Help With Computer Parts

[ResidentEvil7Participant 9585]

I need some help with something. I want to start an eBay business soon by buying up quality PC parts, building the PC and selling it back finished on eBay, but I’m having price problems. I did research on the custom build gaming PCs that did sell on ebay, what it cost at the lowest price brand new and I don’t like it. It looks like it’ll cost almost just as much to build it than it is to sell it after factoring in all those fees and shipping. That’s if I bought all the parts from cheapest eBay price. I checked the main sites of the brand names of the parts such as Corsair for example, and the prices there were VERY outrageous. I tried PC Outlet, and that wasn’t as competitive as eBay (which again, I didn’t like enough), and Amazon is almost just as bad as the main sites of the brand name. I also tried a site I just bumped into while doing a Yahoo search call Ali Baba and I like the price, but the problem is, they want you to buy 6,000 of that same item, and they’re Chinese-made, both of which I reject highly.

So I’ve gone to eBay, Corsair, PC Outlet, Amazon, Ali Baba, and Ali Express, and the investment on parts added up is not that much better than the selling price on eBay before factoring in the fees on both eBay and PayPal, and the shipping. Profit would be very low, or I’d take a loss, and I don’t want to risk big money and time to build a fancy PC and not end up with a big enough or any profit.

I then decided to want to order the same parts from the manufacture, from the factory or warehouse. After doing a Yahoo search looking for ordering computer parts from the factory, I got no results. I found Ali Baba instead.

So does anyone know where I can buy quality inexpensive PC parts so I can order them, build the gaming PCs and sell them on eBay? Ebay may have the best price of all the places I’ve looked, but it’s still too risky to invest parts that when added up comes too close to the sale price and figuring the fees and shipping. So does anyone know where I can invest inexpensive quality level PC parts?

https://themanszone.webs.com/

[Crazy CanuckMember 4215]

I wouldn’t bother too many scammers on ebay. It’s best to sell computers in person. Build a system and offer to sell it. You can offer extra things like a few hours of free repair if they buy from you. The mark up on computer system is very low so if you want to sell at a higher price you can include the extra services.

"If pussy was a stock it would be plummeting right now because you've flooded the market with it. You're giving it away too easy." - Dave Chapelle

[KeymasterKeymaster]

I used to do similar with MACS – laptops mostly. I would ALWAYS have the latest and best one, and after a year or less (while it’s still under factory warranty) I would sell on Ebay (for a bit of a loss)…. but I also upgrade it with parts from macsales-dot-com where I have been a customer since 1999.

I would buy max ram and maybe even an SSD and then sell it for as much as I could…. which I could put against a new laptop. So this way I never owned a laptop for more than 10 months , and always own the very latest one.

I don’t know if this its helpful to you at all, but you may be able to get a free shipping deal from the supplier – which I did.

If you keep doing what you've always done... you're gonna keep getting what you always got.

[Cheeky BastardParticipant 323]

The best way is to list Or a licence yourself as a sole trader. Then register with a distributor. Once you’re registered as a resaler Wait until things go on sale preferably on clearance. Buy a couple of them. Put it on a shelf We have enough parts put together a computer listed as personal custom brand-new and this Lowers your overhead.

Sincerely
Cheeky Bastard
Neuroscience and technology

CEO Cheeky Industries Technology Fabricator

ABN 71 247 061 775

and
23 year gaming icon Cheeky Bastard

www.cheekyindustries.biz

cheeky.bastard@hotmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/CheekyIndustries

[MadmanParticipant 772]

Not sure if this is waht you want, but have you seen newegg.com or tigerdirect.com? you can make bulk orders and get 10 motherboards at a time, etc.

[EekParticipant 1162]

I hate to be a voice of negativity here, but you are seeing the problem with the PC market as a whole.

