Build & sell computer? (For business plan)
- Thread starter barnettgs
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It depends what section of the market your're aiming at. There's not way you can even get close to the big players like Dell for a basic office machine - but there's every chance you can be reasonably competitive with regards to gaming machines.
That considered, you also have to deal with things like warranties - what kind of warranty and after sales service will you provide?
That considered, you also have to deal with things like warranties - what kind of warranty and after sales service will you provide?
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you would never be able to compete with the bigger retailers tbh for the following reasons:
1. The bigger retailers/manudacturers buy in budget components in bulk. This makes them very cheap to purchase and thereby reducing overall unit costs.
2. As someone has already said, there is the warantee to think about. If your offer a warrantee you are legelly obliged to forefill the agreement
3. Lastly, and probebly most importantly, the market place you are aiming for are those that know nothing about what goes on inside a PC, as those that do will be building their own like you and me. With this in mind, people want the comfort factor from a larger more reputable retailer for peace of mind.
I wouldn't bother tbh but maybe offer custom pc building as a side line to something else..
1. The bigger retailers/manudacturers buy in budget components in bulk. This makes them very cheap to purchase and thereby reducing overall unit costs.
2. As someone has already said, there is the warantee to think about. If your offer a warrantee you are legelly obliged to forefill the agreement
3. Lastly, and probebly most importantly, the market place you are aiming for are those that know nothing about what goes on inside a PC, as those that do will be building their own like you and me. With this in mind, people want the comfort factor from a larger more reputable retailer for peace of mind.
I wouldn't bother tbh but maybe offer custom pc building as a side line to something else..
Associate
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Maybe do the whole little computer shop down the highstreet, that and sell you stuff at computer fairs, just concentrating on boutique gaming PC's would likely get you absolutely nowhere unfortunately.
Admiral Huddy said:
That's a much better idea TBH.
Just do the shopping for the customer, build the system and charge them 5-10% of the total cost as "labour" and research fees. That's what a couple of my mates and I are thinking. Target Customers: Students.
The other area that might fit in with this is a PC mechanic type role.
It depends very much on the level of affluence in the area you live - you'de be suprised how open people are to paying someone to do something they could (with a little research) do themselves.
If you have a good combo of affluenece and PC useage them it could be a strong part of the business
It depends very much on the level of affluence in the area you live - you'de be suprised how open people are to paying someone to do something they could (with a little research) do themselves.
If you have a good combo of affluenece and PC useage them it could be a strong part of the business
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Admiral Huddy said:
No offence meant, but it's worth proof reading your site! Appearance is everything, & basic spelling errors would be enough to put me off.
Again, no offence meant just an observation.
Associate
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If I'm building a computer for someone, I add at least 30% to the cost of the individual components and use that as a *guide* selling price.
To be perfect honest, most of the people who approach me these days because they want a PC, I hand them a local newspaper and show them the adverts. This is because most people 'want the internet', which is what a £299 [insert name of manufacturer] will do for them. I couldn't build a PC to compete, especially not one with a TFT display.
The few that approach me who want a gaming PC - I help them out. For a really rock-solid performer, only hand-picked parts will do the job. Whilst Overclockers et al have some gaming grade PC's available to buy, the folks that approach me for a gaming rig are looking for a bespoke product, not a production-line one.
The reason I've not gone into business building and repairing PC's is multifold:-
1) It is incredibly boring and tedious.
2) The work you do is always underestimated by the user.
3) If anything goes wrong, the user will probably think you are trying to rip them off.
Trying to assuage the usual fears users have (in order to prevent them believing you are ripping them off) just adds to the job time and the tedium involved.
Most recently, a work colleague asked me to repair their father's computer. Nothing physically wrong, but their Windows installation was somewhat corrupt. I advised a complete reinstall would be the best option (it was, from the symptoms given). First of all they wanted me to write a list of instructions so that they could do it themselves - for free. Then, when I duly fixed the PC (doing a proper job sheet with recommendations) they complained that "the modem isn't installed". Turns out, they hadn't supplied the cable-modem with the PC. So I had to talk him through the installation over the phone.
The next day, I had the complaint that they were getting notices about Windows not being genuine. Fair enough, it wasn't. The reason being, it was the version they supplied (which matched the version already on the PC before I even touched it)!
I'd done a stirling job - turning a blind eye to their pirate software and even giving them a recommendation of not visiting Windows Update until they bought a real copy. What did they do? Visit Windows Update.
