .. it was $800 for the tm25-384 .. so even if in euros ...$939 us dollars is still way cheaper than $1795 ... for the same thing! so while it seems they are providing us affordable technology, we could actually acquire the same technology outside the US for 45% less..

I am on a facebook group for thermal and some of the guys in Europe are having trouble with customer service. Like CS is nonexistent. So even if you could order it from them Im not sure you would want to.

[Anon]

i guess that's what was bothering me .. it was $800 for the tm25-384 .. so even if in euros ...$939 us dollars is still way cheaper than $1795 ... for the same thing! so while it seems they are providing us affordable technology, we could actually acquire the same technology outside the US for 45% less..

Yep, and the guys selling it for 800/939 probably have a good profit margin!

[Sleepy]

Super Hogster let’s you stack them tight! I’m exceptionally pleased with this scope! I wasn’t expecting this kind of a group out of a thermal.






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[imyomama]

I am on a facebook group for thermal and some of the guys in Europe are having trouble with customer service. Like CS is nonexistent. So even if you could order it from them Im not sure you would want to.

I must say AGM did go above and beyond , they overnighted me the replacement as i had some friends over for the weekend and they had dropped the ball for 2 weeks ...that was nice of them. i think this is just like sightmark though.. made in china , rebranded and marked up, and pretty much disposable if it breaks ... i really hope this one lasts , but like everything chinese it seems it will last about a week longer than the warranty which is 3 years ... we'll see if they last this long, or if the company even exists by then...

[gingib]

They are wisely offering no ETA on the Alpha. They already expected it to be ready so no need to keep coming up with dates, only to have to push it back if it's delayed.

The current plan is for the Rico MK1 and Alpha to both be compatible with the LRF if and when the FDA approves it.




The Alpha is currently expected to be $6,999 and be the exact same internals as the Rico MK1. The ONLY differences will be that the Alpha has custom US manufactured exterior housing, painted coyote tan, with a different magnetic USB battery connector and different focus knob. The Alpha will come with a spare battery and the American Defense mount, which would normally cost $370.

So take a Rico MK1 and remove the housing/body and put a new one on it. That's the Alpha. No changes to the image quality, magnification, features etc. Now to be clear, anything is subject to change but that is the current plan from iRay.

Jason

What is their other scope coming out?

You would know as its a simple text or phone call away to Tyler. So figured if anyone knew, you did

[Outdoor Legacy]

What is their other scope coming out?

You would know as its a simple text or phone call away to Tyler. So figured if anyone knew, you did

Sorry, I might be confused, which isn't unusual.lol I saw that you mentioned the Alpha and I thought you were speculating that it was going to be a Halo competitor and I was explaining that the the Alpha is the Rico MK1 with a new body style.

There are some other scopes in the works that will be coming soon and I've seen them and been field testing one of them but they are all 384 resolution optics, not 640's, so no N-Vision competitors there.

Again, sorry if I'm confused, let me know what you're asking and I'll do my best to answer.

Jason

[Outdoor Legacy]

i guess that's what was bothering me .. it was $800 for the tm25-384 .. so even if in euros ...$939 us dollars is still way cheaper than $1795 ... for the same thing! so while it seems they are providing us affordable technology, we could actually acquire the same technology outside the US for 45% less..

A few things come to mind...first off, there is a 25-30% Trump tariff on these imports. AGM air freights all these optics to get them here and that is VERY expensive. It costs a lot of money to run a business in the United States and it also costs a whole lot to provide a 3 year warranty and customer service.

I'd welcome anyone who'd like to import and sell thermal optics for $800-$900/each to hire employees, buy/rent a warehouse and offices, build a dealer network, provide customer service and offer a 3 year warranty. I know a businessman in our industry who looked into bringing in thermals and starting a company like this and it was going to cost him over $1.5 million cash up front to even get the ball rolling before they sold the first optic. This sort of thing isn't for the feint of heart. Several years ago I toyed with the idea of bringing in some smaller accessories and having them customized etc. I realized that if I wasn't doubling my money (gross) there was no way to make a real (net) profit.

Trust me, if someone could bring in the same product of the same quality, offer the same service and same warranty, still make a good profit and sell it for 50% of the current price, they'd do it and corner the market.

Just my 2 cents!

[imyomama]

A few things come to mind...first off, there is a 25-30% Trump tariff on these imports. AGM air freights all these optics to get them here and that is VERY expensive. It costs a lot of money to run a business in the United States and it also costs a whole lot to provide a 3 year warranty and customer service.

I'd welcome anyone who'd like to import and sell thermal optics for $800-$900/each to hire employees, buy/rent a warehouse and offices, build a dealer network, provide customer service and offer a 3 year warranty. I know a businessman in our industry who looked into bringing in thermals and starting a company like this and it was going to cost him over $1.5 million cash up front to even get the ball rolling before they sold the first optic. This sort of thing isn't for the feint of heart. Several years ago I toyed with the idea of bringing in some smaller accessories and having them customized etc. I realized that if I wasn't doubling my money (gross) there was no way to make a real (net) profit.