Large scale manufacturers have been dropping out of the PC business for years now. IBM sold it’s PC business to Lenovo 10+ years ago, and Lenovo is trying to get into other markets beside PCs now to actually make money. HP spun off its unprofitable PC division as a separate company. Dell only exists because it was taken back to a private company, but it isn’t selling like they used to.

In the entire universe of people looking to buy consumer electronics, only a fraction are looking to buy PCs. Of those people looking to buy PCs only a fraction are looking to buy from someone NOT named Dell/HP/Lenovo/Asus etc. From that fraction of a fraction of a whole you will have to fight it out on eBay with all the others who are thinking the same thing as you, all of whom will be fighting perceptions as scammers because they are small scale operations.

With all that in mind if you still wish to continue I wish you the best. If you can make enough profit at the scales you are hoping for then pay me no mind, I am just another idiot on the internet with an opinion.

You might find a bigger market by selling upgrades to existing PCs people have. Add or upgrade CPU coolers, RAM, SSDs, and GPUs. If you get someone to pay you $50 to upgrade their GPU, then you made $50 alot easier than if you put together the whole PC and made $50 off of that.

[The Long WalkParticipant 1282]

I looked into this briefly as a sideline a few years back. As @Cheeky Bastard says, you’ll need to make an arrangement with a distributor, wholesale/bargain bin is the only way you’ll be able to make any money – but your margins will be thin. Also, the distributors I talked to had a minimum monthly spend, the lowest of which was in the region of £1000.

I ended up doing computer repair in my free time, which was fun and frustrating at the same time. Most of the problems people seemed to encounter were caused by their own stupidity – something that also applies to ebay trading in my experience. So be prepared to have your time wasted by people who are so stupid they forget to breathe.

I got called out once to a house where I’d previously set up a network with various wireless APs for overlapping coverage. Big house, several cars outside – so you’d think these people would have some smarts.. Not so. Their description of the issue was less than enlightening, but clearly something wasn’t working so I started checking things over and quickly discovered one of the remote APs had been unplugged. You’d think people would check the basics before calling someone out, but apparently not.

[chirParticipant]

I started out a long time ago in a galax…… Wait… Wrong story.

I started out in the early 90’s selling computers. Back then we had 28% gpm. Gross Profit Margin. By the time I got out of it and into network engineering the gpm had sunk to 3%. No money to be made except for massive volume.

As always you need to calculate the total GPM for your product.
Step 1
Subtract the total costs of your goods from the revenues the sales generate to find your gross profit. For example, if you purchase $10,000 of goods and sell them for $11,800, you would subtract $10,000 from $11,800 to get a profit of $1,800.
Step 2
Divide your gross profit by your total revenue generated. In this example, you would divide $1,800 by $11,800 to get 0.15.
Step 3
Multiply the result from Step 2 by 100 to find the gross profit margin percentage. Finishing the example, you would multiply 0.15 by 100 to find that your gross profit margin equals 15 percent.

Once you know your gpm, if its less than 5% its not worth it. Also you have to consider what the warranty on your workmanship on product would be. A year? Then you have to consider the “asshole quotient” People on ebay are known for voting you down for the tiniest problem.

If you want to build your own rig have at it. I built my own and had a ball. Watercooled and overclocked. Selling them on ebay and trying to make a living exclusively off that would be double tough. Still if you are determined and love the work, f~~~ it and plow on ahead.

Oh if you are going to go ahead make sure you form an LLC company to protect your personal assets.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, it is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning; it is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

[ResidentEvil7Participant 9585]

Oh, great.