I sent a lengthy reply telling them in no uncertain terms the steps necessary to purchase and validate Windows XP.
Now, this little story is what happened with someone I knew quite well. How do you think I would have fared with Mr average Joe customer? You can bet your bottom dollar that all blame would have been firmly left at my door.
Nobody needs that kind of stress.
So I trade through Amazon instead - with an option for an online shop in the very near future. I won't be doing PC sales or repairs though, strictly console game sales
To be perfect honest, most of the people who approach me these days because they want a PC, I hand them a local newspaper and show them the adverts. This is because most people 'want the internet', which is what a £299 [insert name of manufacturer] will do for them. I couldn't build a PC to compete, especially not one with a TFT display.
The few that approach me who want a gaming PC - I help them out. For a really rock-solid performer, only hand-picked parts will do the job. Whilst Overclockers et al have some gaming grade PC's available to buy, the folks that approach me for a gaming rig are looking for a bespoke product, not a production-line one.
The reason I've not gone into business building and repairing PC's is multifold:-
1) It is incredibly boring and tedious.
2) The work you do is always underestimated by the user.
3) If anything goes wrong, the user will probably think you are trying to rip them off.
Trying to assuage the usual fears users have (in order to prevent them believing you are ripping them off) just adds to the job time and the tedium involved.
Most recently, a work colleague asked me to repair their father's computer. Nothing physically wrong, but their Windows installation was somewhat corrupt. I advised a complete reinstall would be the best option (it was, from the symptoms given). First of all they wanted me to write a list of instructions so that they could do it themselves - for free. Then, when I duly fixed the PC (doing a proper job sheet with recommendations) they complained that "the modem isn't installed". Turns out, they hadn't supplied the cable-modem with the PC. So I had to talk him through the installation over the phone.
The next day, I had the complaint that they were getting notices about Windows not being genuine. Fair enough, it wasn't. The reason being, it was the version they supplied (which matched the version already on the PC before I even touched it)!
I'd done a stirling job - turning a blind eye to their pirate software and even giving them a recommendation of not visiting Windows Update until they bought a real copy. What did they do? Visit Windows Update.
I sent a lengthy reply telling them in no uncertain terms the steps necessary to purchase and validate Windows XP.
Now, this little story is what happened with someone I knew quite well. How do you think I would have fared with Mr average Joe customer? You can bet your bottom dollar that all blame would have been firmly left at my door.
Nobody needs that kind of stress.
So I trade through Amazon instead - with an option for an online shop in the very near future. I won't be doing PC sales or repairs though, strictly console game sales
Fantastic post Stefan Holmes
Thats exactly how I feel. I am sick of spending time building PC's for friends, charging them next to nothing & then getting their phone calls, as they seem to expect free technical support for life.
If you were offering technical support use a premium rate number, that'll make them think twice.
Thats exactly how I feel. I am sick of spending time building PC's for friends, charging them next to nothing & then getting their phone calls, as they seem to expect free technical support for life.
If you were offering technical support use a premium rate number, that'll make them think twice.
StefanHolmes said:
There is quite a differnence between helping friends and running a defined chargeable business, many people blur the two.
eg. I charge c £450/day when consulting and receive less hassle then when I've provided the same service to a friends company for free (I don't do IT)
Don't ever be shy about charging for advice if you're a service provider, be very clear about what is and isn't covered and what on costs are
I dunno, i think helping friends out with PC problems & upgrades can be somewhat rewarding.
1) Makes them happy at the end
2) Their PC will actually be upgradable, no onboard graphics, and the PSU won't die when you sneeze at it.
3) Generally from my experience, friends always offer to pay or give you something in return, wether that be beer, dinner or some hard cash.
Of course theres the support side of things, but generally i try to setup fail safes for those not quite capable of looking after a PC, Anti-virus protection, Spyware protection. I advise people to properly defend their PC, wether or not they decide to invest in some software is down to them, but within saying that i like to mention that in the event of spyware or viruses they're on their own if they refuse to pay out for the software that will potential save vital information.
I always explain to people if they want to clean a PC, i'll do a one off fix but after that its down to them to learn to protect their PC effectively or next time they'll be paying near on prices a computer store would charge to fix the PC. This in turn usually means they just let the PC get cramped with crap or that they spend a little time learning about the PC and investing in some good software, again i'm always recommending the ones i find least system intensive, yet still effective and not overly expensive.
Friends do expect more for less, but if you explain what a PC store charges in comparison they will either give you something for it or invest in avoiding PC issues again.
