elohelomg Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 So, i know most of the people here either A are really experienced in computers, B, fix computers/IT for a living, or C, both.I'm just starting to get into this field (lots of money to be made, but where?) and, the only trouble i have is finding parts, and most importantly, for cheap. I mean lets be honest, I need to make a profit too.My question is, where do you get your parts from, or, how do you get them? It seems everyone is in on this "secret", and I'm not. I know of Tiger direct, and new egg, but, I feel like theres something else.So, for those of you who are in this field, how do you make your money, where do you get your parts and what not? Please, share your secrets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atasas Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 load depends on your location, but evil'bay is another place... still nothing is going to beat small local suplier prices and (if you get him cooperative) discounts on certain lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elohelomg Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 load depends on your location, but evil'bay is another place... still nothing is going to beat small local suplier prices and (if you get him cooperative) discounts on certain lineswell, im around the los angeles area...so if anyone knows any half decent place, be my BFF lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeetPirate Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 There are reseller websites out there that you can join. To be honest though, alot of them have higher prices than newegg and amazon so half the time it isn't worth it. Some of them keep calling me ever so often to harass me to buy parts from them so I looked at the site and I told the guy that their resellers prices are higher than retail prices from newegg and amazon, he told me that I can contact him directly to get a better price. I think the guy was from compnation.com. I found it was too much trouble and didn't care, I buy retail. To be honest the IT industry is now more service based than product based so alot of the times I make a buck or 2 on a product because I'm really charging for my services.The secret that you don't know about is not really available to you unless you open a physical store, what happens is distributors buy in bulk and they will come across your store and offer you a deal to let them supply you with parts. That's the only way, and if you are just 1 small shop you can't buy direct from the primary distributor because the buy-in is too high, you would probably have to buy 1000 cpu units minimum. So a primary distributor will buy those 1000 units, then sell to secondary distributors and those are the guys who scout for shops that they could distribute stuff to.I say screw it, I just buy retail from reliable websites that have good customer service. You can always find something on a good deal and save some cash.My favourite sites are newegg.com, amazon.com, frys.com, svc.com. You also need to focus on selling your services, once you have good customer service people will pay you to do their work. Even if you break even on certain products, customer satisfaction is priceless and you would have made a profit on services. So for example I may make $2 profit on a cpu but I charge $30 to install it, more if they want premium thermal paste. You really can't compete with the big stores out there in terms of products and prices.If you want you could also check out manufacturer websites to find a list of their local dealers, contact one close to you to see if you can make a deal. If you want to take a risk you could also find one of those chinese wholesale sites, I don't trust them.Try this: http://www.evertek.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyo Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 30$ to install a CPU? I'd get lynched here if I'd try to charge something like this :) Lucky you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeetPirate Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I live in the 3rd world, 90% of the population here are intellectually decrepit. Just imagine my $30 is actually a cheap price, lol. I know a guy who charged a company $100 to reinstall windows for them, worked out great for me cuz he paid me $50 to do all the work, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyo Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Let me know when you wanna visit the 4th world :P you may never have heard it exists, but it sure does :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elohelomg Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 So, what hardware tools would you guys suggest? the obvious screw drivers/hammers aside...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeetPirate Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 One of these may come in handy for opening up a computer. Other than that my only tools are screw drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elohelomg Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 One of these may come in handy for opening up a computer. Other than that my only tools are screw drivers.where can i git me one of em' those there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grouchysmurf Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 One of these may come in handy for opening up a computer. Other than that my only tools are screw drivers.where can i git me one of em' those there?Well, I know I got one on loan when I was with the United States Army, it came completewith the cool looking camouflage overalls and boots. :PAs far as supplies go, I generaly look for small, local places that do not spend alot of money on over-head.I have a place, they are not pretty and flashy, but they carry a hell-of-a selection.www.enuinc.comThey have warehouse style distribution, and they are located in business sections, not strip malls.Try looking around areas like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.