I should mention the following that I want to do now and what I have to work with:
1. I only want to test it out just to see if it’s worth it.
2. I have $3,200 to invest in right now.
3. I want to do this PC/ebay business from home as a hobby/business.
4. I did look at Newegg and TigerDirect and the prices were no different than Amazon or Outlet PC, except they make you have to pay for a membership, just like at Costco and Sam’s Club, which I object having to pay for shopping around. Plus, some items you can only buy so many times until they say you can’t. On eBay, Newegg allows you to be an eBay customer with them 5 times. After that, they void you.
5. I should mention that even if I approve of this, my $3,200 cash and $3,800 credit limit would keep me having to build a computer one at a time until I build enough confidence to invest on multiple quantity of each part.
6. I don’t have means of licensing myself just yet. Again I just want to look at my options and see if this is what I want to do, and right now I can’t find a set up that’s worth the effort.
7. I found some places where I could have a distributor, but I didn’t find any brand names I’m familiar with. I want to invest in such brands as Corsair, Gigabyte, NVIDIA, Thermaltake. Those kind.
8. I want to do water-cooling setups, but I don’t have confidence in shipping something like that, because you never know what kind of abuse the computer will go through while it’s in transit, and the last thing I want is for the water to spill all over the electrical components. Those water-cooling set ups do look very nice, but still, I’m not comfortable enough with water flowing around electricity.

I mean, I don’t know. It seems like every time I get a good idea to make money and do what I want to do, it just doesn’t seem like it’d work out, or it seems overwhelming or intimidating and I end up being pushed away from it. I hate the real life. Why can’t I just win the stinking lottery and not have to worry about having to do anything. I mean really.

https://themanszone.webs.com/

[ResidentEvil7Participant 9585]

This the computer I’m considering building, and yes I know it’s a completed listing. I only do my eBay computer research on those that DID sell. So this is the computer I’m eyeballing right now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTIMATE-HIGH-END-CUSTOM-BUILT-GAMING-COMPUTER-PC-WIN-7-22-GAMES-GAMING-MOUSE-/222014526243?hash=item33b118d323%3Ag%3AW4sAAOSwoydWsrk2&nma=true&si=3zp3V29u8yuM8cjyU%252F7hTS%252B9YVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

According to my research, if I were to buy the computer parts, it would cost $1,022.81, and I were to sell it at the same price as in the listing, it would leave me with a $407.19, not counting shipping and fees.

https://themanszone.webs.com/

[ResidentEvil7Participant 9585]

Well my computer business is now officially in the testing phase. I’ve bought some parts, and I got better deals on some than I originally researched. I’m buying parts little bits at a time, so I’m not yet overwhelmed. So far this is what I’ve bought (invested):

1. Computer case
2 Video GPU
3 Blue LED Fans 120mm, and a 140mm
4 Gaming Mouse – LED Blue
5 Gaming Keyboard – LED Tri-color
6 LG DVD Burner
7 Power Cord

Right now I’m looking for a motherboard that I want to get and I’ve seen a good deal on two of them. However, the only downside is that both don’t have the screws, but one said he’ll give me the screws if I win that auction Tuesday.

After doing my research and what I’ve investing, it looks like it should be a $700 profit if I sell at $1,500, not counting fees and shipping.

So it looks like I might be deciding on a possible PC/eBay business here while I work part-time (that’s what’s open anywhere) at whatever job I’m hoping to land at; I pray Best Buy. Imagine that, doing my dream job in the form of both employed and self-employed and while going into DeVry University to become an IT engineer for Best Buy or better. Oh, I can’t wait to really get going.

Hopefully I do get a job where I’ve told you where I want to go; it’s a lot better than where I have been: working back-breaking grunt work in construction, volunteering at a smelly old church, judging election polling stations, and having to be out of work for long periods of time while I ask “what I do to deserve long-term unemployment?” Some of those jobs I lost an opportunity were because of s~~~ty feminists; one told me I had no right to work anywhere, another acted like I was a bulls~~~ter, and a third double-crossed me with gotcha questions based on my previous good answers. I hate woman managers by far! For me to work my own computer business (if I do this right), and working for a guy at my local Best Buy where the only females are customer service representatives would be golden!

https://themanszone.webs.com/

[Mister Man SmithParticipant 285]

I don’t wanna add more negativity than the other users already have, but I rather give my honest opinion.

