[SOLVED] Any tips for reselling pc's???

[Dj0gany]

Hi guys,so im planning on starting like a "job" where i buy like pc components or like lenovo,hp,dell office pcs which have mobo+ram+cpu and buying a gpu,more ram and psu if needed.
I want to do it properly and legit by adding like a some type of warranty (if a costumer has some issues or needs help i will be there for him),i will also add some other pc components of a customer wishes,or just make pc's by costumers wishes.
Any help would be very appreciated.

Edit:I also saw that people in the beggining can make up to 50euros a month,and later on when their bussines evolves they make 300-400euros or even more.
Also is it safe to buy that extra parts (more ram,gpus,psus) on like online sites?

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'm sorry, but we get about two or three of this "idea" every month, and unless you have a very fat bank account to bankroll your efforts, it is simply a bad idea. Just do it on the side for fun and minor profits, and keep it simple. Everybody who gets a little taste of the builder experience or buys and sells a part and makes a little profit off it suddenly thinks this is something they can do for a living. They can't. It's a FAR more complex thing once you start adding warranty into it AND you had better be ready to afford legal support when you do, because you will need it. Somebody will steer that bus into oncoming traffic, I guarantee you.

Plus, once you do that, you will legally have a REQUIREMENT to provide it, by law. Keep it simple. No offense to you, because I build systems as a part time, supplemental part of my income, but I also offer troubleshooting, upgrades, on site service for systems and small network problems, etc., and I don't SAY I offer any warranty other than what is already expressly implied by being in business. Of course, between me and my clients, I make it clear that if they have a problem I will take care of it the minute you try to "go legit" you are opening up a whole world of difficulties you never thought possible.

 

[Dj0gany]

I'm sorry, but we get about two or three of this "idea" every month, and unless you have a very fat bank account to bankroll your efforts, it is simply a bad idea. Just do it on the side for fun and minor profits, and keep it simple. Everybody who gets a little taste of the builder experience or buys and sells a part and makes a little profit off it suddenly thinks this is something they can do for a living. They can't. It's a FAR more complex thing once you start adding warranty into it AND you had better be ready to afford legal support when you do, because you will need it. Somebody will steer that bus into oncoming traffic, I guarantee you.

Plus, once you do that, you will legally have a REQUIREMENT to provide it, by law. Keep it simple. No offense to you, because I build systems as a part time, supplemental part of my income, but I also offer troubleshooting, upgrades, on site service for systems and small network problems, etc., and I don't SAY I offer any warranty other than what is already expressly implied by being in business. Of course, between me and my clients, I make it clear that if they have a problem I will take care of it the minute you try to "go legit" you are opening up a whole world of difficulties you never thought possible.

yeah of course i wouldnt treat it as a full time job,im doing it as a hobby and because i love it.Im also 15 (almost 16) and i just want some extra cash.You explained "warranty" very well,and im just going to do it as you said.I will just keep it between my customers and ill be there if they need help.My uncle used to do "pc fliping" and he inspired me to do it,since the money that can be earned is enough for what i need.I just want some extra cash to upgrade my pc.Im currently in highschool and im planning to be a full time electrician after it,while doing pc flipping as my hobby.As a beggining i plan on selling some speakers that i have laying in my house so i can save up some money for my first pc that i sell.There are a lot of people that do pc fliping and i can see that it is working very well for them,at least as a hobby.Thanks for the help,much appreciated

Edit:Also is it better to buy like a office pc like dell optiplex or lenovo thinkcentre and upgrade them or is it better to just build a pc component by component and then sell it?

 

[USAFRet]

Who is your customer base and pricepoint?
Low end, gamers, business?

Low end, you're competing with the actual big box stores. $400-$500 out the door. Get squeeze a lot of profit in that.
Gemers? Good luck with that. Your LEDs are the wrong shade of blue.
Business? "I need 15 systems in 2 days." Can you do that?

Warranty? Can I call you at 3AM? "I work 3PM to midnight, and this stupid thing crapped out on me in the middle of a very important game!!"
Do you have a stock of replacement parts ready to go in? No you don't. So the customer is out his system for a month, while you troubleshoot the actual problem, and then work through the RMA process.


Build to customers wishes: Who puts up the money upfront? Do I give you $1000 and get the system in 2 weeks?
Or are YOU going to front the money, and get payment on delivery? (Oh sorry...I just lost my job and have to back out of the deal)

OS licensing. This is where you CANNOT compete. It will cost you $100 for each and every valid Windows license. That will need to be passed through to the customer.
Dell/HP/Asus/CyberPower get that license much, much cheaper.


Taking ex-office systems and....doing what with them? GPU/RAM/SSD...and your customer then finds the BIOS is severely lacking, due to it being an old office system.

As said above...we see this idea here ALL the time. Not to rain on your parade, but its is a LOT tougher than it sounds.
You need deep pockets to start.


The way to start here is with service and maybe upgrades, not selling actual systems.

 

[Dj0gany]

Who is your customer base and pricepoint?
Low end, gamers, business?

Low end, you're competing with the actual big box stores. $400-$500 out the door. Get squeeze a lot of profit in that.
Gemers? Good luck with that. Your LEDs are the wrong shade of blue.
Business? "I need 15 systems in 2 days." Can you do that?

