mentaL! Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Hey all, at the moment im doing it tough trying to earn some pocket money for myself (trying to save for first car) and i came across the idea of selling some PC's. Nothing big just some budget gaming boxes and try sell them on ebay. But i dont understand what would happen if somebody bought a PC off me, they connect it all up and it doesnt work. would i be responsible for this? Even if i did do some good testing on it to verify it was stable and parts arent faulty? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verran Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Well, it would all be in the terms of your ebay auction. If you say there's no warranty, then there's no warranty. But you'll have a lot harder time selling if that's the case too, I'd think. The real question in my mind is, can you really make money at this? I don't mean this to be rude, but you're not exactly the first person to ever think of this. PC resale/building is a huge market and it's very competitive. How much can you make on a budget computer once ebay and paypal take their cuts? Honestly, I would be really surprised if this ended up being worth the time after you crunch all the numbers. There would be a bit more profit in high-end systems, but then you need more front-money too in order to build them and the market will be smaller. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire_storm Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 The real question in my mind is, can you really make money at this? I don't mean this to be rude, but you're not exactly the first person to ever think of this. PC resale/building is a huge market and it's very competitive. How much can you make on a budget computer once ebay and paypal take their cuts? Honestly, I would be really surprised if this ended up being worth the time after you crunch all the numbers. There would be a bit more profit in high-end systems, but then you need more front-money too in order to build them and the market will be smaller. I'd have to agree. Building custom PCs sounds like a fun job and easy money but in reality its not. You first have to have start up money to buy the PC parts and once you build your custom PCs there no guarantee that you will be able to sell them and you could end up in debt with a butch of new PCs. Also offering no warranty will probably persuade potential customers away from buying from you and offering one would probably end up costing you big because in most warranty's often pay for shipping both ways and you would also have to pay for shipping back to the online store you bought the parts from. You'll also have to start dealing with the ebay and paypal scammers. Plus like said before ebay and paypal will take a cut of your profits you make. It's a lot for one person to deal with and the whole idea is pretty impractical unless you start your own business and hire many employees which has it's own set of headaches as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAJBAMA Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Hey all, at the moment im doing it tough trying to earn some pocket money for myself (trying to save for first car) and i came across the idea of selling some PC's. Nothing big just some budget gaming boxes and try sell them on ebay. But i dont understand what would happen if somebody bought a PC off me, they connect it all up and it doesnt work. would i be responsible for this? Even if i did do some good testing on it to verify it was stable and parts arent faulty? I think i can help,i build custom computers for customers/friends for some time now.Its actually much harder to sell custom builds now because there are a lot more people that can build a PC nowadays and cheap good parts are easy to get example newegg,it was much easier before 5 years than now to sell them...I build everything from a total budget e1200 to a serious gaming Q9650 WC rig.If you want to earn money on it i would not suggest ebay,and i would not suggest building premade sets-they are very hard to sell,each customer has his/her own needs,likes a different case etc.You could sell them without warranty but thats just not going to sell well i still regret and hate my self for getting a 4870 cheaper w/o warranty and throwing it out because it broke.To start with this business you need two things:1.MONEY(A starting sum that allows you to complete a few builds,before that you cant gain any money)2.A cheap store for parts!!!This is the main thing,i mean everybody can get parts from newegg,so why would anybody buy them more expensive from you?I order parts from the First warehouse that gets the parts here in my country from the companies like ASUS etc it self directly,the one who sells the parts later to sites and shops like newegg,but to take parts from a cheap and first source like this is only available to Companies that have "computer selling" allowed by the State here.(My Dad has one)Thats where i start gaining money say like 5-10% cheaper than in shops and stores open to wide public. There are tons of premades on sale on our local forum now and nobody buys one!!!My idea of building and selling custom computers is to build the custom machine for everyone to suit their needs.So i go for a coffee with the customer discuss their current hardware,programs that they use,programs they will,ask them if they want a cardreader for their camera,a TV card etc , if they have crysis hungry childs .Then i take them to a local shop to see the prices of premades in their budget and show them that they can get a better computer for the same money from me.I write a few builds on paper and recommend them one that i think would be good.They choose the case and etc. while i give them an advice on the hardware and explain why a Corsair PSU 400w is better than a noname 400w,because a big heatsink is actually the thing that makes a computer go fast for them I build the computer,install programs and os,fully test it,i do the cable managment and make sure everything is working good.Than i ship the PC my self by car and go for a visit with the new PC.I show them how stuff works,whats new and so on.If anything goes wrong with the hardware thats not caused by the customer i have a service they call me i come and see whats the problem.A stick of ram stoped working recently in one of my this year builds so i had to test everything and take care of the RMA(I can only send things on RMA because i have the acces to the retailer with our family company while they dont).Then they are