Where to purchase components

[adinis]

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and I'm hoping to get some assistance. I'm looking to start my own custom pc building business (HTPC, Gaming PC'S, ect.) and I'm trying to figure out the best place to buy the core components (mobo, ram, cpu, gpu, psu). Now I know I can turn to Newegg and Amazon, but I'm interested in buying bulk if possible. Now I'm not looking for low grade items, I'm look to the same high quality items found on Newegg and Amazon. Is it even possible? Or do I just go out and order parts based on the system I am building from said websites?

Another question I have is, would it be ethical to mark up said components when billing the customer? If so by how much? Or just keep it at regular cost and just try and make up the profit on labor and services?

Not sure if this is the right place to address the second question but I figured I would give it a shot.

Thanks all and hope for some helpful information.

 

[Geoff]

If you're just starting out, my guess is that you will only have a couple customers in the beginning, no where near enough to start buying in bulk. Buying in bulk without orders to fill is dangerous in the tech industry seeing as how fast components are upgraded and prices lowered. I'd say to start, use Newegg, Amazon, Tiger Direct, Microcenter, etc.

It depends on how you want to sell your PC's, if you want customers to come to you with a basic idea of what they want and you build it for a set price, they don't know the cost of the individual parts. I think that's the way to go over pricing out the parts and either adding a markup, or a flat rate build/labor charge, as they'd see how much money they'd save if they did it themselves. Have some pre-built configurations available to show people and set a price for them.

Not to put you down, but the market for this sort of business is not very viable.

 

[beers]

Usually you'd need a wholesale provider to have access to the best rates. They typically only sell to those with tax IDs, so you'd need to register an LLC with your state and get the proper business permits (while paying the appropriate fees).

In your case I'd probably do a lot more 'how to run a business' or 'market and continuity planning' research before considering actually attempting it.

would it be ethical to mark up said components when billing the customer? If so by how much?

That will be your only source of income aside from labor. All stores do this.

'How much' is dictated by your goals and business plan.

 

[adinis]

If you're just starting out, my guess is that you will only have a couple customers in the beginning, no where near enough to start buying in bulk. Buying in bulk without orders to fill is dangerous in the tech industry seeing as how fast components are upgraded and prices lowered. I'd say to start, use Newegg, Amazon, Tiger Direct, Microcenter, etc.

It depends on how you want to sell your PC's, if you want customers to come to you with a basic idea of what they want and you build it for a set price, they don't know the cost of the individual parts. I think that's the way to go over pricing out the parts and either adding a markup, or a flat rate build/labor charge, as they'd see how much money they'd save if they did it themselves. Have some pre-built configurations available to show people and set a price for them.

Not to put you down, but the market for this sort of business is not very viable.

Thank you for the reply, I figured that's how I would go about it. Aside from building the custom PC's I would also be doing the usual maintenance, repair, Upgrades, etc. So there would hopefully be additional income involved.

I know the HTPC market is very small but I am sure if properly exposed to the masses it will evolve and blossom. As for the gaming PC's that's a big market that's already available and hoping to tap into it.

 

[Geoff]

Thank you for the reply, I figured that's how I would go about it. Aside from building the custom PC's I would also be doing the usual maintenance, repair, Upgrades, etc. So there would hopefully be additional income involved.

I know the HTPC market is very small but I am sure if properly exposed to the masses it will evolve and blossom. As for the gaming PC's that's a big market that's already available and hoping to tap into it.

It does differ based on where you live, but generally the individual PC repair shops which build and repair PC's are becoming less and less necessary, as PC's become cheaper they tend to become more disposable. That, with online retailers it's hard for retail stores to compete.

Again, I'm only trying to set real world expectations for you. I can't imaging there being a large enough market for people wanting a shop to build them a high end gaming machine. Many gamers are tech savvy and build their own, while others use online retailers such as Alienware, Cyberpower, etc. PC gaming as a whole is dwindling, as more gamers switch to either consoles or mobile devices.

 

[adinis]

Usually you'd need a wholesale provider to have access to the best rates. They typically only sell to those with tax IDs, so you'd need to register an LLC with your state and get the proper business permits (while paying the appropriate fees).

In your case I'd probably do a lot more 'how to run a business' or 'market and continuity planning' research before considering actually attempting it.



That will be your only source of income aside from labor. All stores do this.

'How much' is dictated by your goals and business plan.

Would a 10%-20% markup be too much? My main goal, even though my system could end up being a little more expensive than big chain stores, is to provide a quality product with quality parts. We all know that computer nowadays are assembly built using low end components and majority of them can't really upgrade in the future, that's what I am hoping to provide and that potential customers see the value in this approach.

 

[adinis]

It does differ based on where you live, but generally the individual PC repair shops which build and repair PC's are becoming less and less necessary, as PC's become cheaper they tend to become more disposable. That, with online retailers it's hard for retail stores to compete.

Again, I'm only trying to set real world expectations for you. I can't imaging there being a large enough market for people wanting a shop to build them a high end gaming machine. Many gamers are tech savvy and build their own, while others use online retailers such as Alienware, Cyberpower, etc. PC gaming as a whole is dwindling, as more gamers switch to either consoles or mobile devices.

I appreciate your input regarding the "real world expectations" and understand that it's not gonna be easy, but the way I see it is that there will always be a need for a pc repair tech, be it low end users or business. This might not even become my full time job but I could use it for potential additional income.

I regards to pc gaming, I might have to disagree with you on your point. There have been many articles written and test done where pc always perform better than consoles, and that pc games better than their console bothers.

 

[Geoff]

I regards to pc gaming, I might have to disagree with you on your point. There have been many articles written and test done where pc always perform better than consoles, and that pc games better than their console bothers.

I'm not saying PC's are worse at gaming, I'm saying they aren't as popular. Most kids these days game on their smartphone and console, very few are playing PC games as a decent PC is a lot more expensive.

 

[adinis]

I'm not saying PC's are worse at gaming, I'm saying they aren't as popular. Most kids these days game on their smartphone and console, very few are playing PC games as a decent PC is a lot more expensive.

Yes I understand what you are saying, guess it would be up to me to educate potential customers on the benefits of a custom build vs a console

 

[adinis]

One last question regarding purchase of bulk items, anyone know of anywhere where I can bulk "gaming keyboard and mouse" bundles? Now they don't have to be the top, top of the line but something that I can include with a gaming rig to get the customer up and running. Now the tag would read "free with he purchase of the system" but we all know those options are included in the final price of the system, the customer just like the word "free".