Trust me, if someone could bring in the same product of the same quality, offer the same service and same warranty, still make a good profit and sell it for 50% of the current price, they'd do it and corner the market.

Just my 2 cents!

oh boy! the tax rate in Europe and other places is higher than the US. so even at the lower price , they have profit margin in europe and stay in business retail is retail... how do you know that what you make in profit now selling a product for double in the US makes more profit than if you made it up by volume at the same price as in Europe.. + your Trump tax (i'll even give you that) ... how many more people would pull the trigger at $900 than $1800 ?? point is you'd rather make more money selling less product for more because at $2k to $3k it's considered high tech ...the very same item at $800 just becomes another gadget ... that's why my one week old $1300 thermal was replaced and the one i sent back was immediately thrown in the trash...
doubling the retail price didn't make it twice as good ... it's the same device!

i now know i bought a cheap chinese hik-vision, rebranded AGM... i also know i paid roughly double what it sells everywhere else under the original name, which is what it is really worth. and i'm totally ok with you making $ and staying in business , but it doesn't change the fact that they are just marked up cheap chinese hik-vision gadgets.

i guess the only way to really tell what you got is if it looks serviceable... maybe their higher end products are ...

but now i also know that when the battery dies in this hand held, i'll be out of luck ... and i expect the battery will probably last 3 years and one month!

at that point i will probably wish i had paid half as much for it so i'd still have half the money to just buy another one ..

[duckmanep]

oh boy! the tax rate in Europe and other places is higher than the US. so even at the lower price , they have profit margin in europe and stay in business retail is retail... how do you know that what you make in profit now selling a product for double in the US makes more profit than if you made it up by volume at the same price as in Europe.. + your Trump tax (i'll even give you that) ... how many more people would pull the trigger at $900 than $1800 ?? point is you'd rather make more money selling less product for more because at $2k to $3k it's considered high tech ...the very same item at $800 just becomes another gadget ... that's why my one week old $1300 thermal was replaced and the one i sent back was immediately thrown in the trash...
doubling the retail price didn't make it twice as good ... it's the same device!

i now know i bought a cheap chinese hik-vision, rebranded AGM... i also know i paid roughly double what it sells everywhere else under the original name, which is what it is really worth. and i'm totally ok with you making $ and staying in business , but it doesn't change the fact that they are just marked up cheap chinese hik-vision gadgets.

i guess the only way to really tell what you got is if it looks serviceable... maybe their higher end products are ...

but now i also know that when the battery dies in this hand held, i'll be out of luck ... and i expect the battery will probably last 3 years and one month!

at that point i will probably wish i had paid half as much for it so i'd still have half the money to just buy another one ..

curious to see your math. that $900 device in Europe selling for $1800 in the US.... after shipping, tariffs, overhead, corp taxes, etc.. who is making the money? what profit margin do you think dealers are making on them?

[imyomama]

curious to see your math. that $900 device in Europe selling for $1800 in the US.... after shipping, tariffs, overhead, corp taxes, etc.. who is making the money? what profit margin do you think dealers are making on them?

i don't see your point.. it's shipped to europe too, it's taxed in europe too...

I don't really care who makes the profit...

only point i'm trying to make is you can't say hik-vision is cheap chinese crap, but AGM is a great product when in reality it's the exact same device rebranded and double the price.

I found out the product i purchased sells elsewhere under a different name for half the price and has a bad reputation there... i still like it.. and i hope it lasts ..
but if it doesn't , it has a 3 year warranty and i hope the "importer"is still in business when and if it craps out ...

and now I also know it's just a throw away item, when the internal battery craps out , it will be a paper weight as i know they won't / can't fix it!

that's all ..

[imyomama]

and just to be clear, i'm ok with that, and i do like my Taipan, and the service I received from them ...just keeping it real ... but doing a little research, this is AGM Global Vision headquarters ! let that sync in for a moment!

173 West Main Street, #962
Springerville, AZ 85938, USA

[Anon]

and just to be clear, i'm ok with that, and i do like my Taipan, and the service I received from them ...just keeping it real ... but doing a little research, this is AGM Global Vision headquarters ! let that sync in for a moment!

173 West Main Street, #962
Springerville, AZ 85938, USA

Ho-ly crap...wow, ya, looks like “warranty work” is definitely just charging the customer for 2 or 3 devices and just sending them replacements...mind blown

[imyomama]

Ho-ly crap...wow, ya, looks like “warranty work” is definitely just charging the customer for 2 or 3 devices and just sending them replacements...mind blown

yeah , hey look , like I said i'm ok with that. ... but imagine spending 4 grands on a scope and finding this out ... thinking this is a large company with R&D , manufacturing , and full blown channels of support network... only to find out it's a suite in the middle of nowhere with one car in the parking lot... maybe they will make it , i hope they do ! i hope my second one lasts more than a week.. just letting people know what they are getting themselves into... don't shoot the messenger ... this is just an observation, and i do like my taipan .. i'll be using the crap out of it this year ... we'll see how it holds up!