While I do hope you succeed, you have to take a look at the market.

The only people buying Gaming Rigs are tech savy guys.
It only takes 5 minutes of YouTubing to learn how to put a computer together for anyone who doesn’t know, add to that the fact that PC gamers love to build their own machines and you’re looking at a dog-eat-dog market since most people will do it themselves and very very, very few will buy them already put together off someone, specially a small business on eBay.
You can see big stores selling custom build PCs for little over the parts price, it’s pretty impossible to compete with that and to convince the potential (very few) costumers to buy from you instead of a big store.

You said you are still buying parts, that’s amazingly risky, I don’t know what GPU you bought, but be aware it won’t be long till the new lineup from NVIDIA and AMD get out, and when that happens which ever GPU you have sitting there (waiting for a MainBoard, RAM, CPU, HDD/SSD and PSU) will plummet in value, it will be almost impossible to turn out a profit when that happens.
Also, I wouldn’t include a keyboard and mouse if I were you, that’s something people will already have or they’d rather pick up themselves, same for the DVD burner, today the majority of people will just download their games, that’s why most computers don’t even come with a ODDs anymore, all those parts will just add extra cost without really showing any benefit to the end user that always looks for the cheapest possible, remember the small fraction of potential costumers that would consider buying a PC from you would only look at a very few set of the specs.

All they see is the amount of RAM, not the quality.
If it’s an i7, because even if you don’t get much more from an i7 regarding to games vs an i5, they still want the i7 in there, just ‘because0′.
How big the GPU model number is, again without a clue of it’s actual quality, you’d be amazed to see people picking a GTX 960 over a GTX 780 when the 780 has A LOT more horse power, but 960 is a bigger model number, that’s all it matters to them.

So what would I do if I were you?

If you really wanna go ahead with this, I’d build bare bones gaming PCs as your next build to maximize your profit.

No Keyboard & Mouse, no LED Fans, no ODD.

– Buy the cheapest case you can find, WITHOUT a PSU in it. At the end of the day, the case doesn’t really matter and if it means a cheaper final product, that’s what your costumers will go for.
– Buy a bare bones MainBoard, do not go for the gaming editions, those are only worth for advance users, a bare bones MainBoard won’t hinder the performance (unlike popular believe) and it will leave you with a better profit margin.
– The CPU will be a big decision, because that will determine the MainBoard and RAM you can use, like I said you’ll want an i7 because that’s what people will look for.
Right now you could go (for example) an i7-4790 or an i7-6700, the 4790 is a bit cheaper and nearly the same performance, that might mean more profit for you when it comes to sell the PC, that would also mean a 1150 Socket MainBoard, which will be cheaper.
– So for the MainBoard like I said, keep it bare bones, your potential clients won’t really look into it since they are very unlikely to want to upgrade in the future, no point on having a MainBoard compatible with 2/3/4-way SLi/Crossfire when they don’t care about that.
Considering the i7-4790, 1150 Socket, you could go with MSI B85M MainBoards, which will be cheap but still have the PCIe 3.0 x16 for the current GPUs.
– For RAM, definitely go with DDR3-1333MHz, it doesn’t make a huge different compared with DDR4-2666MHz on games, but it will be cheaper, get 16GB of it at least, useless for gaming right now as 8GB is more than adequate, but it will look good when you advertise it, and people will look for that.
– For a GPU go mid-range, GTX 970 right now is the way to go, but scrape the bottom of the barrel, different manufacturers will use different coolers which will impact the price, the MSI GTX970 4GD5T OC is the cheapest 970 right now, so I’d go with that.
– As far as storage goes, it’s tricky, at the end I’d just go with something like 1TB HDD and avoid SSDs even if a lot of people are looking for them right now, they might be willing to open hand of it.
– Lastly for a PSU definitely DON’T scrape the bottom of the barrel, look for a nice one, but not a premium one.

