Can you make money easily from building PC?

xarik

xarik

New Member
I enjoy computers a lot and am wondering if it's easy to make money from building systems yourself and selling them as a whole? I've never build a whole system but I've upgraded every part of one before (besides the MOBO) and feel pretty confident with it :). I'd just build some mid grade gaming desktops and selling them on craigslist maybe...idk has anyone successfully done this? :)
 
I would not so say, i am not sure how the market is in the u.s, but here in the u.k people seem to want something for nothing you barely get what the hardware is worth they seem to think windows comes for free.

I actually found much more profit in buying older machines, refurbishing them and putting them in a cool new case, typically i would get an old am3 or 775 machine for about £20 spend another £20 on a case and sell easily for £100.

The vast majority of the public don`t really care what is in a computer, they just want it to work and be reasonably speedy.
 
Simply answer is no, not really.

Build and sell PCs as a hobby and a way to make extra money, sure, but I wouldn't rely on it as your primary source of income.

When people want a PC they just go to Dell or HP or Acer or somebody and order one of their machines.
 
If you have the knowledge to build a pc from scratch, there is far more money in repairs then you are being paid for your time, so you don`t have any outlay for parts unless they are required.
 
jamesd1981 said:
If you have the knowledge to build a pc from scratch, there is far more money in repairs then you are being paid for your time, so you don`t have any outlay for parts unless they are required.
Click to expand...

Yeah the repairing industry is a good way to earn money. As you said, you'd probably get more than building from scratch.
 
Well I'd be running off of craigslist...who trusts craigslist for repairing a computer lol...especially if the guy needs to computer for a few days! I wonder if purchasing 2009+ laptops and putting in better components and reselling is a good idea I mean I bought a latop for $80 with an i3 330M (2010 Gateway) and on-board graphics and 2 or 4 gb ram...I would say that after putting in a 60gb ssd, leaving the 500GB HDD and putting on a new OS and 8GB ram (approx cost of extra parts is about $100) and I'm sure I can sell the laptop for $250+ (17in laptop with a bad battery) and I'm not doing this for main source of money, just side money (I'm in college so I just kinda wanna do something fun for a little bit of money while @ college) so what do you think about that? idk how well a core 2 duo desktop and 4gb ram would sell just cause it's in a cool case but idk, I'll have to look eh
 
Let's assume that W7 is on there already too cuz that's a large cost that I will rule out cuz I have a copy...Also a large issue with doing desktops is that a LOT of cheap ones off of craigslist are ddr2 and THAT'S EXPENSIVE!...so the money is kinda more in laptops as long as the laptop looks more modern and not an old pos
 
xarik said:
Let's assume that W7 is on there already too cuz that's a large cost that I will rule out cuz I have a copy...
Click to expand...
^I've had the same idea as you many times, but this is the problem. It's technically illegal to use a single-use copy of Windows more than once, and although Microsoft won't go after you for installing it a couple of times on your own computers, they could pursue legal action if you start installing it several times on computers meant for sale. The only practical way to make any money selling custom-built desktops and laptops is to install Linux, which is a viable option given how much distributions such as Mint and Fedora have matured in recent years.
 
Well linux is awkward for ppl just looking for a general computer you know :/...well if I load the OS onto it and illegally activate the OS...they can't really go after me yah know...I'm not selling thousands or even hundreds of computers, it's like maybe 10 a year :P so it's very minimal amounts...so if we look over that fact and pretend I'm fine there...is it viable?
 
...building PC?

I sold 24 computers, mainly on Craigslist, but I sold them way under cost, you know, around $240. It was a hobby. I can't afford to do that anymore. You're right---the money today is in laptops.
 