I've fixed quite a few over the last 2 weeks and built a handful to, out of those, i've made some cash, 1gb pc3200 DDR, a case with a sidewindow, a FSP Power Supply, a Sempron 2400+ (its not the best but its free).
===================================================
On-topic with the business thing.
I've also considered investing money in doing the same as the thread starter, but am still yet convinced it would be easy to make a good profit without causing too much stress to myself.....
Upgrades for friends and family is one thing, offering a service (with warrantee) is a totally different ball game.
If you want to start a business, like already mentioned, you need to know what area of the market you are aiming for, and then research some time in seeing if you can actually sell to this area and still make a good profit.
On the mentioning of the big retailers getting parts cheaper because of buying in bulk. I don't think you'd be able to get lower supply prices they get, but you wouldnt be far off, you just need to cut out all the middle people and find the right place to buy from. Its easily possible, i know this because my dad spent a few weeks last year researching how cheap we could get parts when he himself was considering a PC business (poor guy couldnt get a loan to start with though), but i do know he found some good sources for supplies, and happens to know an individual at Microsoft that may be able to help. That aside though, as a business grows you'll have more money to invest in more bulk deliveries.
What type of systems would you build though?..... are you wanting to sell set builds, or will you be making custom builds, or both.
Personally for me, the problem i have... is that i refuse to buy in and use parts i would not put in one of my own systems, this of course is good for the consumer, but they of course will not appreciate the quality of the hardware, and not realise the differences between the Nice shiny Tagan or Seasonic PSU and the cheap crap ones in say a Tiny PC. This makes me ask myself if i'd look at cheaper parts, and i have to tell myself NO! i would not. So is this a realistic business for me to invest in, yes if i can invest a lot of money into high quality built systems and find a good customer base.
The way i see it though, everybody these days has a PC, however due to all those dodgy companies like Time, Tiny *used these 2 as examples* they have really shoddy systems that get clogged up with rubbish, spyware and viruses and lack a lot of memory usually. a lot of these people will either choose to have the system cleaned by a professional, or most people just choose to buy another cheap system.
Theres people everywhere with these PC's, and a lot of people have children that don't use the PC because it won't play any games, but sometimes these families will fork out on the latest great console then buy a cheap PC.
Realisticly though, the amount spent is equal to buying a good spec PC, i mean if you asked most people what they think of PC's compared to a console, generally most people will think consoles are much better for games, but i don't blame them when they have a Compaq, or *INSERT NAME HERE* sitting in the corner of the room that cries when you ask it to open a webpage.
I've spoke to various people, customers at my previous job (not pc related) and other people i've met, such as the heating installer the other week, and generally families want gaming PC's but fail to see that a PCworld with 64MB Onboard Graphics is bad
. People that i've spoken to think £400 - £500 is a reasonable price for a PC. So can you make a family gaming PC for that price and make a profit, simple answer is NO!.... unless you cut corners and use cheaper parts.
Its the overall education of the home user on PC's that makes it hard. They see a Pentium 4 on the TV with 512mb at PCWorld for £425 and its already sold. So i'd have to ask myself how am i going to educate my customer base without BORING & CONFUSING the hell out of them.
Its a big subject, and with every corner comes more problems and questions you'll need to answer and be ready for.
1) Makes them happy at the end
2) Their PC will actually be upgradable, no onboard graphics, and the PSU won't die when you sneeze at it.
3) Generally from my experience, friends always offer to pay or give you something in return, wether that be beer, dinner or some hard cash.
Of course theres the support side of things, but generally i try to setup fail safes for those not quite capable of looking after a PC, Anti-virus protection, Spyware protection. I advise people to properly defend their PC, wether or not they decide to invest in some software is down to them, but within saying that i like to mention that in the event of spyware or viruses they're on their own if they refuse to pay out for the software that will potential save vital information.
I always explain to people if they want to clean a PC, i'll do a one off fix but after that its down to them to learn to protect their PC effectively or next time they'll be paying near on prices a computer store would charge to fix the PC. This in turn usually means they just let the PC get cramped with crap or that they spend a little time learning about the PC and investing in some good software, again i'm always recommending the ones i find least system intensive, yet still effective and not overly expensive.
Friends do expect more for less, but if you explain what a PC store charges in comparison they will either give you something for it or invest in avoiding PC issues again.