At the end you’ll be able to advertise something like that as an “i7 @ 3.6GHz, NVIDIA GTX 970 with 4GB VRAM, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of memory, capable of running any game on High-Ultra.” it won’t cost a lot of money to build, but you can ask enough to get a decent profit out of it from someone that just wants a ready made cheap but powerful custom PC for gaming.

Closing note, you might want to install something like W10, but be careful not to get sued over illegal copies.

mistermansmithmgtow.blogspot.com

[Mister Man SmithParticipant 285]

I wanna add to my last post some more advice, this time on how to run a business like this since I’ve had a few businesses myself in the past and I’m still self employed right now.

Since the money you have to invest is extremely limited, I’d go with a “shadow business” which basically means you only invest your money after you get a 50% down payment on the orders you get.

I’d set up a website in a place like squarespace or something, cheap and easy to use, they’d handle all the heavy lifting on web-end if you don’t wanna bother with that.

In there you can advertise machines by specs only, giving flashy names to your pre-builds, show a picture of the case you picked for it (that you can easily find online without having to actually buy to take pictures) and then wait for people to order one of your machines, only then you’ll actually buy the parts you advertise for it and put it together.
You can also set up a free budget service, people would tell you what parts they want, and you’d give them a budget to built that machine for them.

Working like this you wouldn’t have to invest money to have products on the shelve (like the parts you have now) and no sales would mean no costs either, expect maintaining the website which should be fairly cheap, the way I see it for your current situation this would be the least risky venture money-wise.

As far as advertising, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, the usual suspects, it won’t be easy to start that’s for sure, but, if it tanks at least you’d have minimal money loss working this way.

One thing you have to be careful is delivery dates, waiting for orders to buy the parts yourself, then ship the built product will mean a long waiting period on the client end of things, something that a big store with on the shelve products won’t have to worry about.
Another thing is warranties, if anything goes wrong clients having to ship the machines back to you, then you to your supplier, and then the way back might be painful, time consuming, and worst case scenario it will eat into your slim profit margin.

mistermansmithmgtow.blogspot.com

[LurchParticipant 3872]

Mister Man Smith wrote:

be aware it won’t be long till the new lineup from NVIDIA and AMD get out, and when that happens which ever GPU you have sitting there (waiting for a MainBoard, RAM, CPU, HDD/SSD and PSU) will plummet in value,

This is the main problem with guys trying start-up computer businesses. With the buying power of NewEgg, Amazon, Best Buy and the like, it is almost impossible to get the same economies of scale to compete. Along with the speed of computer obsolesce, you have to be turning over your inventory pretty quick to avoid getting stuck with dud products.

Working in the IT field, I’ve seen another of techies run sideline businesses, with the successful ones focusing on offering services over products. The guys fixing computers make far more money, than the guys trying to sell them.

You can still get your hardware fix too, by offering upgrade services where you buy the parts, install them and charge for parts AND your labour. Chances are you’ll just break even on the parts, since they are always dropping in price, but your skills will NEVER diminish in value since for every 1 tech savvy guy, there are a 1000 Luddites who know nothing and need your help plugging in the power cable.

Blue-Pill Virgin: Women hate me! That's what it is.
MGTOW Man: Hate them back; it works for me.

[The Manipulated ManParticipant 1856]

Here is some good news, bad news and a little MGTOW rant. Most of it you already know and it should probably go without saying. But, your post is a good way to make an introduction and say hi to you and others who are doing interesting things with computers.

The good news is that you are definitely in man’s country when building your own computers. Like MGTOW, it is a good place to be.

There is something special that happens when men work together that women can never understand. Also, it is important for like-minded men to gather in person.

There were hundreds of people that I worked with on computer hardware related problems for the past thirty five years and none of the handful of women who were involved were useful. Yes, there were a few “Hot Chicks” who worked in the sales departments of computer stores or at the computer consultant’s office at some of the colleges. But, all of these women were no help at all. Those women were mostly in software support and they were all just reading from scripts when there were no men around to “help” them do their jobs.

