HVAC Quotes - Inflated or Expected?

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Good morning friends!

I have a home where I am replacing the HVAC system and quotes are all over the place! I've received quotes as high as $26k and as low as $12k and it's really hard to gauge which is most accurate. In reading J Scott's Book on Estimating Rehab Costs, even the upper end of a new system is listed around $8k. Between that and the fact that the house is only 1,200 sqft, I'm skeptical of even the $12k bid. Greensboro isn't even an expensive market either! 

Is there a different approach I should be taking for gathering bids for HVAC? Are these inflated prices the new norm after this extreme inflationary period? Curious to see if I am doing something wrong or if I should rearrange expectations for HVAC.