Cost of setting up pc repair/upgrade business?

[yussafm]

Cost of setting up pc repair/upgrade business?
I am IT graduate and have worked many years in retail. I want out and was wondering how much a collection
of stock to run repair/upgrade business. I.E how much is ram(laptop/desktop) wholesale and Hardrive's as well as other small
components. I would love to hear from anyone in industry.
With thanks in advance from people who reply regards.

 

[PC Tailor]

Well obviously it completely depends on the parts, your location, and your supplier.
Generally quite often there is no money in parts, it's in the services as large retailers can afford to bulk buy and actually get the discounts.

I often find that simply buying parts as a consumer can sometimes be cheaper than buying them as a reseller unless you can buy in serious bulk quantities. Which I detest.

That's in the UK.

 

[jsmithepa]

If you are in a third world country, where the parts are difficult to come by this may work.

In the West, comeon, anybody can get anything themselves, you should really concentrate on service. I love to watch rossmanngroup.com utubes, he talks about his failed businesses, nothing better than learn, ideally others, failures.

 

[Ralston18]

Inventory (stock) is important with respect to mix and quantities. However, the business factors are more involved and require more study and work on your part.

A key concept is the "breakeven point" for any business.

Learn how to apply the concept to your business with respect to projected sales and costs.

References:

https://squareup.com/us/en/townsquare/how-to-calculate-break-even-point-analysis

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-start-a-retail-business-2890132

You can easily google for similar discussions and explanations.

Simplified example:

If you buy 10 PSU's at $100 each your cost is $1,000.

If you repair 10 computers using those PSU's and charge $110 per computer the revenue is then $1,100.

Revenue - Costs = Profit

$1,100 - $1,000 = $100. You made $100.

But if it cost you more than $100 to store those PSU's and rent a workspace for the repairs then you lose money.

Okay raise your repair charges - but customers may then go elsewhere....

 

[USAFRet]

Cost of setting up pc repair/upgrade business?

You intern or work with a local shop that does the same thing.
Determine what their overall costs are.
Then, undercut them by 5%.

And discover that they are just barely hanging on with the prices they charge.

 

[mdd1963]

With traditional computer stores folding right and left, the traditional 'brick and mortar' storefront adds quite a bit of additional expenses (monthly rent, utilities, manpower to keep store open, etc) just to break even....hence, the reason so many are closing.

In 1992-1996 timeframe, when computers routinely cost $1500-$2500, there was a larger repair market...

With Dell offering new systems at $400-$600, people choosing to sink even $200 in parts and $100 in labor can often become a VERY tough sell...

 

[Math Geek]

i work out of my home instead of maintaining a brick and mortar store somewhere. as others have noted, it is very hard to keep such a business running. problem is everyone knows that 1 computer geek they can call who will work cheaper than you can afford to. so my working from home allows me to be that computer geek everyone calls with problems and i can still work quickly and rather cheap.

as for parts inventory, i don't keep much of anything in stock as a rule. i do take advantage of big sales i find and will buy parts i know i will use such as psu's and hdd/ssd's. i then offer them to customers at a small profit that is still usually lower than current prices if i can.

for instance those corsair CX(m) psu's are normally about $60-70 but can often be had with rebates for $40 or less. i grab a handful and when needed i can offer it to a client for $50-60 and can show them the current price so they get a "deal". i don't buy anything as a wholesaler though and am not sure in the smaller quantities i buy it would even make a difference.

since most everything is custom i build, trying to buy 50x i5's at a discount would probably never pay off as i'd not use them quick enough before they were replaced with newer gen stuff. plus prices often drop and what i payed today might be more than they cost in 3 months. the client will know this as well usually and i'd end up taking a loss on the part. there is a reason most businesses buy in bulk with pre-built office pc's and not custom ones as well. they get decent warranties and so on that would be hard to match myself. so i gave up on a bulk office sales a long time ago. just not likely to happen.

most of the money i make is repair/replacement of parts and windows troubleshooting. i charge $100 over parts costs to fully build and get running a custom build. average repair is less than $50 and more than $75 for a full windows reinstall is a hard sell as well. quantity is the name of the game for me. but word of mouth works well once folks see you know your stuff and don't try to overcharge. so i stay plenty busy.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Cost of setting up pc repair/upgrade business?
I am IT graduate and have worked many years in retail. I want out and was wondering how much a collection
of stock to run repair/upgrade business. I.E how much is ram(laptop/desktop) wholesale and Hardrive's as well as other small
components. I would love to hear from anyone in industry.
With thanks in advance from people who reply regards.

Consider opening UBreakIFix or IFixIt franchise shop. You will likely be better off as the logistics chain and support is already set up for you.

Most of the profit comes from repairing phones/tablets. I can repair laptops all day long. I'm 8:8 for laptop repairs. However tablet/phones I'm 0:5 as I usually end up slicing a cable or getting the wrong part or not finding a replacement part. It's a bit more tricky.