Building Computers to sell/w free monitors

[=MBG= De Sniper]

I was wondering what you guys think, me and my friend are thinking about starting building computers to sell, 9 from cases that we just got at a auction that have stuff inside of them but we are going to replace most of it with new stuff. If we can get rid of the first 9 we will start, building them with brand new cases. Custom built orders. I was wondering what you guys think of the probability of them selling is. The first 9 will be made up like gaming computers with $500 of new parts.

Mushkin 1 gig 240pin EM-6400 800mhz DDR2

Evga Geforce 7600GT 256mb DDR Tv/Dvi Pci-e

Nspire 500W ATX Power Supply

Asus M2NE Nforce 570 / AMD Athlon 64 Cpu and Motherboard Combo (AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core socket AM2 Cpu and Fan)

Sniper

[Leonardo]

I moved your thread from the Deal Depot and Trading Post. The Trading Post is only for sales of items that are in fact ready for sale and that have a price.

As for your question, Gosh, I wish I knew. Scanning Craigslist here I see an awful lot of old junk with just crazy asking prices (especially from the Valley!). But then, I have no idea what that crap actually sells for at the time of the deals being made.

I think a lot of what you wish to accomplish would depend upon marketing. How would you advertise? Word of mouth just wouldn't be enough. Most people up here want name brands from CompUSA or BestBuy.

AS for your specific machine: I certainly would not spend $500 for an old generation CPU (quite outdated) and motherboard like that. Maybe other customers wouldn't know any better.

Don't want to come off sounding mean, but better a harsh look now than a garage full of computers you can't sell. Maybe you should just try a couple test machines and see what you could get through Craigslist. That might give you an idea of the market.

[=MBG= De Sniper]

We were gonna try a couple of test machines first to see what the market is like, build one and if it doesnt sell my friend would want to keep it anyway. The CPU and Motherboard would be things that we would be replacing with brand new parts. New Ram, Power Supply, Graphics Card, Motherboard and CPU.

Sniper

PS thanks for moving my topic I wasnt sure were I should put it.

[Leonardo]

So you are saying these computers will be a mix of old and new parts?

[=MBG= De Sniper]

The case and the monitor (Monitor for free [ lots of 17in.] or {2, 21in.}) will be old to make the cost come down a little. We have Black and Grey monitors.
Thats just all that I have gotten around to figuring out what I need to replace, there may be some other things but I figured I can use 2 80gb internal HD's that I have and the CD player thats in it(might replace that). I probably should replace the CD player with something better, since lots of people want to burn CD/DVD's now. It already has 1 or 2 case fans.

[Leonardo]

I don't think there's any way you can know until you actually test the market. I think it's going to be pretty tough getting much money out of these for two reasons:

1) they aren't name brand
2) they are a mix of new and used parts

Maybe the "free monitor" if played correctly will attract some interest. But what I'm getting at is that the enthusiasts won't take much interest because they can build or upgrade their own machines; they can also distinguish high performance parts from old generation tech. The mainstream can be wary of computers without a well known name on it, unless it comes from an established custom shop.

Who comprises your market?


I don't want to rain on a parade, I'm just cautioning you to go slowly.

[=MBG= De Sniper]

Who comprises your market?



What do you mean by that?
I plan on going slow, build one and if it doesnt sell, it will be good enough for my friend to keep.

[Leonardo]

Do you know, besides your friend, who might be interested in buying a computer of the performance and price envelope you guys are planning? That's what I meant by market. Just wondering if you had a particular population segment in mind, such as high school students, retired people, desperate shoppers in the Valley. Any particular group you'd be targeting?

[=MBG= De Sniper]

More of the Teen age group or people who want computers that can play the newer games. So I'd say gaming enthusiasts like me. But eventually if it works out right I want to have a website, like Ibuypower or other custom computer building sites. So people can just build them however they want them and buy them that way. We would only start custom building them for people after we are done selling the first 9 so we can have nicer cases on them. Then we can start selling flat panels that people choose from our site or whatever happens.

[Leonardo]

I hope you do well. I've never had the guts to strike out on my own by starting a business. I think your plan is good to start small and look for signals along the way.