some faults that can be caused by the custommer.I did had some trouble with a custom WC on a gaming rig,the owner was complaining about high temps and autoshutdowns.When i came i asked if he did anything on it,he said no.When i opened it up the coolant fluid was changed and was full of bubbles,the worst of it was he was changing it like he saw on youtube,so he ruined the pump because of air.I offer a full service for my builds almost 24/7,take care of everything and thats where i offer something that nobody offers here and thats why my customers choose me.You always have to offer something extra to be able to sell things and run your businnes its hard competition out there.The good thing is that i only had 3 RMAs from my customers while i had about 9 with my own rigs Its really hard to do it now,i have about ten so called "computer builders" in my small city and nobody buys from them,they want to earn big money on the first rig,they offer stupid systems to save money everywhere(4870x2+e8400 on a 400w OEM psu!!!) so the builds feel cheapo,offer big hardrives with small cache since they are cheaper-they only note 500gb not anything else so they catch people who dont know.And i am sure that there is a lot of people like this around the world.You have to offer something Extra to survive,!I also offer overclocks for people who are scared but want a bumb in the speed,i offer the unlimited warranty to parts that have it while everybody else offers the standard 2 year etc...So consider how are you going to build and sell computers, consider if you have the cash to start doing it, and consider if you can get acces to a store that offers the parts cheaper than retail.I really do not recommend spending your cash on premades and trying to sell them,their value will get lower every day they sit at your home.While building computers is great fun(My main reason to do this,plus its better than normal 8 hour a day work as a student you wont get rich by doing it,if i get 50-100€ in my pocket on a single average build i am happy,you need to have competetive prices so the customer is happy)Ok,i keep it small time +- 10-30 rigs a year,but i have only sold 14 this year so far and thats only because my customers have their friends and they send them to me if they need a computer,if i have started now i think i would be screwed because i would not have the name.(So far the HIT of this year is an e5200 with 9600gt which you can imagine does not give you a lot of profit) Building computers is a hobby,being able to get some cash while you are doing your hobby is great,but i would not choose it over a JOB,but as a student its nice to have and generally buys me a new rig every year.Consider if you still want to build and sell computers,and consider what level of service you are going to offer but i strongly recommend to stay away from ebay and premades,i think i offer a service in a totally different league compared to ebay rigs but still i am not earning hard money on it. 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Hyper Threaded Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 The majority of people won't even think to look on eBay for a PC. They call Dell or go to a retail store. In the PC business, everything goes around trust, big brands have more trust than some bloke off eBay. Where you are now, you'll get more out of servicing PCs. Put an ad in a local newspaper. You'll learn more about the sort of PCs people own and how to deal with problems better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
9KRacing Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Craigslist is FREE to advertise on. :thumbs-up: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentaL! Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Thanx for al your replys guys i really do appreciate it, i think you guys have pulled me away from the idea of selling premades over ebay and i mite try out selling some PC's to family and friends or mayb try and score a job at a computer store. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebridgerofdoom Posted June 11, 2009 Posted June 11, 2009 Friends and family are much better choice. I help friends and families build rigs and they give me around 20 bucks to 100 bucks. And its easier if ur building for someone easily contacted, u can just meet up, he tell u his desired specs, give him a estimate, he gives u the money, and u go build. Good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhenKittensATK Posted June 11, 2009 Posted June 11, 2009 (edited) Friends and family are much better choice. I help friends and families build rigs and they give me around 20 bucks to 100 bucks. And its easier if ur building for someone easily contacted, u can just meet up, he tell u his desired specs, give him a estimate, he gives u the money, and u go build. Good luck. I agree. If your going to do this. Do it locally and only when someone up front pays you. I did it for my cousin, but I didn't charge him anything. When you do it, you gotta sell your skills. Make it sound harder than it is, because all it is is clicking Order then Submit and just plugging in parts. Make it sound harder, but provide reassurance that nothing will go wrong. Plus tell them even though they don't have one huge warranty, almost all the hardware is going to have a manufacture 1-2+ year warranty on it. No matter who ordered it or sold too as long as they have an Invoice. A 6 year old could do it, if you showed them where everything went. Edited June 11, 2009 by Krazyxazn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Smith Posted June 11, 2009 Posted June 11, 2009 Friends and family are much better choice. I help friends and families build rigs and they give me around 20 bucks to 100 bucks. And its easier if ur building for someone easily contacted, u can just meet up, he tell u his desired specs, give him a estimate, he gives u the money, and u go build. Good luck. I also build some PCs for people locally. Now I am beginning to sell to people out of the family. As SAJBAMA said, explain why your PCs are better than the one at Best Buy or other stores. Also I agree 100% that if you cannot get some hardware at a discount it is much harder to compete. While I still buy most parts on etailers, I often use ex-review parts in PCs I build so that allows me to get some money out of it. So... If you want to do so, first step is to let people you know that you can build quality & personalized PCs for cheap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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