Protect Your Inventory! How to Set Up a Fake Camera System THAT ACTUALLY LOOKS REAL

Posted by Big Brand Wholesale.com on 24th Apr 2020

Real cameras that are active or real cameras that are not actually hooked up are a great way to help prevent theft but there's a lot of things people do wrong when using fake cameras, so today I am going to tell you how to make fake cameras ACTUALLY look real! Let's begin!

For starters, I would strongly suggest, DO NOT BUY “Dummy Cams”. Here's an example of a $6.99 "dummy cam" off Amazon.com:

or this one for $10:

For comparison, here's the real (actually working) cameras we bought off Amazon for $17.99 (they are AWESOME, BTW!):

Can you see how different they look? Look at the lens. An educated criminal can easily spot the difference.

Why Dummy Cams Suck:

Real cameras usually do not have a little red light on them. (We have owned real cameras since 2007 and not a single one has ever had a red light)
Real cameras usually do not have a light around the inside lens
None of our real camera systems have ever had any kind of light, for that matter. Not even a blinking light.
Real cameras do not look like fake cameras. A thief is well aware of what a real camera looks like and what a fake camera looks like.
Almost all fake cams look identical. Once you know how 1 or 2 look its easy to spot all of them.
People do not understand how to use fake cameras, so they set them up wrong. This is a red flag to a thief or anyone who has ever owned a real camera system.
Real cameras are sold in quantities of 4 and 8. Nobody believes that you have 1 camera.

INSTEAD, Buy real camera that are cheap, like the Zosi I showed you above that we own and love.

Or, just buy a complete real camera system and actually use it. This system is $139 with Free Shipping:

Yeah, the complete system isn’t dirt cheap but it will pay for its self. How much inventory do you need to sell to make $139? How much inventory will walk out your door before you make that amount? Let's say $25 worth of inventory walks out the door every time you sell $200 worth of stuff... in 3 weeks you will have paid off your camera system. I know, you're thinking, "But $25 x 3 weeks is only $75! How does that pay for a $139 system?!" - Simply because you are not factoring in your time spent ordering, your money tied up, your time spent shelving, Cost per Sqft, the time you spend looking for the missing item... sh*t adds up FAST.

But let’s still assume you don’t truly want to use it and you don’t want to actually buy a complete camera system. Here’s what you need:

Purchase some cheap electrical cord because ALL REAL CAMERAS REQUIRE ELECTRICAL WIRE TO OPERATE. If you have a random camera, without a cord, sticking out of a wall, its clearly fake. This is EXACTLY what you need (under $8 for BOTH off Amazon):

The electrical wire runs from the camera to the DVR. So, you will also want to buy something to use as a DVR. All real cameras record onto a DVR, so if you don’t have wire running to the DVR, its painfully obvious that your camera are fake. You could even buy a totally broken DVR or you could rig an old school DVD player to look like a DVR with a little creativity, providing the back side of the VHS player is what is visible to the customer. I would suggest looking for a broken DVR on Craigslist or similar.

Lastly you need a screen. The DVR runs to the screen so without a screen you have no way of seeing theft and again, a criminal knows this. You could use an old laptop as your screen. Just have your wire from the DVR plug into the laptop or you could use an old TV or monitor. Regardless, you want to position your monitor where the customer cannot see it. If there is a place your customer could see it, figure out a way to block their view. Put up a sign of some kind, a price list, hours of operation, etc. Again, Craigslist is a great place to find crap monitors or tv screens.

PUTTING UP FAKE CAMERAS

Put up your camera just like you would if they are real. Remember, real camera are usually sold in groups of 4, so make sure you put 4 up. Each camera should have a wire running to the DVR.

Pay attention to your camera placement. You want to make it look like your entire space is being surveilled. Don’t put all 4 on the same wall, because that is stupid. The camera has a wide enough angle that there would be no point to this. As an example, our back parking lot is wide enough for a full size semi truck to come in and turn around, with space to spare. ONE CAMERA covers this ENTIRE lot. So when you're hanging camera for surveilling, you want to aim for different ANGLES. The 4 corners are a believable place to put cameras. Additionally, the wires either need to run down the wall or into something that makes sense. For example, if you have a wall that you want to make it look like your wires run into / through, DRILL a hole and insert the wire. Then drill a 2nd hole and have your fake wire come out of it and into the DVR. If the wire doesn't have an EXIT POINT, it is clearly fake. We run our real camera through our drop ceilings and out of windows, when needed. Even though we have tried to hide the cords so they aren't an eyesore, you can clearly see them all over the place in our warehouse.

You want the cameras to be noticeable but not painfully obvious. Don’t worry, someone planning to steal WILL LOOK for cameras. It is more believable if you casually “attempt” to “hide” the cameras, like a normal store does. Again, don’t worry, the criminal will scope out your space before they attempt to steal.

In general, I think the “smile, you're on camera!” signs are tacky. It always makes me think the cameras are fake because why do they need to tell me something that should be painfully obvious? I would assume if cameras are anywhere that the cameras are recording. On the other hand, if you put up signs but have no cameras, you’re making a big mistake. INSTEAD, research shows that it is more effective to put up a sign stating that you PROSECUTE SHOPLIFTERS.

OTHER METHOD YOU CAN USE

If you are really broke, just buy a large, obvious, webcam. Have it connected to your laptop and pointing directly outward at customers. This option is cheap and most people should know what it is. This is a pretty obvious looking webcam ($44):

Or, this one is only $5.99 but it's a little harder to tell what it is:

If none of this will work for you, cut back on inventory and restock as soon as something sells. Instead of having 12 wallets of each color out, keep 1 in each color on the sales floor. When the pink variation sells, bring another pink out to the sales floor. Instead of 9 exact duplicates Extra Large graphic tees, keep 1 or 2 XL out. When one sells, at the end of the day bring out a replacement for the following day.

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