I've fixed quite a few over the last 2 weeks and built a handful to, out of those, i've made some cash, 1gb pc3200 DDR, a case with a sidewindow, a FSP Power Supply, a Sempron 2400+ (its not the best but its free).
===================================================
On-topic with the business thing.
I've also considered investing money in doing the same as the thread starter, but am still yet convinced it would be easy to make a good profit without causing too much stress to myself.....
Upgrades for friends and family is one thing, offering a service (with warrantee) is a totally different ball game.
If you want to start a business, like already mentioned, you need to know what area of the market you are aiming for, and then research some time in seeing if you can actually sell to this area and still make a good profit.
On the mentioning of the big retailers getting parts cheaper because of buying in bulk. I don't think you'd be able to get lower supply prices they get, but you wouldnt be far off, you just need to cut out all the middle people and find the right place to buy from. Its easily possible, i know this because my dad spent a few weeks last year researching how cheap we could get parts when he himself was considering a PC business (poor guy couldnt get a loan to start with though), but i do know he found some good sources for supplies, and happens to know an individual at Microsoft that may be able to help. That aside though, as a business grows you'll have more money to invest in more bulk deliveries.
What type of systems would you build though?..... are you wanting to sell set builds, or will you be making custom builds, or both.
Personally for me, the problem i have... is that i refuse to buy in and use parts i would not put in one of my own systems, this of course is good for the consumer, but they of course will not appreciate the quality of the hardware, and not realise the differences between the Nice shiny Tagan or Seasonic PSU and the cheap crap ones in say a Tiny PC. This makes me ask myself if i'd look at cheaper parts, and i have to tell myself NO! i would not. So is this a realistic business for me to invest in, yes if i can invest a lot of money into high quality built systems and find a good customer base.
The way i see it though, everybody these days has a PC, however due to all those dodgy companies like Time, Tiny *used these 2 as examples* they have really shoddy systems that get clogged up with rubbish, spyware and viruses and lack a lot of memory usually. a lot of these people will either choose to have the system cleaned by a professional, or most people just choose to buy another cheap system.
Theres people everywhere with these PC's, and a lot of people have children that don't use the PC because it won't play any games, but sometimes these families will fork out on the latest great console then buy a cheap PC.
Realisticly though, the amount spent is equal to buying a good spec PC, i mean if you asked most people what they think of PC's compared to a console, generally most people will think consoles are much better for games, but i don't blame them when they have a Compaq, or *INSERT NAME HERE* sitting in the corner of the room that cries when you ask it to open a webpage.
I've spoke to various people, customers at my previous job (not pc related) and other people i've met, such as the heating installer the other week, and generally families want gaming PC's but fail to see that a PCworld with 64MB Onboard Graphics is bad
. People that i've spoken to think £400 - £500 is a reasonable price for a PC. So can you make a family gaming PC for that price and make a profit, simple answer is NO!.... unless you cut corners and use cheaper parts.Its the overall education of the home user on PC's that makes it hard. They see a Pentium 4 on the TV with 512mb at PCWorld for £425 and its already sold. So i'd have to ask myself how am i going to educate my customer base without BORING & CONFUSING the hell out of them.
Its a big subject, and with every corner comes more problems and questions you'll need to answer and be ready for.
Man of Honour
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djjuk said:
nope you are quite right and it's being done as we speak
This why it's still in development. No offense taken
Soldato
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Huddy I also think you should take out that 'no fix - no fee' policy as it's going to cost you a lot of time and money if you can't get the thing fixed and you could spend hours on it trying to get the damn thing working, when you could have been somewhere else doing a job that you turned down that was really easy to fix.
get some decent suppliers first, dont buy off here or a rival site, but proper suppliers, i know a lot of them from my own business but cant discuss them here.
Take into account the cost of parts, shipping, the time it takes to build, installation of software, windows updates, anti virus etc to get a cost price to you.
Then work out how much you want to sell it out for for your profit
Take into account the cost of parts, shipping, the time it takes to build, installation of software, windows updates, anti virus etc to get a cost price to you.
Then work out how much you want to sell it out for for your profit
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Sirrel Squirrel said:
I see your point but it has to stay i'm affraid. i've already done my research and a lot of others offer the same policy. It's all part of the analysis phase to determine if a problem can be correct. As we all know, most problems can be fixed with FRMs. As you can see, there are T&C that cover certain aspects of this policy which has been checked by a solicitor.. Worth paying for just in case
Thanks...
That was some useful information!
