Building and selling custom PCs

[ron963]

I am looking into building and selling custom computers on eBay. I was thinking of keeping the cost below $400 especially in this economy. Any thoughts and ideas of getting parts at low cost?

[srbeen]

buy a lot of them.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

A lot of places will let you buy in bulk, therefore keeps the prices down. But you will have to pay $1,000 for it, but once you sell them off, you could easily get $2,500.

[ron963]

that's a lot of money :woot: . hmm do you think bulk buy parts or entire PC is better?

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

Bulk buying anything, you will get little out of it unless you buy big. Premade or not.

[remixedcat]

here's a site that sells wholesale parts:

http://www.evertek.com/

but you gotta be a legit company tho....

[ron963]

here's a site that sells wholesale parts:

http://www.evertek.com/

but you gotta be a legit company tho....

Thanks very much! I do have a business license so this my help me out.

[HawkMan]

of course you have to actually be able to sell them and at a decent price to make any money. So make sure to do your research and that there is a demand, especially since desktops are quickly going out of fashion with home users and those who still use them are generally gamers and either buy better high end gaming rigs or build them themselves or with help.

you don't want to buy 1000$ worth of components and not be able to sell. after all, you don't have an established name and reputation either so you can only sell at a limited premium until you do. if it's a choice between an unknown person, and a big company like HP with 2 year warranty, they're going to go with HP. which is another thing you need to consider, you have to provide warranty for them as well.

[remixedcat]

Thanks very much! I do have a business license so this my help me out.

No problem-o ;)

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

since desktops are quickly going out of fashion with home users and those who still use them are generally gamers and either buy better high end gaming rigs or build them themselves or with help.

That is not true. I can name a whole bunch of people that prefer desktops over laptops.

[sc302 Veteran]

if you are a member of any one of the big distribution centers you can buy pcs prebuilt fairly inexpensive and resell them at a decent price (under 400). Depending on how much you buy will depend on the discount, not talking thousands though...10 or 100s of thousands a year. HP gets the biggest discounts though, if you wanted a brand to check into.

techdata and ingram micro are among the largest and what many small computer shops use....even your online sources deal with these distribution companies and stick their business label on them so you would never know unless you knew the warehouse address. I believe cdw uses one of these two, for example.

[ron963]

I don't plan to brand and compete with HP. I was thinking doing some small sales which doesn't take too much time and effort. Prebuilt referb i think might be okay.

[-T- Member]

I used to do this from a PC store we ran, back in about 2001-2005. I do not recommend it. There is very little profit to be made and the hassle of providing support for the customers is mind numbing if you don't have a team capable of assisting. It's a nice idea and one I'm sure we've all thought of, it's just not practical

[remixedcat]

I don't plan to brand and compete with HP. I was thinking doing some small sales which doesn't take too much time and effort. Prebuilt referb i think might be okay.

find a niche.... evaluate your area's demographics..... if there are too many poor people in the area you wish to service then high end might not be a good idea.... etc...

[HawkMan]

That is not true. I can name a whole bunch of people that prefer desktops over laptops.

So could I. That whole bunch however already have their desktops, and they are a VERY small minority in the larger picture. when you start a new business and invest lots of money you want your target group to be as large as possible, and it would be best if it provided a product that's otherwise hard to get.

unfortunately, it's a small target group of potential customers, the product is easy to get from large well known makers who provide excellent warranty service and have known reputations.

I used to do this from a PC store we ran, back in about 2001-2005. I do not recommend it. There is very little profit to be made and the hassle of providing support for the customers is mind numbing if you don't have a team capable of assisting. It's a nice idea and one I'm sure we've all thought of, it's just not practical

and this, the profit margins for computers today is ridiculously low, on bad days as low as 3% and sometimes on campaigns, negative. this is something a small one man company can't compete with, since you will also be buying the parts at a higher premium, and unlike the people who put these computers together, you can't survive at 5 cents an hour.

And as was pointed out, support and warranty will probably break you down the line. consumer laws protect the consumer, but there's no laws to protect the maker/shop, then you need to be able to afford a lawyer...

[sc302 Veteran]

I don't plan to brand and compete with HP. I was thinking doing some small sales which doesn't take too much time and effort. Prebuilt referb i think might be okay.

I will put it like this then..... You can't build a computer cheaper than you can buy one. There is little to no mark up on low end to mid range computer. And you get with one of these warehousing companies you will find that very quickly that you can buy whole systems for 200 to 250 and resell for under 400, and they cover the warranty you aren't worring about stupid users who use their cd rom drives as cup holders. You can mark it 10% less than Cdw and still make 30% profit.