Actually yes there maybe some money in laptops still, but by far the biggest demand is for consoles and mobile device repair, especially the apple junk people are always looking for screen replacements.
 
xarik said:
Well linux is awkward for ppl just looking for a general computer you know :/...well if I load the OS onto it and illegally activate the OS...they can't really go after me yah know...I'm not selling thousands or even hundreds of computers, it's like maybe 10 a year :P so it's very minimal amounts...so if we look over that fact and pretend I'm fine there...is it viable?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't want to sell a PC which has a pirated copy of Windows on it.

Besides, what would your customers think if one day their Windows suddenly became 'not genuine' and it was because you installed pirated software onto their machines? They likely wouldn't be very happy and certainly wouldn't be recommending you to other people.
 
jamesd1981 said:
Sooner or later the activation would be cut off, there is a windows update that if installed it picks up on it.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's just not worth the risk.

It's probably true that most people probably don't know or care if Windows is genuine or not, but it's also probably true that as soon as they get annoying notifications telling them that Windows isn't genuine and as a result their desktop background is going to disappear every 60 minutes and things will be disabled, that they will immediately care...

...and go a bit livid at you for selling them a PC with a pirated copy of Windows installed on it.

Discussing piracy of any kind of on this forum is prohibited though, so moving on.
 
There is however nothing wrong with selling a machine with an unactivated copy of windows, so long as you are up front about it, anytime i have done it i just put in the ad the machine has windows installed and setup however is unactivated and the buyer would need to have or purchase a product key.
 
I have run into the inactive windows issues before...that is so annoying I just HAD to redo the activation...moving on!...you guys are right, it's not right and illegal so perhaps warning people is the best way or finding a way to take the old HDD and clone is so I don't have to purchase a new OS and just use w/e the system came w/ (95, linux, vista or w/e)...I do see most the money in laptops now a days...it's very difficult to carry around a desktop and they don't upgrade tablets very well ;P So perhaps if I was able to locate more laptops like my NV79 for dirt cheap and just upgrade ram and SSD then perhaps it's worth it! :P...It can't be too hard to sell a laptop for 200+ w/ an i3 330M...it's old but still functions and the computer is surprisingly quick!
 
I wouldn't suggest cloning either.

Seriously, if you want people to have Windows on the machines you sell them, you need to make the customer pay for Windows and include that in the final price of the machine. Then of course when you sell the machine, give them the DVD and the key which they purchased and you install for them.
 
If you want to sell laptops, also look into MSI Whitebooks and other barebones notebooks. RJtech.com is a good reseller, although you can also find many MSI Whitebooks for sale simply through Google/Google Shopping and eBay. I built a laptop off of an MSI MS-1242-ID1 Whitebook for a friend a couple years ago, and it's worked great for him since. That model had a Pentium SU4100; it goes to show how a Core2-era CPU still functions fine for most people. The most resource-intensive thing he wanted to do was play blu-ray discs on an external drive, and the Pentium is capable of that. However, keep in mind that the only way someone is going to pay essentially the same price as a modern laptop for one that is technically outdated is if they trust that yours is definitely of higher quality. Don't sell it with an unactivated copy of Windows! That's just a flat-out scam. Either install Linux, or install a real copy of Windows.
 
ok ok...I suppose when I purchase a laptop I'll be very certain that I can reuse the windows that's there (I.E. the laptop i purchased as a spare had W7 newly installed, but it was a clean install and fully activated...no way the guy was computer savvy cuz he couldn't tell me how much ram it had)...So perhaps I can keep it like that and install small programs like Ccleaner and fanspeed to test hardware and clean things out...I don't plan on selling the laptop for HUGE profit but I figure $50 to $100 a laptop is pretty good money...

I feel that people won't spend TOO much money on older things or i3's or anything like that...I know for sure that I wouldn't even look @ a pentium, core 2 duo, celeron or anything like that just because I know they are old :/. I wish laptops were upgradeable in that area lol. I figure if I can find an i3 or i5 laptop, I could easily sell that for around $250-$350 just because of the processor...all i'd have to do is add a little bit of ram and make sure the HDD is 500gb+
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top