Of course, Dell and other major manufacturers are selling good system at a reasonable cheap price...In fact I have always recommended my friends to buy PCs from PC World or order it from PCWorld.co.uk website so if they have any problems with it, they can always take it to PC World.
Dell offers unbeatable value for money but any problem you have with system is big hassle to phone Dell & try to arrange your pc to be picked up for fix if any part broken within a year. I was told several times how hard it is to call Dell to get your pc sorted. Also few cost-cuttings are visible such as keyboard/mouse ports missing so two usb ports are used for keyboard/mouse so have to be very carefull on system specification when ordering! I just found this out on my friend's latest dell system a couple of months ago!
Dell's proprietary motherboard is almost unreplaceable if it broke and you don't want to buy expensive component from Dell. You face a new system rebuild with a new case/motherboard plus maybe Windows XP if Dell warranty is over.
However, it is not really a problem for them if everything goes well. I went to set up Dell PC for my friend, I noticed that there are so many proprietary and junk softwares. I had to uninstall several of them apart from drivers (which was tricky deciding which is driver and which is not driver!) because you get silly pop-up messages from Dell Update and some useless demos or 6 months trials, it's as if their Dell systems are being sponsored by commercials!
Add to that, a guy I know got £850 dell system recently with excellent graphic card yet there were no system restore CD, nor Windows CD! It means you have to go through the hassle of calling them to ask for it but hey, you get what you paid for.
Computer newbie would be confused by thing like that, I just think a clean and simple Windows XP default install should be left like that and let users install their own softwares like AVG free edition.
The reason I wanted to build PCs is that you can get it working exactly (also Windows XP) as you would like it to be when you sell it to customers which is why I build for myself. Also easier to find firmware/software updates for motherboards if you build system with a popular model/make motherboard. It means paying a bit more but you are actually paying a bit more for convience.
It is just like you would rather go for a good local fish/chip takeaway at higher cost rather than going to McDonald, not knowing the whether the 'quality' of food would be good or bad depending on staffs working there!
I think I am getting better idea of how much should I charge...it would be £100 or more per system. At least £100 should be more than enough to cover labour and any unexpected issues!
I was told recently by a computer shop owner which is 'Don't charge too cheaply or customers will take the advantage of you!'
That was some useful information!
Of course, Dell and other major manufacturers are selling good system at a reasonable cheap price...In fact I have always recommended my friends to buy PCs from PC World or order it from PCWorld.co.uk website so if they have any problems with it, they can always take it to PC World.
Dell offers unbeatable value for money but any problem you have with system is big hassle to phone Dell & try to arrange your pc to be picked up for fix if any part broken within a year. I was told several times how hard it is to call Dell to get your pc sorted. Also few cost-cuttings are visible such as keyboard/mouse ports missing so two usb ports are used for keyboard/mouse so have to be very carefull on system specification when ordering! I just found this out on my friend's latest dell system a couple of months ago!
Dell's proprietary motherboard is almost unreplaceable if it broke and you don't want to buy expensive component from Dell. You face a new system rebuild with a new case/motherboard plus maybe Windows XP if Dell warranty is over.
However, it is not really a problem for them if everything goes well. I went to set up Dell PC for my friend, I noticed that there are so many proprietary and junk softwares. I had to uninstall several of them apart from drivers (which was tricky deciding which is driver and which is not driver!) because you get silly pop-up messages from Dell Update and some useless demos or 6 months trials, it's as if their Dell systems are being sponsored by commercials!
Add to that, a guy I know got £850 dell system recently with excellent graphic card yet there were no system restore CD, nor Windows CD! It means you have to go through the hassle of calling them to ask for it but hey, you get what you paid for.
Computer newbie would be confused by thing like that, I just think a clean and simple Windows XP default install should be left like that and let users install their own softwares like AVG free edition.
The reason I wanted to build PCs is that you can get it working exactly (also Windows XP) as you would like it to be when you sell it to customers which is why I build for myself. Also easier to find firmware/software updates for motherboards if you build system with a popular model/make motherboard. It means paying a bit more but you are actually paying a bit more for convience.
It is just like you would rather go for a good local fish/chip takeaway at higher cost rather than going to McDonald, not knowing the whether the 'quality' of food would be good or bad depending on staffs working there!
I think I am getting better idea of how much should I charge...it would be £100 or more per system. At least £100 should be more than enough to cover labour and any unexpected issues!
I was told recently by a computer shop owner which is 'Don't charge too cheaply or customers will take the advantage of you!'