I have been living near college campuses. Their Computer Centers and Engineering Departments are like my “Church,” or “Sacred Ground.” The Computer Consultants and Professors are my “Priests.” The students are like fellow “Monks.” I have helped my younger Brother and Son become “Baptized” in this “Church.” Even though this “Religion” of computer work requires a lot of solitary attention, comradery and team work has always been rewarding.

Micro Center has been a decent resource in the Midwest USA. It is a good place for me to physically inspect and compare hardware for quality. I enjoy consulting in person with other men, customers, and sales men who are building their own computers. I have found this place to be more conducive for face to face social interactions than stores like Best Buy, Tiger Direct, or Fry’s. And there are some Military trained men who hang out at Micro Center who are brilliant.

The bad news is that I have always had compatibility issues with the computers I built. Even though I have enjoyed the customer support of companies like ASUS for their Motherboards, even they have sold me some lemons which could not be fixed.

Perhaps I am getting too old, but these hardware issues are getting more bounteous and extreme. I have replaced too much failed hardware and ended up spending too much time with my builds to provide you with words of encouragement.

My younger Brother and my Son had a computer repair business with a store front in the 1990’s and early 2000’s which I helped out occasionally. It was good in the beginning, but became unprofitable in the end. So, they switched to installing Surveillance equipment with accompanying computer hardware and software which is doing quite well, for now.

So, even though what you are attempting to do is needed, “sacred,” and “a labor of love,” if you want to make money, my advice is to consider computer surveillance.

What happens when a man finally comprehends the cold and calculating thoughts that are going through a woman's mind, while her eyes are brimming with tears?

[ResidentEvil7Participant 9585]

Well, here’s the update. I have all but the RAM invested; that’s Saturday’s eBay investment. I’m having a problem with one of the sellers who sold me a 1TB hard drive. He’s likely made up some ridiculous story about his brother in the hospital after a motorbike accident while he was on the way to the post office. In fact, the email he sent me yesterday sounds like he never communicated before. Here’s what his message is and you can agree that the seller has got be some kind of idiot who has a small history of sending his item late and to the wrong address:

Hi,
I’m sorry for delay, because my brother when go to shipper for buyer him accident by motorcycle, now him in hospital, I take care him right in hospital, I will come back home soon and shipped it for you
Thank so much

Anyway, I’m hoping I can get out of this one, because I found another hard drive a little cheaper, and with 2TBs.

Right now I have the computer case (a beautiful one), a 120GB SSD drive which I will install the Windows 7 Pro on; I got a gaming mouse that lights up in blue; a PSU which I’m guessing has some possible issues and smells like cigarettes, 140mm LED fan, Windows 7 Pro disc, and a 99 cent power cord. I’m expecting 4 more items to come in the mail today: Video graphics card, motherboard, SATA cables, CPU. Some items I ordered look like they’re stuck in the state they originated from: the hydro series liquid cooling, the keyboard which lights up in 3 LED colors, the DVD burner drive, 3 120mm LED blue fans.

You’re right, this is a labor of love, but unfortunately, when you go for deals on eBay, you don’t always know what you’re getting. Like I said, I have issues with some of the items. Plus, this PC is already costing me more money than I wanted. But this project is a test project to see if this is something I want to do for money while the job market is keeping guys like me from working anywhere.

https://themanszone.webs.com/

[ResidentEvil7Participant 9585]

Well, I got the last of the PC parts, and I spent all day assembling this PC. I will try it out tomorrow, I’m DEAD tired. I don’t know if I’m going to make a business out of building PCs; too much work and too much money risk. Either way, the PC is built, and will be tested out after I get up. I’m so tired, I’m not surviving. Boy this PC investment has coasted me a lot of money so far. It better be worth the time, money and all the hard work, and all the worry.

https://themanszone.webs.com/

[Author]

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