[=MBG= De Sniper]

Thank You, I will be on here more and more asking you guys for help as in Im not so well with finding parts that will work with each other yet but Im working on some more Computer Tech courses that will get me certified and at the age of 16(You'ld think I was crazy lol)

Thanks for your advise

[Tex]

You guys do realize your both in Alaska right?

Cowboy

[=MBG= De Sniper]

Yes I realized that we are both in Alaska after he started talking about the valley which is where I live.

[Tex]

There just are not to many on here from Alaska and I noticed it and grinned. It was not meant in a bad way. Me and Leo are old buddies.

Tex

[Leonardo]

Yes I realized that we are both in Alaska after he started talking about the valley which is where I live.Oh wow, I'll have to watch what I say about 'The Valley.' :rolleyes:

That's OK, I formerly lived in Squarebanks (Fairbanks). I can take it as well as dish it out. Hey I was down in the The Valley today. Went out cabin in the woods and bought a generator from gentleman. Nice machine. We just had too many long outages last winter. I got a bit squeamish thinking about the expense of cleaning up after pipes frozen. (Didn't happen.) The Talkeetna mountains were just unbelievably beautiful today. Unreal.

OK, back on topic. You might be in a better position to sell homebuilt computers where you are than in the Anchorage or Eagle River area. There are plenty of retailers - big box and mom-pop up there. Not so many options in Wasilla and Palmer.

[Thelemech]

The Talkeetna mountains were just unbelievably beautiful today. Unreal

..:cool: .. sounds incredible Leo!

(sorry to derail the thread any further :) )

[=MBG= De Sniper]

Lol thats fine
im trying to figure out what would be a good name for a business.

I hate it when the pipes freeze it stinks, and when the power goes out for like 3 days.

As soon as my friend can get the parts ordered and up here we will build a test machine to try and sell.

[Winga]

I read this thread with interest as I have also just picked up a load of old computers and when I say old I mean old.

What I'm trying to figure out is whether your acquisition of the monitors and cases makes up the hardware you hoping to start your business with.
If so, then I don't think your target market of teenagers who want gaming rigs are the right demographic to start with.

Reading through the thread it seems you intend replacing everything in the case, except the hard drives. Even then I think you will end up changing these as the new boards you buy will support SATA and the drives from the cases you bought are probably IDE. The only thing going for you then are the monitors and those you say you throwing in for "free". That gets me to thinking why spend money on a whole bunch of old computers if you not going to use them?

I live in South Africa, so maybe the the conditions aren't the same, but I have found it impossible to compete with the big name retailers for price. Even our local privately owned stores sell whole PC's for less than I can build them if I had to buy the parts individually. I just think that if someone is going to shell out $500 for a PC they will want warranties and the security of knowing they can return a faulty rig with no hassles.

The market I'm looking at with the old PC's I've picked up, is your little old lady who just wants a computer to type letters and send e-mails as well as the families on a limited budget who cannot afford to spend hundreds of $$ on a store bough PC. I intend to strip the cases and use the best parts to build about 6 rigs for resale. I've worked out that my cost per rig including keyboard mouse and monitor will be around $70 and I can sell them for $160. That in my books is a decent profit.

I'm not going into the PC building business. Computers are just my hobby, but I think the business principles in this case apply. You should consider making a profit off what you have bought. Otherwise why bid on it in the first place? Thereafter you can use your profits to buy better hardware.

If you think you can compete with the high end players in the market and that's where you want to be, then by all means go for it. Just make sure you have done your homework and you have the capital and service to back you up.

[=MBG= De Sniper]

That may be a way to go with these first ones Ill have to look it over and see what I can come up with. Ill figure out which way I want to go.

[deicist]

One way to sell products when you can't compete on pricing is to offer something that bigger retailers can't / won't offer.

For example... since you have a smaller customer base, you may find it easier to offer a more comprehensive service. What about offering some kind of drive image / backup service? Free computer training? Annual system health checks?

The absolute best way to sell product when you're in competition with a much bigger rival is to play their size against them. Mention your personalised service in your advertising. Try to offer as much free stuff as you can that doesn't cost you anything (you can get free backup software online. Make a backup of your customers new system so it can be easily restored at a later date. Cost to you: a few gigs of space. value to the customer? could be invaluable)