Uplink Robotics offers InteNACHI discount on inspection crawlers

another robot with a grappling hook?

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$100 discount is a joke on $3000.

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We decided on this discount by looking at what others are doing but we are open to feedback. What do you think would be a fair discount for interNACHI members?

Feedback regarding this from everyone would be appreciated!

I just paid $3600 for a Superdroid which included a $50 interNACHI discount. I would think $100 off $3000 is fair given the lower than typical price overall. Maybe raise your price to $3600 and offer a $700 discount? :thinking: I find it funny that most inspectors refuse to discount their services, but expect others to discount to them.

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This one? :rofl:

I’ll discount my inspection fees for certain groups and individuals, between 10 to 25%. If the vendor of this product gave members a 10% discount, that would be roughly $300.00. More appealing than $100.00, but still making a profit… :thinking:

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I got the 4wd wheeled version.

Oh, man! The one I posted one can ride on. LOL!

I guess I wouldn’t know what their margins are to know if they are still making a profit or worthwhile profit…

:rofl: I just watched that video. I could find a few uses for that!

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Looked over my past two years of comments over 13 crawler threads. I need help finding the “needle in the haystack” comments you claim I make on every thread about bashing other’s products while praising mine.

Sorry if I offended you Scot. I hope I didn’t cause you to waste too much time looking through the past two years of comments. I’m sure your questions were asked with the best of intentions. When researching, prior to purchasing my first Crawlbot, I went through a lot of Facebook threads and that’s the impression I had each time I saw your posts. I’m sure we all interpret these comments differently. I don’t want to hijack this thread getting off topic with you and I’m not going to spend time going through past threads to make a point that is irrelevant.

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For what it is worth, $3k is nearly impossible for me to justify. I’ll dig pretty deep into a crawl not to spend $3k.

Keep in mind my response is very specific to me. What would catch my eye is something under $900.

But, $900 may only produce a piece of crap. I understand this. Just like an aerial drone, cheap is worthless.

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(Post above was meant to go up yesterday but I got blocked until just now as I’m new)

Hey Brian,
I’m another Co-Founder of UplinkRobotics.

The sub $1000 range would be difficult for us to hit. What would be your thoughts on a version with a simpler feature set that was in the $1200 to $1800 range?

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Welcome Brady.

I see toy products like this with 4WD and four-wheel steering being sold for $120.00 on Amazon. Yes, it is intended as a toy, but you should see this thing run through and over crawlspace debris (I have one). I know your robots are much more rugged, professional, and have all the features that are truly needed. My toy needs a better RC transmitter/receiver, lower gears, a high-powered light, and remote camera (been trying to make it all work, to no avail - so far). But, geeze guys, $3,000 versus $120.00?

I am thinking one of you robot manufacturers will someday get some investors and take the plunge (risk) to ramp up a long production run to dramatically lower the price point for a quality crawler and make a killing someday selling them to just about every home inspector in the U.S. and the rest of the world. I know there are few die-hards out there that will say they love going into crawlspaces (lol). But, for the vast majority of us, it is the worst part of the job.

Someday…

https://www.amazon.com/DANCHEE-RidgeRock-Electric-Crawler-scale/dp/B07JXVFBQF/ref=asc_df_B07JXVFBQF?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80676783691818&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584276309028071&psc=1

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Hello other Brian,

Our long term goals are to be able to provide the best crawlers at the best price and we think we can get there someday. Unfortunately, right now we are hand assembling these crawlers, fighting with suppliers, and trying to grow a brand new company in a real swell economy. With that we are only three engineers and business people fresh out of college living on ramen.

We have tossed around some ideas for making an open source platform for converting RC cars such as that one, or running a large production run like you said, but we aren’t quite there yet. If you want to be our first investor maybe we can do it :joy:.

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Once again, I am just one guy but even $1200 does not get my attention.

For me, a crawler would only be used in a space I cannot access. It would likely never replace me entering the crawl. In fact, if I became physically incapable of entering crawlspaces, I would just decline the job.

I use an aerial drone similarly. I get on as many roofs as possible. Aerial drone is often just filling in gaps for areas I cannot see (top of chimney caps etc.).

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I figured you were a small start-up company with skeleton crew building robots one at a time, gulping down Red Bulls and eating ramen, but did not want to make that assumption (lol). Been there, done that, actually. There are about another half a dozen or so of your competitors that seem to be at about the same stage. One or two of you are going to break through to the promised land and the rest are going get left in the dust.

What you guys need to do (in your spare time, lol) is think real seriously about how you could dramatically lower the price point and develop a solid elevator pitch. Seeking a joint venture with an RC toy company would make a ton of sense IMO. I do not have the funds to be your second-round angel investor, but some readers on this forum might actually fit that description. Crowdsourcing the funds might be possible as well.

Using the RC vehicle at $120.00 as a price point base of reference. My thought is somebody should be able to come up with a somewhat more-rugged, yet fully-capable-of-the-mission version in the $300 to $500 range. I would order one right now with glee. Most of my cohorts on here might order two. Perhaps it would not be designed to last a decade and might crap out in a year or two. Don’t forget to sell spare part kits. And, if I lost one in a crawlspace, I would cry for a few minutes and then probably have you ship me a new one by Fed-Ex the next day.

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Brian agrees with Brian. My sentiments exactly.

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So…Brian agrees with Brian, who also agrees with Brian? Who’s on first? :thinking: :thinking:

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