Warranty? Can I call you at 3AM? "I work 3PM to midnight, and this stupid thing crapped out on me in the middle of a very important game!!"
Do you have a stock of replacement parts ready to go in? No you don't. So the customer is out his system for a month, while you troubleshoot the actual problem, and then work through the RMA process.


Build to customers wishes: Who puts up the money upfront? Do I give you $1000 and get the system in 2 weeks?
Or are YOU going to front the money, and get payment on delivery? (Oh sorry...I just lost my job and have to back out of the deal)

OS licensing. This is where you CANNOT compete. It will cost you $100 for each and every valid Windows license. That will need to be passed through to the customer.
Dell/HP/Asus/CyberPower get that license much, much cheaper.


Taking ex-office systems and....doing what with them? GPU/RAM/SSD...and your customer then finds the BIOS is severely lacking, due to it being an old office system.

As said above...we see this idea here ALL the time. Not to rain on your parade, but its is a LOT tougher than it sounds.
You need deep pockets to start.


The way to start here is with service and maybe upgrades, not selling actual systems.

Ok,so i originally planned on putting like a system and just waiting for it to sell,because thats what a lot of people do in my country.Before i put that system on sale,i would do as much as i can to be sure that that system i legit.I mean like test in popular games,a lot of benchmarks,etc.When i said i would be pc configurations i would do it this way:
-I would ask what will the pc used for
-Whats his budget
-Does he have any prefered brands
-When does he need his system
I get your point so im gonna ask you this.
Is it just better to sell pc components?
I see a lot of people who sell pc's that often have in their description "I sell pc parts also"
So is that a better and more efficient way to make money,cuz its a lot cheaper.
Lets say i find like a 1050Ti for like 70Euros.
Can i just clean the card really well,replace thermal paste,run some benchmark tests,and sell it for 80-90Euros.
Thanks so much for the help,it really made me think about this.

Edit:Also when someone ask me to build a system,of course i will tell him the price that he has to pay after he answered my question which are listed above.I have 1 more question.If a guy sells a complete pc for like 200$ can i just clean it up,cable manage it and fix it up visually so it looks nice,a lot of people that sell pc's are ussually terrible at taking care of their systems.You can find dozens of pcs that are covered in dust or just havent been taken care of since the owner just forgot about them.Also what i like about the sellers is that they let you come to them to test the pc and to make sure it works.I see this as the most efficient way of making money.Thanks for the help

 

[Darkbreeze]

Honestly, it's not really feasible for most people to even entertain doing something like this. In truth, like I said, keeping it "small" is the best option. If you want to start finding components that will work for halfway decent builds and assembling systems and then test and sell the resulting builds "AS IS" with no promises other than "this is used. this works RIGHT NOW" but after it goes out the door, that's the end of my commitment to it, then that is probably ok. Beyond that, you are opening yourself up to "yes your honor, this individual sold me a system and guaranteed it, but then the motherboard fried two weeks later and now he refuses to replace the motherboard for free" and bam, bam, guilty. Now you owe a bunch of money or go to jail. Bad day.

Keep it simple. Build systems in your spare time, sell them as is/used, and done with it.

 

[USAFRet]

If you can buy a 1050ti for 70EUR, why can't I do the same? You don't have a magical source that the rest of us don't see.
If you do buy it for 70, and sell it for 80...you're making about 2EUR/hour.

Finding, buying, cleaning, replacing paste, testing, selling, shipping...More than an hour or two.

 

[Dj0gany]

Honestly, it's not really feasible for most people to even entertain doing something like this. In truth, like I said, keeping it "small" is the best option. If you want to start finding components that will work for halfway decent builds and assembling systems and then test and sell the resulting builds "AS IS" with no promises other than "this is used. this works RIGHT NOW" but after it goes out the door, that's the end of my commitment to it, then that is probably ok. Beyond that, you are opening yourself up to "yes your honor, this individual sold me a system and guaranteed it, but then the motherboard fried two weeks later and now he refuses to replace the motherboard for free" and bam, bam, guilty. Now you owe a bunch of money or go to jail. Bad day.

Keep it simple. Build systems in your spare time, sell them as is/used, and done with it.

alright,thanks for the help.

 

[Dj0gany]

If you can buy a 1050ti for 70EUR, why can't I do the same? You don't have a magical source that the rest of us don't see.
If you do buy it for 70, and sell it for 80...you're making about 2EUR/hour.

Finding, buying, cleaning, replacing paste, testing, selling, shipping...More than an hour or two.

Thanks for the help.I understand this "business" a little bit better now

 

[Dj0gany]

Ok so after all of this what do you think i should buy/sell/resell first?

 

[USAFRet]

Ok so after all of this what do you think i should buy/sell/resell first?

You should sell your services for PC repair and upgrades.
Not sell hardware.

Start with family and friends.

 

[Dj0gany]

You should sell your services for PC repair and upgrades.
Not sell hardware.

Start with family and friends.

Thank you so much

 

[Dj0gany]

Well...
After some hours of research i have given up on the idea to start pc flipping.
Mainly because i dont live USA.

 

[Dj0gany]

i have given up on mainly PC flipping,because the parts for upgrading are too expensive,and with that comes little profit,if not negative profit.
I will be doing pc parts and repairing or maybe even upgrading